Be Loud

Even if you’re in the stands, you can help the Cowboys win by being loud!

Yell whenever the opposing offense is on the field — that is, whenever the Cowboys are on defense. By doing this, you can disrupt the offense’s communication, which leads to false start penalties, interceptions (from receivers running the wrong routes), sacks (from the offensive linemen not starting on time), and other advantages.

It’s especially important to yell on third down and other critical plays in the game when the Cowboys are on defense.

The most effective yell is a low-pitch, consistent tone. I suggest saying the letter “D” (“Deeeeee…”) in a deep voice for a full breath, taking another breath and starting again if you can’t keep it going until the snap. This is easy to remember because D stands for Dallas and Defense, which are the two things we’re cheering for here. Making an “uhhhhhhhh” sound may be easier to hold and more naturally requires a deep voice, so that’s also a good one.

Use a deep voice because high pitches are scattered and absorbed by the atmosphere and deeper voices have more of the sound traveling all the way down to the players. Also, you’re much more likely to get resonance with multiple voices blending together into one louder version of the same sound with a deeper voice.

Why?

In NFL football, the offense needs to communicate more than the defense. Based on the defensive formation, the offense has an opportunity to change the play. And the play starts when the ball is snapped; the offense listens for the quarterback to signal when to begin, and they all try to start at the same time to make it as hard as possible for the defense to exploit a weakness.

You can help the Cowboys win by yelling whenever their defense is on the field, especially when the play clock is running and the opposing offense is in a huddle or at the line of scrimmage. Any miscommunication on the offensive side of the ball is great for the Cowboys when they’re on defense, and crowd noise causes the offense to miss things or hear them wrong.

A false start penalty happens when one of the players starts too early, which can result from mishearing or not hearing the quarterback. Sometimes the quarterback will change the play, called an audible, and if that information isn’t passed along successfully to the wide receivers one could run a wrong route, which can lead to an interception when the quarterback throws the ball when the receiver goes to a different spot than expected. If an offensive lineman doesn’t start on time because he doesn’t hear the quarterback, this makes it easier for the defense to get past the blocker and generate a sack or tackle for loss. In short, making noise to disrupt communication can lead to a wide range of benefits for the defensive team.

Please cheer whenever the Cowboys are on defense–you can meaningfully help them win even without being a player!