You gotta have a noise for the football to watch a game in the Georgia Dome

For you Atlanta Falcons fans out there like me, I just received a copy of the Falcons’ injury report for the NFC Championship Game. All 53 players have been listed as questionable with hearing damage.

I can understand that because I was at the Georgia Dome for the Falcons’ Divisional Playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks. I’ve been to many games at the Dome over the past 20-something years — everything from high school games to NFL contests — and I’ve never heard it as loud as it was on Saturday.

That’s why so many Falcons are now listed with hearing damage. After the game, when the team doctor went around asking each player if anything hurt, each player just responded: “Huh? What? Did you say something?”

On one hand, it was great to see the incredible enthusiasm for the Falcons. I mean, we don’t have the storied history of the Packers, Cowboys or Northern Little League. But the fans sense something special with this team. Then again, with the constant smell of marijuana around every corner near the Dome, there’s no telling what all folks in the city are sensing, although I suspect they also are sensing quite the craving for a bag of Doritos.

I did my share of hollering, too, so I can’t exactly blame the 72,000 or so other fans there for rupturing my eardrums. Today, my voice is still hoarse. About the only time the stadium and myself got quiet was when Ludacris came out to perform at halftime. At least, I think it was Ludacris. Could have been just a really bad auctioneer, I guess. It was kind of hard to tell. It was inspiring, though, as it inspired me to take a bathroom break.

Part of the noise could have had something to do with the kickoff time, 4:35 p.m., which gave the folks plenty of time to get liquored up while tailgating before the game while still getting revved up for a night of getting liquored up in celebration. I had to drive home, though, so I got wild on the Coke Zero and an overpriced stale slice of pizza.

When my wife and I left the stadium, we could barely push our way through the loud crowds of drunks and revelers. Folks were blocking traffic and sidewalks and getting out of their cars to dance and blare that same kind of repetitive auctioneering set to bass beats that Ludacris brought to the center of the field at halftime. And that kid of auctioneering is dangerous because I accidentally bought a ceramic chicken as I raised my arms while fighting my way through the crowd.

Perhaps the best part about the whole game, though, was coming home — not because the game wasn’t great, mind you, but because home was quiet. Well except for the frogs at the bottom of the hill behind my house, where water had collected from recent rains and where they like to hang out in the warm weather since President Barack Obama canceled winter with his final executive order. Of course, if we listened close enough, we could hear what the frogs were saying: “Rise up. Rise up. Rise up.” Whatever happened to “ribbet?”

We watched Sunday’s other NFC game, however, from the comfort of our quiet living room. Well, it was quiet until kickoff anyway. That’s when I remember that I’d married a Cowboys fan, whose first “Woooo!” sent the cat scrambling off the couch and through the open window to the back porch to listen to our milder “rise up” Falcon fan frogs.

This story was originally published January 16, 2017 at 1:52 PM with the headline "You gotta have a noise for the football to watch a game in the Georgia Dome."