49ers fans making ruckus about Seahawk stadium noise admit Seattle may be better team

Two San Francisco fans who wrote a letter to the editor of the San Francisco Chronicle complaining the 12th Man noise at CenturyLink Field was “as big an advantage over an opponent as any performance enhancing drug,” are finally admitting the Seahawks might just be a better team.

Judy Spelman and Rich Schiller had accused the Seahawks fans of “unsportsmanlike conduct” in their record-breaking cheers against the 49ers, and suggested the NFL begin monitoring decibel levels at games, penalizing those teams who exceeded the levels by revoking the privilege of home-field advantage.

In a previous conversation with KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson, Spelman and Schiller credited the Seahawks win over the 49ers to the dramatic home-field noise advantage at CenturyLink.

“I think what we’re saying is you put a whooping on the field because you had an unfair advantage. If you couldn’t hear your signals and we could hear ours, you would have lost and we would have won,” she said. “Home field advantage is a good thing everywhere, but I believe it doesn’t have to be with noise.”

But whatever advantages come with being the home team, Dori points out it wasn’t enough to help the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday in a home game against the Colts.

“The Niners looked terrible in Seattle and they looked terrible [Sunday],” said Spelman. “That is one issue. The other issue is whether noise affects the outcome of games in the Seattle stadium. I think the answer is clearly yes.”

But with Spelman admitting that the 49ers looked terrible in both games, one with an apparent noise advantage for the opposing team and one at home with no excuse, Dori pressed directly, “Which team is better? The Seahawks or the San Francisco 49ers?”

Spelman couldn’t avoid giving a little nod to the Seahawks.

“Right now, it looks like Seattle, but I would want to see how you do away from your own home field to really make a judgment.”

They both still say they want to see the Seattle stadium become what they would call a more level playing field.

“What you really want your team to do is to be the best team, and you don’t want the play or the outcome of the game to be distorted by an outside force like extra fan noise,” Schiller said.

They told Dori, since their previous conversation, they’ve spoken to a public relations spokesperson with the National Football League and they’re apparently not the only fans the NFL is hearing from.

“We said you know this is an issue for a lot of people and we’d like to know what you’re going to do about this. They said you don’t need to worry, we’ve been inundated with calls and it is an issue that is on the table, so it does appear it is not just die-hard 49ers fans that have some concern.”

Related:
Exclusive: 49ers fans explain why they want 12th Man silenced
Letter to editor in San Francisco accuses 12th Man, Seahawks of unsportsmanlike conduct