Bengals safety Geno Stone, who grew up an hour from Pittsburgh in New Castle, Pa., went to his first NFL game when he was 11 at Acrisure Stadium and saw the Steelers beat the Ravens in an AFC Divisional for another classic AFC North chapter.
Stone's mother beat the traffic that day, but they saw the winning score walking out. Stone returns to the building this Saturday (8 p.m.-Cincinnati's Channel 9 and ESPN), to direct traffic for the Bengals against the Steelers in what amounts to a playoff elimination game for Cincinnati in another division drama.
With Stone, the former Raven playing his best ball of his first season with the Bengals, Bengals.com senior writer Geoff Hobson sat down with him for one of his conversations to talk about life in the AFC North.
GH: You were a big-time quarterback and defensive back for New Castle. Did you ever play in the Steelers stadium in high school when it was Heinz Field?
GS: We played Thomas Jefferson in a state championship game.
GH: How did it go?
GS: We lost 42 nothing.
GH: Really? They blanked the great Geno Stone's offense?
GS: Crazy game. Probably my worst game in high school.
GH: And you played there when you were with the Ravens. What's it like being a New Castle guy in the NFL going back to play in that stadium?
GS: It's great. My first ever game I went to growing up was at Pittsburgh. It was a Divisional playoff when the Ravens played the Steelers. I think the Steelers won it when (running back) Rashard Mendenhall scored. It's great. I can see all my friends and family. They all come. They're all Steelers fans. They're against me, but at the same time, they're rooting for me.
GH: That's a big group of family people, right?
GS: I've got a big support system back home. Especially me growing up, I had a bunch of guys who liked playing sports. The whole city kind of rallied behind us, so I've got a bunch of people back home.
GH: What about going down there and playing for the playoffs? That's got to be a big thrill.
GS: I'm ready. It's my first game actually starting and playing meaningful snaps there. Before, it was playing special teams, playing rotational. I just can't wait to be out there all the time playing in front of all my family and friends.
GH: It's going to be a lot like that AFC Divisional (Jan. 15, 2011) with Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Same kind of weather. Almost the same weekend. You guys need to win to keep going.
GS: It was cold. It was snowing. I can't wait. It's home to me. I love playing there.
GH: You were 11 at that game.
GS: Yeah, the year (the Steelers) played Green Bay in the Super Bowl.
GH: I think you'd have to agree in the last month you've played your best ball since you've been here.
GS: Yeah, definitely. I feel like I just kind of caught rhythm. All the picks came in bunches. The ball was finding me. I just felt like I was being me, putting my skin on the defense. How I play. I've just felt a lot more
comfortable throughout the past few months.
GH: Why?
GS: Lou's (defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo) putting me in great spots. The defense kind of changed a little bit. The way he's calling things. I think it kind of fits more how I play. I just feel a lot more comfortable at this point. My mindset was just to go get the ball. Wasn't trying to do too much. Wasn't trying to think. I was out there playing free.
GH: At what point did you say that?
GS: After the last Pittsburgh game (Dec. 1). In my head, just be me. I didn't play my best in that game. I had a lot of open-field tackles I could have had back.
GH: Missed tackles as a team it was something like 14.
GS: Yeah, I hate doing that because I just didn't put my best performance out. So after that, I just put on myself to be the best me. Limit all the missed tackles. My thing is you give up one missed tackle in a game, OK, you're not going to make every tackle. It's the NFL. Everyone is great. If you can limit it to one, or as a team to five, six, missed tackles, you've got a great chance to win the game.
GH: Just being you. What's that mean?
GS: Just being the ballhawk I am. Playing fast, being physical, making plays. That's kind of what got me here. Being in the right spots, being there at the right time. Being a guy that the coach can depend on, my teammates can depend on, put everyone in right spots and be able to communicate.
GH: Some of the guys have said it's simplified a bit. But it's the NFL, so it can't be all that simple. Plus, you're a 3.5 GPA guy in high school courted by some Ivy League schools, so you've handled some things.
GS: That never bothered me. I can make any adjustment … We still have calls in there where you have to think. I think it's more simplified because we have different guys in now. It's not me and Vonn (Bell) back there. JB (Jordan Battle), we've got a lot of young guys playing now with Fig (rookie cornerback Josh Newton). You've got Marco (November waiver wire pickup Wilson) playing now. So it's kind of simplified for a bunch of new guys.
It's kind of like training camp. Line up and play the calls … I had some injuries early. Things like that I had to get through. I feel like I'm playing my best ball. No one is really thinking out there. Just line up, play the call, everyone plays fast, and go get the ball and do what you do.
GH: The last time you played Pittsburgh, something like 22 of Russell Wilson's 29 completions went to running backs and tight ends. Just basically went underneath. Lou said the answer is to tighten up and you guys have been very good since.
GS: That's kind of how I see (it), too. We just have to tackle better. When the check-down was there, they were able to make one guy miss. They were getting too many yards off checkdowns.
GH: We talked about this right after the game last Saturday night. That Bo Nix touchdown throw last Saturday to tie it up, hell of a throw. Tough to defend.
GS: He made a great play. It is what it is at that point. You have to chalk it up. I feel like we can definitely defend it better.
GH: But like you said, you didn't want to go over the back and get a penalty.
GS: I didn't want to. After watching the film. I broke on the goal line, and I ended up being like two, three yards back in the end zone just because I was looking at the depth of the ball. I didn't want to be in front of him. I was trying to get the ball over the top. But, yeah, Nix threw a great ball. Kid made a great play, I can't say enough about that.
GH: That's been uncharacteristic of the last month. You guys have not allowed big plays for the most part.
GS: Right, just a couple of plays out there. That's something we've got to limit. As long as we keep it to one or two plays, I feel like we can still live with that and be a successful defense, but at the same time, we don't want them.
GH: Why didn't you go Ivy with that 3.5 GPA?
GS: I didn't think that was me. At first, I was actually going to Kent State, and staying close to home, and then I got the offer from Iowa. My mom had to force me to go to Iowa because she thought it was best for me.
GH: Usually the mother is doing the opposite and wants you to stay near home.
GS: I know, right? She kind of told me she didn't want me to miss out on an opportunity I never got to see or be in. I always wanted to play in the Big 10. Because I wanted to play at Penn State. She told me, it may not be Penn State, but you still have an opportunity to go play no matter the distance. Kind of her getting me there.
GH: Still mad Penn State didn't offer?
GS: Not after my pick-six against them my sophomore year. I kind of got over it.
GH: James Franklin, the Penn State head coach, talked to you after, right?
GS: Yeah, after the game he came up to me and he said he wished he could have me. I feel like the best spot for me was at Iowa, I was able to develop with great players and great coaches.
GH: Your mother's your number one influencer in your life, right?
GS: Definitely. I grew up with her and my grandmother. That's the people I was with growing up. My grandmother died in '21.
GH: Is that the date you've got on the side of your hand? 10-23-21?
GS: Yeah. My mom lived with her. She was like a second mom to me. She would do anything for me and I lived with her most of my life. It's actually crazy. She died the day before we played the Bengals in '21 in Baltimore.
All the Bengals stuff is crazy., My grandma died, then we played the Bengals. And then last year we played the Bengals and I had a necklace where I had a half and she had a half that I buried with her. When I got my pick here last year, I actually lost my necklace on the field. And I end up (signing) here. Weird ties here.
GH: Anybody find it?
GS: No. And then they ripped up the field (after the season), so it's OK.
GH: You picked off Joe Burrow in that one and I remember when you signed here, you said these AFC North games come down to one or two plays and that was a huge play in the red zone.
GS: They always do. That's why I always want to be in this division. I grew up around it. Watching it. Especially back in the day watching Big Ben, and all those guys playing Ray Lewis, Ed Reed.
GH: Did you have favorites?
GS: Growing up, I was actually a Michael Vick and LaDainian Tomlinson fan. I really didn't like Pittsburgh growing up. I never was a Steelers fan. I just went to the games whenever I could. I was kind of forced to watch the Steelers because everyone followed them.
GH: You saw plenty Ocho and Carson and Green and Dalton.
GS: I watched all those guys. I remember back in the day when the Bengals had a really good run in the early 2010s winning the AFC North. I loved watching those games.
GH: Is your whole family Steelers fans?
GS: They're all fans of wherever I'm at. Most of my friends are Steelers fans. They always give me crap about it, even this week. I got a bunch of text messages. In my career, I've only beaten the Pittsburgh Steelers once. They're like, you can't beat us. I just want to shut them up and get a win. I told them they have to get their own tickets. I'm not buying any tickets to Pittsburgh games.
GH: Classic Pittsburgh AFC North. January. What's the coldest game you ever played in?
GS: I played in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium when I was a freshman against Boston College. The field was frozen. Or, I'll say in '22 against the Falcons in Baltimore when the winter vortex came through (in a 17-degree game).
GH: What do you remember about that Division game when you were 11? (It was 36 degrees at kickoff.)
GS: It started to snow badly. And my mom was trying to leave. I remember walking out. That's before they closed the end zone back there. You could still see walking out, and I saw Rashard Mendenhall score the touchdown (with 1:33 left) to go up in the fourth quarter. I saw it walking out. We were trying to beat traffic.
GH: You'll be staying to the buzzer this Saturday.
GS: I've got a couple of friends sitting in the end zone. I'd like to make a play down there.
