Baltimore Ravens safety and New Castle native Geno Stone has made several trips back to Pittsburgh since his days as a high school football player, but this Sunday, when the Ravens take on the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium , it will be the first time he’s coming home as a starter.
Stone, 24, is in his fourth NFL season after the Ravens drafted him out of Iowa in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He has been on the roster for three previous Ravens trips to Pittsburgh, but was on the COVID-19 list in 2020 and played mostly special teams in 2021 and 2022.
Now, Stone will step onto the playing surface situated alongside the Ohio River as a full-fledged member of the lineup for the first time since he was a New Castle Hurricane.
“A lot of memories,” Stone said to reporters in Baltimore this week. “It’s home, basically, to me. I played my last-ever high school football game in Heinz Field.”
Stone starred for New Castle from 2013-16, playing as a quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back. He caught 10 interceptions, made 97 tackles, 13 for loss, three sacks, two defensive touchdowns and two punt returns for touchdowns as a senior in 2016. His great play led New Castle to the WPIAL 4A Final at Heinz Field, where they fell 42-0 to Thomas Jefferson.
He then went on to play for Iowa for the next three seasons. Stone made 70 tackles, 46 solo, three for loss, one sack and one interception as a junior in 2019, earning him Second-Team All-Big Ten honors.
Stone made seven starts as an injury replacement last year, but was back to a special-teams-only role by the time the Ravens came to Pittsburgh in Week 14. Through four games this season, he has started three of them in place of injured safety Marcus Williams, and even when he isn’t starting, he figures to play a role on defense for Baltimore. Stone enters Week 5 tied for fourth on the team with 21 total tackles and leads the club with two interceptions.
Like most Western Pennsylvania natives his age, Stone grew up with the Steelers-Ravens rivalry, and he said the first NFL game he attended was the 2008 AFC Championship Game. Even though he’s now on the other side, he tries to bring his sense of the history of things to the forefront this week.
“It’s one of the best rivalries in football,” Stone said. “You know you’re getting the best out of them, and [they] want to get the best out of us.”
When the Steelers want to get their fans going late in the game, they might turn to “Renegade” over the loudspeakers at Acrisure Stadium. Stone doesn’t mind the song and says that it has the opposite effect on Steelers opponents.
“It’s still the same feeling. It’s still energizing,” he said. “I feel like we get hyped whenever that song comes on, because you know, at that point, they’re trying to get the best out of the team. So, at that point, who is going to respond? That’s why I feel like we all get hyped when that song comes on.”
Stone already has some fond memories of playing against Pittsburgh. He was the last NFL player to intercept Ben Roethlisberger in 2021. Now he’ll have a chance to make some in Pittsburgh.
