Rallying around a Raven: New Castle's Geno Stone has Baltimore thinking Super Bowl

Jan. 27—Lawrence County might have been added to the greater Pittsburgh area, but some New Castle residents will be rooting for a player donning the Baltimore Ravens' logo Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.

Geno Stone, a safety for the Ravens, is a New Castle guy through and through.

Erin Stone, Geno's mother, said support from the New Castle community has been great — even though he plays for the rival Ravens.

"It's pretty crazy now that the Steelers are completely out of it," she said. "They're rooting for Geno. When I look on social media, they'll say, 'No way I'm rooting for Ravens, but I'll root for Geno.' The community is very good with supporting Geno and it's awesome to see."

Stone has played for the Ravens since 2020. A seventh-round pick out of Iowa in 2020, he played sparingly as a rookie then was briefly part of the Houston organization, but never appeared in a game for them. He returned to Baltimore and was a backup in 2021 and 2022 before earning more time on the field this season.

This regular season, he led all safeties with seven interceptions and was second in the NFL in that category while helping lead a dominant Baltimore defense to the AFC's best record (13-4) and No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

"If you talk to anyone in the schools and school districts, he goes to every school to see his teachers, goes to the classrooms and visits the kids," she said. "He's an inspiration to these kids. Anything that I can say about him, he doesn't forget where he came from and he never will. He's a New Castle kid."

Stone's mother says the journey of watching her son grow up with a dream of playing professional football, fulfilling it and now being one step away from competing in the Super Bowl is surreal. He had one tackle in last weekend's 34-17 divisional round win over Houston.

"I still cry in the stands every time I see him on the field. Watching somebody as a little child, that's my child, and playing football from the time he was in third grade to where he is now is a great achievement," she said. "There's only a certain percent of people that make it to the NFL and I'm telling you that I'm still in awe. It's unbelievable. Geno's a hard worker and I always tell him to know his worth, his ability that he has to bring to his teammates and believe in himself as much as I believe in him."

Erin Stone says she doesn't try to ask her son questions about work, but knows he's excited about the opportunity to compete in Sunday's AFC championship game against Kansas City (3 p.m., CBS).

"Geno's super quiet," she said. "He keeps everything in. He's 100 percent excited. He's not that person that brags. Geno really keeps to himself and usually, if I ask questions he says, 'Do I ask you questions about work to you when you clock out?'"

Erin Stone said she's been down in Baltimore for around three months with all of the back-to-back home games the Ravens have had.

"He probably wants me to leave," she said with a chuckle.

Stone's mother isn't the only one who watched Geno grow into the player and person he is today. Gary Stone, Geno's cousin, said they grew up like brothers.

"We grew up in the same house and we're a close family," Gary Stone said. "If anyone ever asks I always say he's my little brother. There's so much I could say about Geno, not even as an athlete, but as a person. He's really good person.

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"Thinking about us, growing up together in Croton, watching him grow as a person, a young man and where he's going in life right now...I'm extremely proud of him."

Gary Stone is four years older than his cousin and works at Scheidemantle Motors.

"The customers ask me about updates on Geno," Gary Stone said. "They're just as excited. Even the Steeler fans are because they love Geno."

Erin said Gary and Geno are very close and Geno always sends his cousin a Snapchat before the game starts.

"It's amazing because everyone asks me what's it like with Geno being an NFL player. He's like my little brother and he's been sending me pregame Snapchats since high school," Gary Stone said. "It's him with his jersey on and I get chills every time I see it because I get so excited for him. Growing up and playing backyard football with him or Wiffle ball or basketball...to see him play in front of 80,000 people is amazing."

Erin and Gary Stone will be accompanied by a group of around 20 friends and family at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday. Geno also bought Gary's brother-in-law a ticket to attend.

"My brother-in-law, Jaden Mastren, he's been a Ravens fan as a young kid since 5 or 6. Geno contacted me and got him a ticket to the AFC Championship Game," Gary Stone said. "I thought it was awesome for Geno to get him the ticket. When Geno got drafted by the Baltimore Ravens, Jaden was the first person going nuts. He bought Geno his first (Ravens) T-shirt after he got drafted. He's just ecstatic about going to the game this weekend with me and my wife. Going to the AFC Championship Game, his dreams are all coming true."

Another person who will be watching the game is Geno Stone's former New Castle High football coach, Joe Cowart.

"I had the pleasure of coaching Geno for three seasons at New Castle. He's just a great player and great kid for us," Cowart said. "Talking about Geno Stone is one of my favorite things to do. I could say a lot about him. He had a fantastic high school career; I feel lucky we've been able to stay in touch during his ascension to the professional ranks."

Watching Geno Stone's ascension for Cowart has been "awesome." Cowart said he and some of the coaches on New Castle's football staff over the years went out to dinner with him.

"We ask him a million questions about what's going on and it's an awesome experience," Cowart said. "That's the type of kid he is. He's gone out of his way to connect with the people in our community that were part of his football journey. For us, we couldn't be more proud of a player, a guy, just a human."

With Geno Stone bracing for a big title game, the former Ne-Ca-Hi graduate now only adds to the mystique and pedigree of New Castle football.

"I think Geno is connected to Malik Hooker. Both kind of blazed a path there. Not that it's never been done before, but it was a long time since Rick Razzano and Bruce Clark came out of New Castle," Cowart said. "Geno was closely connected with Malik and he saw what could happen. You see those things and think, 'That's never going to happen.' There was a belief that 'Hey, this can be a possibility,' even though it's a rare possibility and a lot of things have to go right to work for you. Geno and Malik have shown the young men and the athletes in our community that it's possible.

"We'll be watching him for sure. I had a chance to talk to him last week before his playoff game (against the Texans) started. I said, 'Look, you're two home wins away from being in the Super Bowl.' What an amazing opportunity for him."