There is a difference between calling for (and using peer pressure to enforce) a respectful moment of silence and presenting a silent portion of the halftime entertainment. By and large, the latter does not work. In practice, without music or the like to draw and redraw attention to the field, people lapse into conversations, food and restroom runs, stretching, and other noisy distractions and pay little or no attention to the field. Like it or not, the band drew far more attention to the drill team than the silence ever would have.