Steelers To Pay Homage To Terrible Towel Creator Myron Cope

PITTSBURGH, PA — As Myron Cope likely would have said it on the air when he was pleased with something: "Yoi! Double Yoi!" The late broadcaster and inventor of the Terrible Towel will be inducted into the Steelers' Hall of Honor on Sunday.

Perhaps the most revered non-athlete in Pittsburgh sports history, Cope spent 35 years as a Steelers radio analyst and was a longtime sports talk show host on what was then WTAE-AM radio.

But Cope probably is best remembered for creating the Terrible Towel in 1975 as a way to inspire fans during a Steelers playoff game against the Baltimore Colts. He urged Steelers faithful to take yellow dish towels to the game and wave them throughout, and the team ended up winning 28-10.

Thus the Terrible Towel was born. Official towels soon were manufactured and sold, but Cope didn't profit from them.

Cope's son, Daniel, suffered from severe autism and Cope donated proceeds from Terrible Towel sales to the Allegheny Valley School that specializes in caring for children with autism. In 1996, Cope gave the school ownership and trademark rights to the towel.

After his retirement in 2005, Cope was given the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television award by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first team color analyst to win the honor. He also was the first pro football broadcaster to be elected to the Radio Hall of Fame.

Cope was a graduate of Taylor Allderdice High School and the University of Pittsburgh. Before entering broadcasting, he was an award-winning writer with the Erie Daily Times, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sports Illustrated and Saturday Evening Post.

He died in 2008 at the age of 79.