The Terrible Towel - More Than Meets The Eye

SteelerNation Waving Their Terrible Towels

Its time for an uplifting post from the Black n' Gold Blitz that will break SteelerNation out of its annual "Ravens Loss" funk.  The Terrible Towel is something that originally started as a gimmick to get more fans interested in the games.  Steelers Brass approached color analyst, Myron Cope, and told him to create something that the Steelers fans can do to get them more involved with in the game and with the team.  That "something" that he created was originally just telling fans to show up with a gold towel.  After local retailers were selling out of their gold towels, Myron decided to trademark the idea...and at that moment the "Terrible Towel" was born.  Most people know the Terrible Towel for what it is today.  Its sold in regular size, smaller size for the toddler, baby bibs (I have one of those for my kids), beach towel size, on hats, on gloves, on shirts, sweatshirts, and even earrings.  You can get it in the traditional "Steeler Gold" but other colors are offered: Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness), Camouflage, or the black variety.  The Terrible Towel has gone global and is a SteelerNation staple.  If you don't own a Terrible Towel, you aren't a true Steelers Fan...plain and simple.

Ray Rice Disrespecting "The Towel"

The Terrible Towel has become more than just a rallying towel for Steelers faithful.  Some might say that the Terrible Towel has been behind at least ONE of the 6 Lombardi trophies the Steelers have won.  Okay, maybe it didn't have much to do with it, but before the 2005 playoffs when Pittsburgh was traveling to Cincinnati as a 6 seed, Bill Cowher showed the team tape of T.J. Houszmenzadah (who cares about how to spell that turd's last name!) wiping his cleats with the terrible towel after the Bengals defeated the Steelers at Heinz Field.  The Tennessee Titans desecrated the towel when Javon Kearse blew his nose in a terrible towel, and LenDale (also known as LenWHALE) White stomped on it in disgust.  This disrespect has fired up the Steelers team, and the fans even worse.  To me, the latest disrespect was paid by Ravens RB Ray Rice when he walked off the Heinz Field surface with a Terrible Towel draped over his head (shown to the right) singing the song "Renegade" as if this was just another "walk in the park victory" in Pittsburgh.  Trust me, I got fired up after reading what he did.  He didn't so much disrespect the towel like the Bengals or Titans did, but he was blatantly mocking the Steelers and their Nation of followers.

To me, Lamarr Woodley put it best....on his Facebook page he said / wrote the following: "If you're not a Steelers fan, don't put your hands on a Terrible Towel."  As a Steelers fan, this makes me happy.  This is a man who has embraced EVERYTHING that the Steelers stand for...even the towels that their fans twirl around as a rallying cry for their favorite team.  Woodley's comment was surely intended directly towards Mr. Rice from the Ravens.  Every time someone disgraces the towel, the Steelers tend to rise up afterwards...lets hope that holds true.  The Terrible Towel isn't just a rally towel though.  Other teams have tried to duplicate it's success, but none have succeeded.  First, the Terrible Towels aren't just handed out at home games.  Most people think they are, but fans are using their hard earned money to buy these items.  The other teams (like the Ravens) who have tried to duplicate the same feeling as the Terrible Towel have all failed, and they GIVE THEM AWAY at the gate. 

Growing up, the Terrible Towel was, and still is, sacred in my house.  My father has one of the original Terrible Towels that just reads "STEELERS" on it...nothing else.  Not "Myron Cope's Terrible Towel"...just "STEELERS".  He has Terrible Towels for Superbowl victories and a newer Terrible Towel, but that original is a sacred thing.  So sacred, that it doesn't see the light of day until the playoffs.  Thats right, he keeps it in his closet (safely) until the Steelers reach the playoffs.  When that happens, the towel is removed and placed somewhere wherever my father is watching the game.  In the 2005 playoffs when it looked like the Steelers had wrapped up the victory over the Colts in the Divisional Playoffs game, my dad took the towel off the ledge underneath the TV and started waving it.  The next play Jerome Bettis fumbled and the game was in doubt.  Was it solely because he took the Terrible Towel down?  Probably not, but I still tell him that is the reason "the Bus" fumbled.  My Terrible Towel hangs on my mantle in the room where I watch all the Steelers games and doesn't come down till the Steelers season is officially over.  I'm sure my family isn't the only one with a weird superstition that involves the Terrible Towel.  It is more than "just a towel"...its hard to explain.  Its a sign, a representation, and a code for all Steelers to carry and unite SteelerNation all around the world.
What crazy superstitions / stories do you have regarding a Terrible Towel??  Leave it in the comment section below!