Known as the original of now-ubiquitous rally towels, the myth of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ gold towel has grown throughout the years and is now the stuff of legend. These gold towels have been striking fear into the hearts of Pittsburgh’s foes and have become not only the symbol of the team, but of the city itself.
Who Started the Terrible Towel?
In 1975 WTAE, the Steelers’ flagship radio station, wanted to come up with a promotional product for the upcoming playoffs. The Steelers were set to play the then-Baltimore Colts in the first round. The station turned to broadcaster Myron Cope to come up with an idea, despite Cope at first believing such an endeavor to be a “gimmick.”
In 1975, the Pittsburgh Steelers battled the Baltimore Colts in the NFL playoff game leading up to that year’s Super Bowl. With hopes of packing the stadium with Steelers fans, the Terrible Towel was born – custom towels with the words Terrible Towel printed in black on a yellow background. These were given to fans for free as they entered at the gates of the stadium
Cope insisted that promotional products should be items fans already had in their homes. Together with WTAE executives, Cope landed on a towel. In the week leading up to the game, he hyped up his listeners and appeared on local news, urging fans to bring black, gold, and yellow towels exclaiming, “The Terrible Towel is poised to strike!” On game day, Cope barely noticed a towel during warm-ups, and he was worried his idea was a bust. Pittsburgh won the game, and would go on to win their second consecutive Super Bowl.
The Curse of the Towel
The Terrible Towel has become an image of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and opposing teams that have disrespected the rally towels have had unfortunate twists of fate befall them. Occurrences are many, and include a Ravens player stepping on the towel in 2008. The Ravens then lost all three games that year.
Order Wholesale Rally Towels
Promotional towels are now a staple at sporting events. Rally Towels offers custom towels and custom rally towels, along with wholesale rally towels. Rally Towels is the destination for promotional towels and wholesale rally towels, ready to make custom rally towels for your team and custom towels for your event.
