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'Terrible Towel' Doesn't Sit Well With The Broncos

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Nov 11, 2009 5:49 pm US/Mountain

'Terrible Towel' Doesn't Sit Well With The Broncos

By Matthew J. Buettner, cbs4denver.com

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DENVER (CBS4) ― On the 16th Street Mall after the Denver Broncos humiliating loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, for every person sporting a Broncos jersey there must have been six others with a Steelers jersey. Guess what they all had with them? The dreaded Terrible Towel.

The Terrible Towel was created in 1975 by Steelers radio broadcaster Myron Cope and has now become arguably the best-known fan symbol of any major sports team. On Monday Night in Denver the Terrible Towel was out in full force and the Broncos players definitely noticed.

"I was disgusted with the amount of Steelers fans that invaded Invesco Field (at Mile High)," CBS4 Broncos Insider Vic Lombardi said on Comcast Broncos Live! on Monday.

Broncos defensive end Kenny Peterson was the guest host on the show and he said he couldn't help but notice all the Steelers fans.

"It was kind of shocking towards the end of the game, you see all those yellow flags, or towels, or whatever you want to call them, waving around," Peterson said. "It's kind of embarrassing."

After all, it is the Broncos' home turf.

"One thing I noticed when they were walking off the field they had a huge crowd of people on their side by their tunnel. That doesn't sit well with me," Peterson said.

"The Steelers travel well, the Packers travel well; you're going to get that out of those kinds of teams," Lombardi replied.

Steelers fans take the Terrible Towel everywhere they go. It's been photographed all over the world, including places like the summit of Mount Everest, the South Pole, battlefields in Iraq and even on the International Space Station.

"When you see the opposing team with more fans than your home team, it's definitely tough, man," said Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan, the special guest on Comcast Broncos Live! "We have great fans, just last night we didn't have enough of them in the stadium."

It is believed the Terrible Towel was the first such "rally towel" and has made the way for other teams to create rally items such as the "Homer Hanky" for fans of the Minnesota Twins and the "Hate the Yankees Hankies" once used by fans of the Cleveland Indians.

The Broncos don't have such an item as the Terrible Towel, but hopefully a lot of Denver fans show up Sunday at the nation's capitol when the Broncos take on the Washington Redskins. The game can be seen at 11 a.m. on CBS4.

From the Pittburgh Steelers Web site:

"The Terrible Towel Is not an instrument of witchcraft … It is not a hex upon the enemy. The Towel is a positive force that lifts the Steelers to magnificent heights – and poses mysterious difficulties for the Steelers' opponents only if need be. Many have told me that the Terrible Towel brought them good fortune, but I can't guarantee that sort of thing because the Steelers, after all, are The Towel's primary concern. Still, at the least, the symbol of the Terrible Towel will serve as a memento of your having been part of the Steelers' Dynasty and if it causes good things to happen to you, so much the better."  -- Myron Cope

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