The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens 26-24 in an unforgettable thriller on Sunday night. You likely have seen that a priest blessed the endzone ahead of the game, but it appears other spiritual forces may have been in play as well.
In a video posted to Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott’s Instagram, just days before the game took place, he attempted to hype up the city and the Ravens fan base for the game. In the full video, Scott appears to be paying back a lost bet to former Steeler
Ryan Clark. However, the mayor doesn’t commit and veers back into smack-talking the Steelers. In the relevant part of the video, Scott says, “The one thing you do with this towel is you wipe your butt with it,” and then the mayor mimics using the towel in that way. What Mayor Scott clearly doesn’t understand is that the Myron Cope Curse, sometimes referred to as the Terrible Tower Curse, is very real. And it doesn’t miss.
As the creator of the Terrible Towel, Myron Cope famously said, “The Terrible Towel is poised to strike.” It seems that the Terrible Towel struck the Ravens on Sunday night, costing them an AFC North division championship and a spot in the playoffs.
The idea of the curse has gained traction among fans over the years, with the simple idea that if an opposing team disrespects the towel in any way, their season could be in danger.
The evidence is quite compelling.
January 1979, Super Bowl XIII
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett made light of the Terrible Towel in an interview. When asked if he’d heard of the towel, Dorsett responded, “No I haven’t. What the hell is it? The Terrible Towel? That’s a new one. I don’t know what it is.”
To be fair, the towel had only been around since late December of 1975, and likely was not yet as iconic nationally as it is now after several decades of representing Steelers fandom. Any old timers in the comments, feel free to enlighten us!
In response to Dorsett’s dismissal, Cope reportedly replied, “That’s gorgonzola. Dorset was in Pittsburgh in ‘75 when the towel last flew and performed its miracles. And Dorsett just asked me about the towel about a week ago.”
The Steelers would go on to beat the Cowboys 35-31, winning their third title and giving some early legitimacy to the idea of this curse.
Back in modern times, Baltimore botching a clear opportunity to win a back-and-forth game with a 44-yard field goal at the end of the game feels like no coincidence. I, for one, choose to believe Tyler Loop’s hooked kick was another case of Myron Cope’s Curse punishing another foolish opponent for their hubris.
Afterall, the historical evidence behind the curse is quite compelling.
December 2005, T.J. Houshmandzadeh
The Bengals had a good year in 2005. Powered by a high-flying offense featuring quarterback Carson Palmer and receivers Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Cincinnati would win the AFC North and secure the AFC’s third seed. In the aftermath of a regular-season defeat of the Steelers in Pittsburgh, Houshmandzadeh would show the ultimate disrespect by wiping his shoes with a Terrible Towel. The curse would rear its head quickly, with the Steelers bouncing the Bengals in the Wild Card round en route to their fifth Super Bowl victory.
December 2008, the Tennessee Titans
In a similar fashion, the Titans clinched the top AFC seed for the 2008 season with a victory over the Steelers. It was an odd look at the time, as the Steelers and Titans don’t have a lot of history to warrant this disrespect. Pittsburgh had plenty of history against the Houston Oilers, but the Titans played their last home game in Texas in 1996, and it had been six years since realignment had moved the two teams into different divisions.
Still, the Titans players showed their disrespect, and then the team even had the nerve to distribute copycat towels in Titans colors for the team’s divisional playoff game against the Ravens. One of the most disrespectful players was running back LenDale White. In the playoff game, White would fumble with the Titans in field goal range, and Tennessee would ultimately lose by three points. The Steelers would go on to win their sixth championship.
The Titans would lose six straight — including the season opener against the Steelers — to open the 2009 season. They would go 8-8 and miss the playoffs. White, just 25 years old, would only manage 222 yards rushing in 2009. He would never play in the NFL again.
December 2016, Jeremy Hill
You’d think the Bengals would have a team memo about disrespecting the Terrible Towel after the 2005 incident, but a little more than a decade later, a Bengal once again foolishly penned their own doom. In a frustrating 2016 season for the Bengals, running back Jeremy Hill would score a touchdown to put the Bengals up 17-3 in the second quarter. While celebrating after the play, Hill got his hands on a Terrible Towel, attempted to rip it in half, and then threw it on the ground. The Bengals would blow the lead and the game, finishing the year 6-9-1. Worse for Hill, he would play in just nine more games in his career, totaling a mere 174 scrimmage yards and never scoring another touchdown.
Do you believe in the Curse of the Terrible Towel? Will opposing teams never learn? Let us know in the comments!
