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Pittsburgh Steelers Celebrate 40th Anniversary Of Terrible Towel

PITTSBURGH (KDKA)- It's as much a part of game-day as pulling on a favorite Steelers jersey.

"The biggest thing about the Steelers, the best part, the towel," said Michael Steen, New Jersey-native.

"It's all about the team and about supporting the players on the field and just when they see us doing this, it hypes them up," Tania Jaromash, Steelers fan, added.

It's been 40 years since Myron Cope introduced the terrible towel to help whip fans into a frenzy for a playoff game against the Baltimore Colts.  His daughter Elizabeth and son Dan led the Terrible Towel twirl Sunday afternoon.

"I think about him back in the day and the 1970's. I think about him in 1975 when he came up with the towel and was trying to name it and he named it. It was around our dinner table," said Elizabeth.

Money raised from the sale of the terrible towel, including the new 40th anniversary edition, continues to help the Allegheny Valley school, a school for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And nobody can't go anywhere without seeing those towels. Michael Barbosa, Steelers fan, has seen Terrible Towels in Europe as well.

"I have been to plenty of places around the world in vacation and a lot of places I have seen Terrible Towels: Paris, Italy, Canada, Mexico, everywhere," said Barbosa. "It gives me goosebumps. When I see that stadium and it is just a sea of yellow with the towels twirling, I swear it gives me goosebumps."

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