Nov 1, 2005 5 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – When game time rolls around, Myron Cope finds himself doing what he himself led countless Pittsburgh Steelers fans to do since the 1970s. He turns down the TV sound and tunes in the Steelers’ radio broadcast. Only occasionally is the man widely recognized as the one of most popular team announcers in NFL history compelled to scream at what he sees and hears.

“When I see a great play by the Steelers, I’ll want to start yelling but, like the Jacksonville game when they stunk out the joint, I want a microphone to holler at them,” said Cope, the always colorful analyst who retired last summer after 35 seasons in a never-quiet Steelers broadcast booth.

While the 76-year-old Cope no longer announces games, he’s so busy doing commercials, finishing up a revised edition of one of his five books and attending charity events – such as a Steelers dinner held in his honor Sunday night – he was forced to hire a personal secretary.

And how many non-athletes have been pictured on the sides of not one but two commemorative sports edition sets of beer cans, and for two different beer companies?

“I ain’t been retired for a second,” said Cope, honored during Myron Cope Day in Pennsylvania as part of ceremonies during the Ravens-Steelers game on Monday night.

If nothing else, his retirement has caused a steep drop in the decibel level of the Steelers’ broadcasts. Play-by-play announcer Bill Hillgrove and former Steelers lineman Tunch Ilkin go it alone in a two-man booth, and for good reason.

The Steelers knew it would be impossible to replace Cope’s unique perspective, top-of-the-lungs vocal histrionics and unrivaled popularity, so they didn’t try.

Running back Jerome Bettis said last year that Cope was as popular in Pittsburgh as the players themselves.

According to the NFL, no announcer worked continuously for the same team as long as Cope. He started in 1970, the same year the Steelers drafted Terry Bradshaw and moved into Three Rivers Stadium.

And no announcer had his background, either – or a voice to match his screechy falsetto.

Never a player, coach or team official, a rarity for an announcer who doesn’t do play-by-play, Cope didn’t begin his broadcasting career until months before taking the Steelers’ job at age 40. A widely published freelance sports writer in the 1950s and 1960s – a piece on Howard Cosell appeared in Best Of compilations by Sports Illustrated – he began doing sports commentaries on Pittsburgh radio and TV.

The Steelers thought he would bring a different perspective to their broadcasts when they paired him with play-by-play man Jack Fleming in 1970. They worked together until Hillgrove replaced Fleming a dozen seasons ago.

Even the Steelers had no idea how Cope would take off, with his collection of quirky catch phrases (Yoi! Hmm-haw! Garganzola!) unbridled enthusiasm and ability to critique and prod.

He also popularized the Terrible Towel, the yellow hand towel that has been twirled by millions of fans at games since the 1970s and bears his name. As part of Monday night’s ceremonies, the team asked Steelers fans across the country to twirl their Terrible Towels in unison before kickoff.

Since retiring, Cope has been presented with numerous awards, including the Pete Rozelle Award for radio and TV at the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer. Numerous former players roasted him at Sunday night’s $175-a-plate charity dinner, and he will become the first NFL team announcer inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago next weekend.

Still, Cope’s post-football life hasn’t been entirely without problems. He spent most of a much-too-long Pro Football Hall of Fame speech lobbying for the induction of former Steelers linebacker Andy Russell, causing some to boo and dinner officials to finally terminate his talk. Cope later apologized.

And, after spending his final season battling medical problems that included an ongoing bout of hoarseness, a concussion that caused him to be disoriented on the air and a leg injury, he spent 31/2 days in the hospital last week with bronchitis. He was so ill upon being admitted, he said, “I thought I may kick the bucket here.”

As a result, he’s glad he took retired team executive Joe Gordon’s advice to retire rather than attempt to come back for another season in the booth.

He attended one game in person, but was mistakenly assigned a restricted-view seat in the press box and decided halfway through the first quarter to go back home and watch on TV.

“Wherever I go, people sincerely ask me how my health is and almost always, they say “Myron, you’ve given me so much joy over the years,’ ” said Cope, who also hosted a popular nightly talk show in Pittsburgh for more than 20 years. “People also tell me it’s the end of an era, that there will never be an announcer who lasts this long again with a team.

“All I can say is, it is all very moving.”