Pittsburgh native Myron Cope, one of the legendary announcers in NFL history, has died at age 79. 
Cope did did Steelers games on radio for 35 years and is the only American football commentator in the National Radio Hall of Fame. Cope is credited with inventing the "Terrible Towel," the yellow towels that fans waved for years at Three Rivers Stadium and now Heinz Field.
Cope was also famous for his phrases "yoi," which signaled that an important play had taken place; "Mmm-Hah!" and "Okel Dokel," which meant "okey dokey."
Cope retired after the 2004 season.
Condolences to the Cope family and all Steelers fans who mourn his loss.
Comments (6)
I can't wait to see the pics from his funeral. Terrible towels will be flying everywhere....I'll bet his casket has a huge Terrible Towel draped over it. Thanks for the memories Myron!
There are so many wonderful Cope stories... one of my favorite is that it was on his radio show that the term "Immaculate reception" was minted to describe the great Franco Harris catch. A caller Sharon Levosky, called Cope and mentioned that her friend Michael Ord had used the phrase to describe the catch while they were watching the game in a local Pittsburgh Shot and Beer Steelworkers bar. It was the Jewish Cope who popularized the phrase which was an obvious play on the Catholic derived term.
So explain how popular Cope was in Pittsburgh, it was standard practice in Pittsburgh to turn down the sound on the TV and turn on the radio to hear Cope call the game.
Well said, B N G. Thanks for sharing.
I heard of, more than heard Myron Cope but one-time driving to/fro Pittsburgh, I caught him talking about Dan Snyder, and his quote was "Tell the boy blunder to stick his head in a can of paint."
DCJF, One of the "charms" of Cope was that he had those kind of names for everyone... The Browns were the "Cleve Brownies", the Bengals were the "Bungles" ... very tame by todays standards, but appropriate for his era and market.
I remember cracking up out loud when I heard it...