- Pro Football Hall of Fame announcer for the Pittsburgh Steelers for 35 years. Invented the "Terrible Towel" fans waved at games. Wrote for Sports Illustrated and the Saturday Evening Post before entering broadcasting.
- Pittsburgh Steelers announcer (1970-2004).
- Writer by trade.
- Broadcast five Super Bowls. He became the first pro football announcer elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame.
- Awarded the American Institute for Public Service's Jefferson Award in January 1999.
- In 1987, on the occasion of the Hearst Corporation's 100th anniversary, he was named as a noted literary achiever.
- The Terrible Towel, long since a worldwide symbol of Steelers passion and often the Steelers artifact with which he is most identified, is now a trademark that benefits the Allegheny Valley School., an institution for the profoundly mentally and physically disabled where his son was enrolled.
- He served for many years on the board of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Autism Society of America.
- He left Sports Illustrated due to the demands of his burgeoning radio career, and in no small part due to health insurance concerns as they related to his son, Danny.
- At its 50th anniversary, Sports Illustrated cited his profile of Howard Cosell as one of its 50 all-time classic articles.
- In 1963, he won the E.P. Dutton Prize for "Best Magazine Sportswriting in the Nation" for his portrayal of Muhammad Ali, then Cassius Clay.
- Lived all but seven months of his life in Pittsburgh, the short period in 1951 when he took his first job after graduating from Pitt at the Erie Times, where an editor changed his byline to Cope.
- Survived by his daughter Elizabeth and his son Danny. A second daughter, Martha Ann, is deceased.
- Popular Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers broadcaster(1970-2004) who invented the Terrible Towel and helped popularize the phrase "Immaculate Reception" to describe one of the best plays in team history.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content