Don't desecrate the Terrible Towel.
Read about all the bad luck it has caused....
Before a 1994 playoff game against the Steelers' long-time rival Cleveland Browns, Steelers defensive tackle Brentson Buckner accidentally dropped a Towel that he was waving during the player introductions. Browns running back Earnest Byner stepped on the Towel yelling, "We don't care about your towel. We're going to beat you this time." This act "provok[ed] other Steelers and Browns to mingle. Not affectionately."[39] The Steelers won the game 29–9.[39]
During a December 4, 2005 game at Heinz Field, T. J. Houshmandzadeh of the Cincinnati Bengals wiped his feet on a Towel after he scored a touchdown.[40] Although the Bengals managed a 7-point victory in that regular season game, the Steelers came back to defeat them 31–17 in the playoffs, on their way to a victory in Super Bowl XL.[41]
Before the September 29, 2008 Steelers game at Heinz Field, Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason stomped on a Terrible Towel. The Ravens then went on to lose all 3 of their 2008 season games against the Steelers, including the 2008 AFC Championship Game.[42]
On December 21, 2008, LenDale White and Keith Bulluck of the Tennessee Titans stepped on a Terrible Towel after the Titans's 31–14 victory. Pittsburgh's Larry Foote responded, "They deserved to do that, they whooped us, they deserve to celebrate and, hopefully, we'll see them again."[43] While Hines Ward said, "[T. J. Houshmandzadeh] did kind of the same thing and you see where they went."[43]Tennessee was eliminated during the divisional round of the 2008 playoffs, despite being the top seed in the AFC.[44]
On January 27, 2009, at a public sendoff in Phoenix for the Arizona Cardinals before they faced the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon produced a towel and called the Cardinals mascot, Big Red to the stage, where he used the towel to wipe his armpits. Gordon then blew his nose on the towel.[40] The Cardinals then proceeded to lose the Super Bowl to the Steelers, 27-23.