Fisher OK with Terrible Towel stomp

[MapleLeaf]

From espn.com

Long after Tennessee dismantled Pittsburgh to clinch the top seed in the AFC, Titans coach Jeff Fisher finally saw the tape of players LenDale White and Keith Bulluck stomping on the Steelers' signature symbol, the Terrible Towel.

Fisher didn't see any news value in the antic, but it hit a nerve in one former Steelers coach.

"Why would it be a big deal? That if we play [the Steelers] again, they'll play harder? I don't think so," Fisher told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. "They always play hard.

"I mean, I know we weren't happy to have 10,000 people in our stadium waving those yellow towels. It's a tremendous commentary on the great fan base the Steelers have, but I'm sure our guys didn't like it. They're a good football team. They have our respect, and I'm sure we have their respect. But this isn't a big deal to me."

Not for Bill Cowher. A CBS-TV studio analyst since resigning as Steelers coach nearly two years ago, Cowher became animated on the air while watching Bulluck and White trample the towel after Tennessee's 31-14 victory in Nashville clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

"No disrespect to the Pittsburgh Steelers organization or the players on that team," Bulluck said Monday on "ESPN First Take," referring to the towel stomp. "It's not anything personal or disrespectful. It's just the attitude you've got to take" in a game of such magnitude.

The moment produced a flashback for Cowher, who was well known for his competitiveness and respect-the-game mentality while coaching Pittsburgh from 1992 to 2006.

"That looks like a pregame talk the night before to me," Cowher said, his eyes lighting up and his voice rising. "If [we'd] meet in the postseason, I know what I'm pulling out the night before the game."

Cowher admonished White by saying, "You've got to learn. ... I wouldn't do this, I wouldn't go there," and said Bulluck should know better because "you are a veteran, Bulluck."

Cowher's implied message to the Titans: There's a way to win in the NFL and that wasn't it, and you might regret the sideshow should the Steelers return to Nashville for the AFC Championship Game in four weeks.

The Titans' lack of respect for the Steelers' symbol almost seemed enough to motivate Cowher to return to the sideline, if only for one game. Almost.

"I don't care, I don't care. ... That's just our stand," Bulluck said. "Anybody that's going to come through here in the playoffs, we plan to stomp them out."

Still, Cowher emphasized, "It's one game, it's one game," and the Titans' victory will have no effect should the teams stage a rematch.

Cowher was speaking from experience.

Three years ago, Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh wiped his shoes with a Terrible Towel after Cincinnati won 38-31 in Pittsburgh in early December to all but clinch the AFC North. When the teams met again a month later in Cincinnati, the Steelers -- motivated by Houshmandzadeh's shoe-wiping display -- won 31-17 for the first of their three conference road playoff wins that led to the Super Bowl.

Afterward, a revved-up Cowher was caught by NFL Films mocking the Bengals' "Who Dey" chant in the locker room by yelling, "We Dey, We Dey, We Dey!"

 

[DC4]

OKAY, Lendale Keith and Javon had every right to do what they did..I mean they where playing at Home and you still see 10,000 TT's..so why not?

 

[utexas1007]

I'm ok with it. and I'm a Steelers fan. It's no big deal. It's football. We're not babies. Cowher's overreacting.

 

[Lake Louise]

Exactly. I mean, if it was @ Heinz Field, than maybe I could see what the problem would be, and that`s a big maybe, but it was in Titans home, their place to play. They didn`t appreciate seeing all those TT`s out there in the stands. I wont lie, when I flipped to the game, and it started to zoom out from the fans, seeing all those TT`s, I really thought they were in Pittsburgh for a second.

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

The Steelers will get over it eventually.

 

[PiStoL31PeTe]

Yea i agree home field seeing all those towles. Im a steelers fan and we'll just try to beat em next time.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

they'll get all upset and fired up and kick the crapola out of the Titans in the playoffs. I've said it a few times, and I'm standing by my opinion that I really don't think its as bad as its being built up to be. Like Bergy said, maybe 1/4 of the stadium, if not more, was filled with TT's.

 

[House of Steel]

You guys are missing the key point here. The Terrible Towel is a sacred symbol among the fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Look at it that way. That is why I am very upset and livid over it. Your not only mocking the Steelers, but your mocking the legendary creator, Myron Cope. It is very personal to the players and coaches cause that man represents what being a Steelers fan is all about. I know all of you just don't get the story. I understand. Just very fustrating trying to get my point across to all of you. You all have a right to an opinion, but man, it is just very wrong for what Bulluck and White done, very wrong. You better believe it, Karma is a real <Censored> and they are in for a rude awakening. I hope we do get a rematch.

 

[A.E]

Honestly...if it were me...I would of had to really dig deep down and restrain myself from wiping my
<you know what> with that towel.

It's a freaking towel..."sacred symbol or not"...it's a towel and it's yellow.