Steelers broadcaster will make ceremony

Myron Cope is out of the hospital and ready for Monday night's honors.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Former Pittsburgh Steelers announcer Myron Cope won't be added to the team's injury list for Monday night's game against Baltimore after all.
Cope was released from UPMC Presbyterian Hospital on Tuesday following a 31/2-day stay with bronchitis and is looking forward to being honored during the Monday night game for his 35-season stay in the broadcast booth.
"My doctor told me there was a bug going around, and I felt so sick Saturday I thought, 'I may kick the bucket right here,"' Cope said Wednesday. "I didn't have an ounce of strength. But the next day I turned around and by the third day I was fresh as a daisy. I'm feeling better now than I have for a long time."
The quick recovery comes in time for a busy two weeks of recognition for the 76-year-old Cope, whose uninterrupted streak of seasons from 1970-2004 represents the longest tenure by a team broadcaster in NFL history.
Saluted by players
Cope will be saluted by numerous former Steelers players and team officials at a $175-a-plate charity dinner Sunday night at Heinz Field called "Yoi! A Tribute to Myron Cope." The Pennsylvania Legislature has designated Monday as Myron Cope Day in the state to coincide with Cope's recognition at the Ravens-Steelers game that night.
On Nov. 5, Cope will become the first NFL team announcer to be inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, whose members include Bob Hope, Edward R. Murrow and Orson Welles. It's an honor Cope calls "the highest recognition I've ever received."
Earlier this summer, Cope received the Pete Rozelle radio-TV award at the Pro Football Hall of Fame for longtime contributions to the sport.
Retired in June
Cope retired in June on the advice of retired Steelers executive Joe Gordon, who felt Cope's work had declined during an illness-interrupted 2004 season. Cope missed one game due to a concussion that resulted from a fall at his home and also was bothered by a long bout with hoarseness and a leg injury.
The hoarseness has persisted, though Cope said his voice has been much better in recent days, and he is glad now he didn't attempt to come back for a 36th season.
"My health went bad on me, but I fully believed my voice and legs would be ready for the preseason. But it didn't happen," Cope said. "I couldn't have done this season."
Began as sportswriter
Cope was a longtime freelance sports writer who wrote regularly for Sports Illustrated and the Saturday Evening Post before becoming a broadcaster at age 40. His screechy-voiced delivery, quirky phrases and trademark Terrible Towel, which has been twirled by Steelers fans at games since the 1970s, gained him national recognition as the Steelers won four Super Bowls in six seasons from 1974-79.
Last season, running back Jerome Bettis -- whose nickname, "The Bus," was popularized by Cope -- said he marveled after moving to Pittsburgh in 1996 that Cope was often more popular than the players themselves.
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