The Ravens and Steelers rivalry needs no extra fuel, but the Week 13 rematch might have gotten some after Sunday night’s 13-10 Ravens win.
Ravens running back Ray Rice walked off the field waving a Terrible Towel at the Pittsburgh crowd. As any longtime watchers of the NFL are surely aware, the Steelers and their fans do not take kindly to players from opposing teams touching the yellow pieces of cloth. If they weren’t they got a reminder from Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley.
If youre not a steelers fan, dont put your hands on a terrible towel
— LaMarr Woodley (@LaMarrWoodley) November 20, 2012
Woodley later tweeted a picture of Rice with the towel on his head, along with a warning for Rice to pay attention to what happened to T.J. Houshmandzadeh (although Woodley refers to him as T.J. Whosyourmama) and LenDale White after they crossed a line that Pittsburgh would prefer you don’t cross. Houshmandzadeh, then with the Bengals, wiped his cleats with a Terrible Towel during a 2005 game and White stomped on one after the Titans beat the Steelers in 2008. Both the Bengals and Titans crashed out of the playoffs early despite winning their divisions with the Steelers taking out the Bengals (and quarterback Carson Palmer) in the first instance.
The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl that year and they won it again after White’s use of the sacred in Pittsburgh towel. We imagine Woodley and anyone else concerned about the Steelers would trade a towel on Rice’s head for a Super Bowl hat trick.