Behind the Yoi: The Life of Myron Cope, Legendary Pittsburgh Steelers Broadcaster

Myron Cope was the color commentator for Pittsburgh Steelers radio broadcasts from 1970 to 2005, the second-longest-serving team broadcaster in NFL history. At the peak of his popularity, an estimated 50 percent of Steeler fans turned down the volume on their TVs so they could listen to the radio as Cope, in his one-of-a-kind scratchy, raspy voice, barked out phrases like “Yoi” and “Okle-dokle,” often fueled by bursts of excitability and his own beautiful brand of homerism. About his voice, Cope said, “Mine isn’t a broadcaster’s voice; it tends to cut through concrete.” Cope helped forge the unbreakable bond between the city of Pittsburgh and its football team. His evening talk show, one of the first sports talk programs in the nation, dominated its time slot for more than twenty years, and he became the first pro football announcer elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame.

Born in Pittsburgh to parents of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, Cope attended the University of Pittsburgh and became a journalist. Though he forged a successful career writing for magazines like