When Hall of Fame head coach Bill Cowher led the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl for the first time in 2006, he bucked tradition and had his team wear their road whites.
The Steelers were technically the “home” team in the game, but Cowher made the executive decision to put his team in the jerseys he liked best. At the time, [Cowher said he didn’t understand all the chatter about the decision](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/sports/football/cowhers-gambit-the-steelers-will-wear-white.html), insisting it was not a superstition but merely an aesthetic preference.
Nearly 20 years later, the Steelers busted out a perturbing throwback uniform on _[Sunday Night Football](https://awfulannouncing.com/nfl/worker-acrisure-stadium-sunday-night-football-seriously-injured-50-foot-fall.html) in Week 8_. Cowher was appalled, to say the least.
“I don’t like them at all,” he said on _The Dan Patrick Show_ on Monday morning following Pittsburgh’s loss in the kits, which featured black and yellow stripes on the tops and a khaki-color tan on the pants.
Asked by Patrick whether he would have nixed the throwbacks if he were still coach, Cowher offered an aggressive confirmation.
“I don’t know if I could (veto), but I would make every attempt to do so,” he said. “I wouldn’t upset anybody, but I would let them know that is not my favorite uniform. Particularly on that particular night, going against the Green Bay Packers.”
Pittsburgh lost to the Packers in Super Bowl XLV shortly after Cowher retired.
Teams like the Steelers often honor their history with unusual throwback jerseys. Rarely do they look visually appealing compared to modern tastes, often becoming the subject of ridicule by fans.
However, it’s rare for a uniform to be so bothersome to a franchise legend that they are ripped on national television.