National Football League

Steelers drop Terrible Towel lawsuit

Published Aug. 21, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Pittsburgh Steelers and a related charitable foundation have dropped a trademark lawsuit after a man stopped selling ''Terrible Towel'' knock-offs in different languages.

Nick Rossi said last week he began making the towels to raise money for Italian earthquake victims a few years ago before expanding production to other languages including Spanish and Hebrew.

Rossi says he changed his design to get rid of ''terrible'' in any language after receiving cease-and-desist letters about the towels, which benefit mentally disabled children and adults at the Allegheny Valley School.

The school was a favorite charity of the team's late radio announcer, Myron Cope, who created the ''Terrible Towel'' in the 1970s and whose autistic son lives at the school.

Rossi says he's still selling towels that don't violate the trademarked language.