Bill Cowher's wife Kaye has passed away...

[SteelCityPlayers]

Very sad news from Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Kaye Cowher, wife of ex- Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, lost her battle with skin cancer yesterday.

Young lady, very sad news.

[PHILLYBIRDS20]

sux hate to see anyone go thru that.

[Dr. Jack]

Yeah just read that. Always sad when someone young goes & scary when you hear skin cancer

[Gobbler's Knob]

wtf. Cancer sux.

[mikkii10]

Originally Posted by Gobbler's Knob

wtf. Cancer sux.

it is a black person's way of saying cancer sucks

[Steel]

RIP, She was a good lady who gave Bill 3 beautiful daughters. She was by his side his entire coaching carrer. God speed to the Cowher family

[TTB]

have to agree with gob........cancer is a bitch

[Andre]

WOW, thats horrible!!! He's such a great coach and seemed to be a great husband and father, my condolences!!

[ParrotHead]

Cancer is terrible. RIP. Very sad

[Sweetleaf22]

When thinking about the Cowhers as a family, I always marveled at how they seemed to be such a normal, functioning unit in an era when NFL coaches are practically expected to lead chaotic family lives. You know the storyline all too well by now. While dad is busy watching film 21 hours a day, his kids begin to make poor decisions. Some coaches have dealt with children who have drug problems. Others have children who were in prison. And in the worst case scenario, some have children who fall into both categories.


The Cowher family was different. It was almost like the plot to a sitcom. A super-intense pro football coach gets in the face of 350-pound defensive linemen by day, and watches girls' high school basketball games with his all-female household by night. Pitch that to any network and with the right cast, you've got a home run. But this was no TV show. It was the real deal.


Although coaching was his career and he excelled at it, I never got the impression that football was Bill's entire reason for being, because of his love for Kaye and their daughters. Just how important were they to him? So much that he walked away from a high-paying job he probably could've had for life in exchange for a completely different, family-centic existence in his wife's home state of North Carolina. And for that, I always admired him.


Kaye met Bill while at North Carolina State in 1976, and they were married five years later in 1981, when Bill was a member of the Cleveland Browns. 11 years later, he would become the heir apparent to Hall of Famer Chuck Noll as the newest head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Throughout Bill's career, Kaye always had a pleasant presence in Pittsburgh as a woman who supported her husband and let him follow his dream, which is summarized so poetically in the photo above.


It is unknown exactly when Kaye Cowher came down with skin cancer, which is a storyline nearly unbelievable in a day and age when everybody knows everything. But I'm virtually certain that her illness would explain Bill's longer-than-anticipated return to the pro football coaching ranks.


Words can't express how badly I feel for Bill and all of the Cowhers at a time like this, but I know the family will have immeasurable support from the card-carrying members of Steeler Nation. Rest in peace, Kaye Cowher.

mondesis

[epstein]

Some coaches have dealt with children who have drug problems. Others have children who were in prison. And in the worst case scenario, some have children who fall into both categories.

Even in a time of death SL finds a way to take swipe at Philly fans