Ken Strauss
The Cowher Tragedy
Kaye Cowher (1956-2010)
As we all learned over this past weekend, former Steelers coach Bill Cowher lost his wife and best friend Friday night when Kaye Cowher lost her battle to skin cancer at age 54. It was a complete shock to me and I’m sure to the rest of Steeler Nation, since there wasn’t any information that she was sick to begin with. We all remember her standing on the podium at Ford Field fighting back tears when the Steelers won their only Super Bowl in the Cowher era. Of course when Cowher won his first AFC Championship back in 1995, Kaye and her three daughters were celebrating in the luxury box in Three Rivers Stadium.
There were a lot of rumors throughout the years that their marriage was on the rocks, but all was rest assured after the 2006 season, when Bill decided to hang his hat in Pittsburgh, so he could spend time in North Carolina with his family. As we all know, Bill hasn’t taken a coaching job since, and now after this tragedy, who knows what his future has in store.
Kaye was not only a great wife to a 14-year NFL football coach, but she was a loving mother of three girls. All of them have grown up, and are excellent athletes as well one that played basketball at Princeton University. At 54 years old, she is too young to be gone from us. I feel bad for Bill, the girls, and all the friends and family she had. I certainly pass along my condolences to the entire Cowher family.
