Kaye Cowher, the wife of former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, died Friday after battling skin cancer. She was 54. "Kaye was such a loving and compassionate person and she was the foundation of our family," Bill Cowher, now an NFL analyst for CBS, said in a statement. "Kaye was always at my side throughout my career as a player, coach, NFL analyst and, most importantly, as a parent to our three daughters Meagan, Lauren and Lindsay. They will miss their mother dearly." Born Kaye Young in Bunn, N.C., she met Bill Cowher at NC State in 1976, where he was a linebacker and she and her twin sister, Faye, played women's basketball. The couple married in 1981. "Kaye was the rock that we could all lean on in the tough times. She was looked up to by so many people and I cannot say enough about what Kaye meant to our family," Cowher said. "Her memory will never be forgotten." Kaye Cowher played a key role in her husband's decision to retire from coaching in 2007 and move full-time to Raleigh, so the family could be together as their daughters completed their high school and college basketball careers. The family relocated to Raleigh during Cowher's final year as coach in 2006, one season after the Steelers won the Super Bowl. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5406440
