(born
November 25 ,
1963 in
Boardman, Ohio ) is a former
American Football Quarterback who played for the
Cleveland Browns from
1985 to
1993 and then finished his career with stints with the
Dallas Cowboys and
Miami Dolphins .
Kosar attended
Ohio 's Boardman High School, where he earned Parade All-American honors as a senior in
1981 . He chose to go to the
University Of Miami , which had a passing-oriented offense.
After being
Redshirted in
1982 , Kosar started all 12 games as a
Freshman in
1983 . He completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,328 yards and 15 touchdowns, leading the Hurricanes to a 11-1 regular season and a berth in the
Orange Bowl against top-ranked
Nebraska , which had won 22 consecutive games. In the game, Kosar passed for 300 yards and two touchdowns, and the Hurricanes topped the Cornhuskers 31-30 for Miami’s first national championship.
Now a national celebrity, Kosar did not disappoint in
1984 . He set Hurricane records with 3,642 yards and 25 touchdowns, was a second-team
All-America n and finished fourth in
Heisman Trophy voting. Kosar’s career completion percentage of 62.3 percent is still a Hurricanes record.
Under
National Football League rules at the time, only
Seniors and graduates could be drafted. Amazingly, despite all the time he spent with the football team, Kosar was about to graduate a year early from the University of Miami's respected
Business School , with a double major in
Finance and
Economics . The Browns convinced Kosar, who wanted to play for his hometown team, to wait until after the NFL
Draft to declare himself eligible for the pros. That allowed the Browns to take Kosar in a special supplemental draft.
'' in 1988]]
Kosar’s choice of the Browns, who were coming off a 5-11 season, made him an immediate fan favorite. His friendliness with fans and on-field performance would make him one of the most-popular players in team history.
Kosar was not the most athletic man to play quarterback. He was famously immobile and threw with an ugly half-sidearm motion. However, his accuracy was unmatched, and he rarely forced throws or made bad decisions. In
1990 and
1991 , Kosar set a league record by throwing 308 consecutive passes without an interception.
The Browns intended Kosar to serve as
Gary Danielson's backup in Kosar’s rookie season, but Danielson injured his shoulder in the fifth week. Kosar completed only half of his passes in the team’s rushing-oriented offense that year. Nevertheless, the team snuck into the playoffs with an 8-8 record, losing to the
Miami Dolphins in the divisional
Playoffs .
Danielson was injured again in the
1986 preseason, and by the time he healed, Kosar had established himself not only as the Browns' permanent starter but as one of the league's top QBs. In a new, passing-focused offense, Kosar threw for 3,854 yards and finished second in the league with 310 completions. The Browns took top seed in the
American Football Conference with a 12-4 record. In the divisional playoffs against the
New York Jets , Kosar threw for a playoff-record 489 yards in leading the Browns to a dramatic 23-20 comeback victory in double overtime. Only
John Elway’s famous 98-yard drive in the following week’s AFC championship kept the Browns out of the
Super Bowl .
1987 was Kosar’s finest year, statistically. In the strike-shortened season, he completed 62 percent of his passes for 3,033 yards and 22 touchdowns and led the AFC in quarterback rating. In an AFC championship rematch against Elway’s
Denver Broncos , Kosar threw for 356 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-33 loss. Kosar also made his only
Pro Bowl that season.
Kosar spent most of the
1988 season sidelined with injuries but came back to throw for 3,533 yards in
1989 . That year, the Browns advanced to the AFC championship for the third time in four years, losing again to the Broncos in Denver.
Kosar’s later years in Cleveland were dampened by injuries and dwindling support around him. In
1990 , Kosar threw a career-high 15 interceptions as the Browns went 3-13. The following year, he came back to throw for 3,487 yards and 18 touchdowns. A broken ankle sidelined him for most of the year in
1992 .
In
1991 , the Browns hired
Bill Belichick as head coach. Not a huge fan of Kosar, Belichick had signed
Quarterback Vinny Testaverde before the
1993 season. Early in the year, Belichick benched Kosar in favor of Testaverde. An injury to Testaverde later put Kosar back under center.
However, after a 29-14 loss to Denver in week 8, the Browns released Kosar. Belichick told a press conference Kosar was suffering from “diminishing skills.” The coach was not entirely incorrect; Kosar’s performance had trailed off in recent years. But the release of the popular player set off a wave of anger among Browns fans, some of whom came to the next home game in Kosar masks.
The
Dallas Cowboys then signed Kosar to fill in for an injured
Troy Aikman . Kosar performed well in four games for the Cowboys and earned his only
Super Bowl ring as a backup.
Kosar spent the final three years of his career with the Dolphins as a backup to
Dan Marino . He is perhaps best remembered among Dolphins fans for designing a trick play that helped the Dolphins top the Jets in a crucial game late in
1994 . With the clock winding down and the Dolphins down by 3, Marino pretended to spike the ball to stop the clock. He then threw the winning
Touchdown pass to
Mark Ingram .
Since retiring from football after the
1996 season, Kosar has been involved in several ventures. In
2001 , he became part-owner of the
Florida Panthers franchise of the
National Hockey League . In
2004 , he opened Bernie’s
Steakhouse in
South Miami, Florida . He was also publisher of ''Bernie’s Insiders'', a magazine that covered the Browns until it became the Orange and Brown Report at the end of 2005. The Bernie J. Kosar Jr.
Charitable Trust , established in
1991 , funds programs for children and young adults. Kosar has turned down feelers to run for public office.
Kosar currently lives in
Shalersville, Ohio with his wife, Babette, and four children. He remains to this day one of the most beloved players to have ever played for the Browns.
