Bernie Kosar’s time in the spotlight in Northeast Ohio and with the Browns has come full circle — regrettably so.
And it took exactly 39 years and one week for it to happen.
It was July 2, 1985 when the Browns, after cleverly out-maneuvering the division rival Houston Oilers, traded with the Buffalo Bills to get the No. 1 overall pick in that year’s NFL Supplemental Draft.
The Oilers, who also wanted Kosar, could only stand back and watch then as the Browns used that selection to tab the star quarterback for the University of Miami, thus fulfilling his dream to someday play for the team he began rooting for while growing up in the Youngstown suburb of Boardman Township.
The Browns paid a stiff price in the deal, giving Houston the top portion of their 1985 and ‘86 college draft picks, including the first-rounder both years. But it was oh, so worth it, for Cleveland got its much-needed franchise quarterback who would go on to lead them to five straight playoff appearances from 1985 to ‘89, winning four Central Division titles and making three trips to the AFC Championship
Game, where they twice came agonizingly close to earning their first Super Bowl berth.
Because of this storybook tale of a hometown kid putting the hometown team onto his back and carrying it to such lofty places, plus the fact he is a truly kind and generous man who has stayed here and done so much tangibly and intangibly for the Northeast Ohio region for now nearly four decades, he is the most popular player in club history, even moreso than the iconic Browns quarterback whose poster hung on Kosar’s bedroom wall as a kid, Brian Sipe.
We go then from the top of that mountain and all those wonderful memories and happy thoughts, to the lowest depths of the valley with the sad, sobering news that broke Tuesday — July 9, 39 years and week later from where it all started — that Kosar has some serious health issues, including liver failure that might necessitate a transplant and the early signs of Parkinson’s Disease.
What a punch to the gut of Browns Nation, and just three weeks away from the start of training camp.
As such, then, just like the fact he has always given us all he’s got, it is time that we reciprocate and give Bernie Kosar all we’ve got with our hopeful thoughts and fervent prayers.
It’s the least we can do, right?
Steve King
