Bernie Kosar, the intellectual quarterback who led the Miami Hurricanes to their first national championship and then backed up Dan Marino for three seasons with the Dolphins, said this week that he had Parkinson’s disease and cirrhosis of the liver.
In a Cleveland Magazine article, Kosar stated that he is in the early stages of his battle with Parkinson’s disease, a chronic brain ailment that affects the nervous system. Symptoms typically appear gradually and increase with time, and there is no known cure.
Kosar’s liver problems are more advanced, but there has been some progress recently.
He was placed on the liver transplant list in late spring, and Dr. Michael Roizen, one of his physicians and Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Wellness Officer, told Cleveland Magazine that Kosar has a greater than 90% likelihood of needing a new liver.
He was diagnosed with cirrhosis, the third stage of liver failure, 16 months ago, according to the magazine.
Kosar, 60, said an independent NFL doctor diagnosed him with Parkinson’s in mid-February.
He told the magazine that when he went to the Jets-Browns Thursday night game on December 28, “my body gave out on me.” I truly thought I wasn’t going to make it home from the Jets game. I swallowed it up and avoided the physicians till the new year. Then I went to the hospital and received a big blood transfusion. It was like, “How are you alive?” How are you moving? Because your hemoglobin levels are quite low.
Kosar told the magazine, “I wish you had seen me three months ago. Actually, maybe not, because I resembled death. I felt like dying. E. Coli causes blood poisoning. Heart problems. And I thought I needed a liver transplant right now. “I was in bad shape.”
His liver function has improved slightly since, which Kosar attributes to “an incredibly specific regimen of juicing, black coffee, and smart supplementation.”
Kosar will forever be remembered as the quarterback of South Florida’s 1983 national championship squad, which defeated much fancied Nebraska 31-30 in the Orange Bowl. Kosar was voted the game’s MVP, following a miraculous redshirt freshman season in which he started all 12 games and completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,328
In two seasons with the Hurricanes, he passed 5,971 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 29 interceptions. Kosar threw for 447 yards and two touchdowns in Miami’s final regular-season game, a 47-45 loss to Boston College, when Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary into the end zone was grabbed for the game-winning touchdown. Weeks later, in Miami’s final game, Kosar threw for 294 yards in a 39-37 Fiesta Bowl loss to UCLA.
Kosar graduated from the University of Michigan’s School of Business with a double major in finance and economics, and in March 1985, he announced that he would forego his last two years of undergraduate eligibility to turn professional. Kosar, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, also said he wanted.
After Kosar satisfied the NFL’s academic criteria, which allowed him to turn pro after only two college seasons, the Browns traded two first-round picks, as well as third- and sixth-round picks, to the Bills in return for the first pick in the supplemental draft, which they used to sign Kosar.
Kosar spent 8 ½ seasons with Cleveland, passing 116 touchdowns and 81 interceptions. However, he lost three AFC Championship games versus Denver. In 1993, after 10 games, the Browns released him, and he ended the season with the Dallas Cowboys, who had lost Troy Aikman to a season-ending injury.
Following the 1993 season, he signed with the Dolphins and spent the next three seasons as Marino’s backup, appearing in 14 games and starting two (both defeats) while throwing for 987 yards, five touchdowns, and six interceptions.
In addition to the Parkinson’s diagnosis and liver difficulties, Kosar has been dealing with the long-term effects of many concussions incurred while playing. Kosar’s symptoms include sleeplessness, impaired speech, and a buzzing in his head.
“I firmly believe in the power of positive thinking,” he told Cleveland Magazine. “To me, it’s more than just a slogan. I believe that positive energy can develop in our brains, and I enjoy living in a positive place. I want to think of things that will help. It may sound like I’m on a soapbox here, but I envision good health. It’s not so much that I’m trying to convince myself or that I’m in denial, but rather that I’m choosing to be positive. Because everyone has something. We all have health difficulties to some extent.”
