Former Browns QB great Bernie Kosar battling health challenges

CLEVELAND — Former Cleveland Browns star quarterback Bernie Kosar has been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson’s disease, according to a story in Cleveland Magazine.

The former player, now 60, is listed for a liver transplant. However, Anthony Post, a hepatologist at University Hospitals, told the magazine that Kosar’s condition has improved since the beginning of the year. He also cautioned that liver disease can vary in severity.

Cleveland Clinic’s chief wellness officer, Dr. Michael Roizen, told the magazine that there is over a 90% likelihood that Kosar will require a new liver.

In February, an independent NFL doctor also diagnosed Kosar with Parkinson’s, he said.

The native of Youngstown, Ohio, remembered struggling with liver-related problems for years, dismissing them due to uncertainty about their origin. His condition’s severity and specificity were confirmed with a cirrhosis diagnosis about 16 months ago.

Kosar recounted to the magazine about an incident from last December when he was at a Browns home game against the New York Jets. He said, “My body failed me. I sincerely thought I wouldn’t be able to return home from the Jets game. Despite this, I managed to pull through and stayed away from the doctors until the new year.”

Next, I was admitted to the hospital and received a large blood transfusion. The questions arose: ‘How is it possible that you’re alive? How can you move? Your hemoglobin levels are extremely low.’

While traveling to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, Kosar fell ill again and was hospitalized for a number of days.

Copyright 2024 by The Associated Press