Bernie Kosar

High school

Boardman High School

College

University of Miami

Pro team(s)

Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins

Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. was born on November 25, 1963, in Boardman, Ohio — a township adjacent to Youngstown in the Mahoning Valley — and attended Boardman High School. At the University of Miami, Kosar led the Hurricanes to the 1983 national championship as a sophomore, completing 61 percent of his passes against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Eligible for the 1985 NFL Draft, Kosar instead petitioned to be placed in the supplemental draft — engineering a maneuver specifically designed to allow him to play for his hometown Cleveland Browns, who had traded up for the right to select him. Cleveland embraced him like few athletes in the city's history. Kosar's unorthodox sidearm delivery, football IQ, and steady demeanor made him the cornerstone of a Browns team that advanced to the AFC Championship Game three times in four years (1986, 1987, 1989), narrowly missing the Super Bowl on two legendary occasions ("The Drive" and "The Fumble" against the Denver Broncos). Released by Cleveland in 1993, he won a Super Bowl ring with the Dallas Cowboys that same year. For a generation of Cleveland fans, Bernie Kosar remains the most beloved Brown of them all. Attended Boardman High School in Boardman, Ohio.