NFL Legend Bernie Kosar Diagnosed With Multiple Serious Diseases

Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar confirmed he's suffering from liver failure while battling Parkinson's disease during an exclusive interview with Cleveland Magazine.

The former Pro Bowler was placed on the liver transplant list in late spring, at which point his condition seemed more dire, but has since rapidly improved, according to his hepatologist, Dr. Anthony Post of University Hospitals. Kosar said he was also diagnosed with Parkinson's, though Cleveland Magazine said it was unable to independently confirm that diagnosis.

The former quarterback said he planned to attend the Browns' Thursday Night Football home game against the New York Jets on December 28, but was unable to due to his diagnosis.

“My body gave out on me,’’ Kosar said. "I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it home from the Jets game. I sucked it up, though, and continued to avoid the doctors until the new year. Then I went into the hospital and got a massive blood transfusion. It was like: ‘How are you alive? How are you moving? Because your hemoglobin levels are so low.’’’

Kosar was selected by the Browns in the first-round of the 1985 supplemental draft and spent the majority of his NFL career with the franchise, before later stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins. The former University of Miami standout was a Pro Bowl selection in 1987, having led the Browns to their second of three AFC Championship Game appearances in a four-year span.