Former Browns QB great Bernie Kosar facing 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 60-year-old former player is on the list for a liver transplant, though University Hospitals hepatologist Anthony Post tells the magazine that Kosar has improved since the year started. At the same time, he warns that liver disease can fluctuate.

Another doctor, Cleveland Clinic chief wellness officer Michael Roizen, tells the magazine there is a more than 90% chance Kosar will need a new liver.

Kosar said he was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s by an independent NFL doctor in February.

The Youngstown, Ohio, native recalled being bothered by liver-related issues for years but brushed them off because he wasn’t sure of the source. A diagnosis of cirrhosis about 16 months ago confirmed the specificity and severity of his condition.

“My body gave out on me,” Kosar told the magazine, recalling an episode last December while attending a Browns home game against the New York Jets. “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 became sick again while traveling to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas and was hospitalized for several days.