Join former Cleveland Browns Quarterback Bernie Kosar Thursday, October 5th, 2023, to hear his keynote presentation and celebrate a football legacy. The main event will occur from 6:30 pm-9:00 pm, with a special VIP "Meet and Greet" opportunity from 5:30 pm -6:30 pm. Proceeds will benefit the Brain Injury Association of Ohio.
Bernie Kosar is a former American football quarterback who played collegiately at the University of Miami, where he led the team to a national championship in 1983. He subsequently played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns (1985 to 1993), the Dallas Cowboys (1993), and Miami Dolphins (1994 to 1996). He was the backup quarterback on the 1993 Cowboys team that won Super Bowl XXVIII.
In 1985, in a supplemental draft, the Cleveland Browns selected him. Browns fans welcomed Kosar, an Ohio native, with open arms. Kosar did not disappoint the Browns, who had won five games and lost sixteen the season before. He led the team to the playoffs in his first season with eight wins and eight losses. The next season, with him as the team's permanent starting quarterback, the Browns won twelve games and lost just four during the regular season. The team missed playing in the Super Bowl by a single defeat. The Browns continued to perform admirably under Bernie's leadership for the next several years, but by the early 1990s, injuries had hampered him. Kosar left the Browns in 1993.
In 1994, Kosar was named the University of Miami Alumnus of Distinction. He was inducted into the UM Sports Hall of Fame in 1995, and in 1998, he joined the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the UM Football Ring of Honor in 1999.
Since his NFL retirement in 1996, Kosar has been involved in several sports and business-related ventures. He hosted the Nestlé/Bernie Kosar Charity Classic at Tanglewood National Golf Club in Bainbridge Township, Ohio, throughout the 1990s. In 1991, while still an NFL player, he established the Bernie J. Kosar, Jr. Charitable Trust, which helps raise funds for several children's charities.
In 2001, Kosar purchased the Florida Panthers, a National Hockey League team, along with pharmaceutical businessman Alan Cohen. Kosar also purchased a minority share in the Arena Football League's Las Vegas Gladiators in 2007 and announced that the team would move to Cleveland and play under the name Cleveland Gladiators. On October 16, 2007, Kosar was named team president and CEO of the franchise. The Gladiators finished the 2008 regular season 9–7, earning them a playoff berth.
On October 17, 2009, Kosar was hired as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns. He continues to use his time and talents to impact the community positively.
