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Cleveland Browns legend Bernie Kosar was released from the hospital on Monday after a successful liver transplant just a week earlier.
Kosar, who was released one day before his 62nd birthday, said he feels like a “walking miracle.”
“There’s no way I thought I was going to be here for my 62nd birthday,” Kosar said during a press conference Monday, according to Cleveland.com. “There’s no way I thought I was going to be healthy, let alone get out of here.”
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Cleveland Browns all-time great quarterback Bernie Kosar is introduced to fans before the National Football League game between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 16, 2022. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“I feel like a walking miracle.”
Kosar revealed that he needed a transplant after being diagnosed with liver failure in July 2024 in an interview with Cleveland Magazine.
After being placed on a transplant list in spring 2024, Kosar received a new liver on November 17. The liver came from Bryce Dunlap, 21, who had died of complications from an anoxic brain injury the day before.
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Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar (L) and broadcaster and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady are on the field before a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 8, 2024. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Dunlap, who according to the family was a big Browns and Cleveland sports fan, would be celebrating from heaven for having saved someone’s life, according to the family.
“We are very happy that Bernie has been released so that he can continue to recover comfortably. We truly believe that Bryce is looking down and is very proud to have helped a Browns legend. And that is what is helping us move forward. Bryce was an incredible kid with the biggest heart,” the Dunlap family said in a statement to 3news.com
When told the story of how Kosar got his liver, the Browns legend became emotional.
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Cleveland Browns alum Bernie Kosar on the field before the National Football League game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns on December 23, 2018, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“First I’m trying not to cry. I love him,” Kosar told 3News. “Yes, he’s putting me down, and I’m so grateful for that. But he’s inside me, too. I feel him inside me. I know it sounds corny or outside; I feel him inside me. There’s more than me in me now. There’s no doubt about that. I just love him and his family. You matter.”
Kosar spent 12 seasons in the NFL, nine with the Browns. He was named to his only Pro Bowl with the Browns, but won the Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys in 1993. He spent the final three seasons of his career with the Miami Dolphins.
In 126 games and 108 starts, Kosar had a 53-54-1 record and completed 59.3% of his passes for 23,301 yards, with 124 touchdowns and 87 interceptions.
