Bernie Kosar

Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL).

He attended Boardman High School, where he earned Parade magazine All-American honors in 1981 as a senior and was Ohio's Division I "Player of the Year."

He also gained recognition as a baseball player, especially for his pitching skills.

Kosar was recruited by University of Miami head football coach Howard Schnellenberger, and Kosar committed to the University of Miami, which ran a passing-oriented offense and was beginning to emerge as one of the top football programs in the nation.

Kosar proved instrumental in establishing the University of Miami nickname "Quarterback U" in reference to the number of top quarterbacks the program produced.

After being redshirted in 1982, Kosar started all 12 games as a freshman in 1983.

He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, leading the team to a national championship in 1983.

In the 1983 season, he completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,328 yards and 15 touchdowns, leading the Hurricanes to an 11–1 regular season and a berth in the Orange Bowl against top-ranked Nebraska, which had won 22 consecutive games.

In the game, Kosar passed for 300 yards and two touchdowns, and the Hurricanes topped the Cornhuskers 31–30 for Miami's first national championship.

Kosar earned Orange Bowl MVP honors for his performance.

In 1984, he set Hurricane season records with 3,642 yards and 25 touchdowns, was a second-team All-American and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Kosar's career completion percentage of 62.3 percent is still a Hurricanes record.

Kosar threw for 447 yards and two touchdowns, completing 25 of 38 attempts, in the Hurricanes' November 23, 1984 47–45 loss to Boston College when Flutie threw his famous "Hail Flutie" pass.

Earlier in the same year, Kosar watched as replacement quarterback Frank Reich of the University of Maryland launched what was then the biggest comeback in college football history.

Reich led the Maryland Terrapins back from a first-half deficit of 31–0 and won a 42–40 victory.

The game and pass have been described as among the most memorable moments in sports history.

He subsequently played in the NFL for the Cleveland Browns from 1985 to 1993 and the Dallas Cowboys (1993) and Miami Dolphins (1994 to 1996).

His final collegiate game was the 1985 Fiesta Bowl against UCLA, which the Hurricanes lost 39–37.

In that game, Kosar completed 31 of 44 passes for 294 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception.

Kosar graduated from the University of Miami School of Business with a double major in finance and economics.

He took 18 credit hours during the spring of 1985 and an additional six during the summer to graduate early.

In 1985, Kosar was a highly sought NFL prospect, described as having "an elite football IQ" and "being able to decipher a defense quicker than his coaches."

But his route from the University of Miami to the National Football League would prove to be filled with widespread controversy and the use of highly unconventional transactional and draft NFL tactics.

In a March 14, 1985 press conference in Miami, Kosar announced that he was foregoing his final two years of collegiate eligibility at the University of Miami to enter the National Football League.

Kosar grew up a Cleveland Browns fan, and also announced in the press conference that he would like to play for the Browns in his native Ohio.

NFL rules at the time only permitted college seniors and college graduates to enter the 1985 NFL Draft, and Kosar was still a University of Miami underclassman in March 1985.

To establish eligibility, Kosar announced he had arranged an expedited academic plan with 18 credits in spring 1985 and an additional six credits in the summer that would permit him to graduate from the University of Miami in time to meet the draft's eligibility requirements.

In June 1985, the University of Miami notified the NFL that Kosar had met the course requirements to graduate.

Seeking to obtain Kosar in the NFL draft, the Minnesota Vikings on April 9, 1985, traded with the Houston Oilers to obtain a top draft selection and announced their intent to draft Kosar.

Meanwhile, also seeking to draft Kosar, the Browns quietly traded their first round NFL draft selections for 1985 and 1986, their third round selection in 1985 and sixth selection in 1986 with the Buffalo Bills for the Bills' first pick in the 1985 supplemental draft, which paved the way for the Browns to select Kosar in the 1985 supplemental draft if Kosar entered it.

The NFL deadline for the submission of formal eligibility documents for the 1985 draft was April 15, 1985, and the Vikings learned that Kosar had not met the deadline.

"I'm as confused as you are," Vikings coach Bud Grant said at the time about Kosar.

"We put our bid on the line. It's up to the commissioner whether you need a verbal or a written commitment from the man. He dropped out of football, hired an agent and declared he was going in the draft. The only thing he didn't do was sign a letter."

Teams soon learned of the Browns' highly unorthodox trade with the Bills to obtain Kosar in the supplemental draft.

Several teams asked then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to prevent the unusual trade between the Browns and Bills.

Rozelle, in turn, announced that he was giving Kosar until April 23 to submit eligibility documents for either the traditional or supplemental draft.

He was the backup quarterback on the 1993 Cowboys team that won Super Bowl XXVIII.

Kosar was born in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in suburban Boardman Township.

He is of Hungarian descent.

Kosar was interviewed about his time at the University of Miami for the documentary The U, which premiered December 12, 2009, on ESPN.