Bernie Kosar: Bankruptcy and Financial Ruin

Although most of the pictures of me as a child show me in a worn and beloved #17 Brian Sipe jersey, my life as a true football fan didn't really begin until 1985. I was a ten year old boy when Bernie Kosar, who would go on to wear #19, left the University of Miami early to come play quarterback for the Browns. The team he grew up loving. For eight years he provided me some of the most vivid and remarkable images I have of NFL football. I learned through him what it meant to cheer passionately for a team, and the heartbreak of playoff losses.

I don't know of another QB more loved by the city he represented. In many respects Bernie Kosar is like a god in Cleveland. But, Bernie Kosar now faces bankruptcy. His life has become a tragic tale broken by the reality of financial ruin. "It was a sad tale. Kosar's Chapter 11 filing Friday lists assets between $1 million and $10 million and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million." Wrote Dan in a blog titled 'Kosar's financial downfall brings sad life to forefront.'

But, this article also mentions the physical breakdown Kosar has experienced since his playing days. "Kosar has a mangled body - a perpetually bent throwing arm, crooked fingers, creaky knees and a bad back. Even his hip needs replaced following the rough life of professional football." How sad it is to see your boyhood hero reduced to ashes as his life crumbles around him. At one time he was physically able to compete in one of the roughest games in the world at the highest level, now barely able to walk without pain.

The difficult part about this for Kosar though, as he watches his marriage crumble, is how fooled he had been by the circus of people that surrounded him throughout his early career. "I was 25 and everyone was telling me that I was the smartest; now I'm 45 and realize I'm an idiot," Kosar said. "I'm 45 and immature. I don't like being 45." A sobering statement for a man that should be reaping the fruits of a life that from the outside looking in seemed so perfect.

Like so many athletes before him, Bernie now faces mid-life without the safety net money provides or the certainty of a future that once was driven by his rare but fleeting football ability. So, he now joins millions of people in America who also have had to start over recently. But, I am not so sure that the genius proscribed to him isn't so off target. The once King of Cleveland has a chance to finally grow up. And, just like he did over his entire career with the Browns, he will turn things around.

The game of football can be cruel. It eats up and spits out its best. But, for some, life beyond football can be used as a continuing testing ground for their competitive spirit and will to win. Count Bernie Kosar in that number. He is currently down, but he will never be out. This won't be the last we hear of him.

Sources: Dan, "Kosar's financial downfall brings sad life to forefront", Ohio.com.