Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar is facing multiple medical issues, including liver failure and early signs of Parkinson’s disease, he said in an interview with Cleveland Magazine.
Kosar, 60, said he was placed on a liver transplant list in late spring and that “an independent NFL doctor” diagnosed him with Parkinson’s disease in mid-February. The 12-year NFL quarterback said his body “gave out” during an appearance for the Browns’ Dec. 28th matchup against the New York Jets on Cleveland.
“I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it home from the Jets game,” Kosar said. “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.’’’
According to the report, doctors alerted Kosar in January that he likely needed a new liver. He fell ill again while attending Super Bowl LVIII festivities in Las Vegas, spending several days in the hospital.
The condition worsened in March, as Kosar said “I looked like death,” but he’s improved since then, his doctor told the outlet.
“I wish you could have seen me three months ago,’’ Kosar says. “Actually, maybe not, because I looked like death. I felt like death. E. Coli blood poisoning. Heart trouble. And I really thought I needed the liver transplant ASAP. I was in bad shape.’’
(Photo: Eric Espada / Getty Images)
