When was bernie kosar drafted

Since the Bills had the worst record in the season, they held the first pick in both the regular NFL draft and the supplemental draft in When a selection is used in the supplemental draft, that team forfeits the pick in the next regular draft which meant that the Browns could use the Bills regular draft first round pick as the first pick in the supplemental draft.

On April 10, NFL spokesman Joe Browne said that if Kosar's paperwork was not received by the April 15 deadline then he would not be eligible for the regular draft on April Browne added that if Kosar later decided to play in the season, then the league would hold a supplemental draft for Kosar and other eligible players.

Minnesota responded by stating that when Kosar announced he would turn professional, he was, in effect, declaring his intention to enter the draft. They also charged that the Browns and Kosar's agent orchestrated this scenario in order to subvert the NFL's orderly system of drafting players and claim Kosar for themselves.

Mike Lynn also stated that since Kosar had hired an agent, he should have automatically lost his college eligibility and become eligible for the regular draft. The Oilers threatened to sue the NFL if Kosar was allowed to skip the regular draft in favor of the supplemental draft and Kosar's agent threatened to sue the NFL if Kosar was forced into the regular draft. Due to the controversy, on April 12, commissioner Pete Rozelle extended the April 15 eligibility deadline for Kosar alone who had not officially filed the paperwork for draft eligibility and called a hearing that would take place on April The four teams Buffalo, Cleveland, Houston and Minnesota involved in the two trades presented their case at the hearing.

On April 23, Rozelle announced that he would leave the decision up to Kosar, but permitted Minnesota to persuade Kosar to enter the regular draft with the condition that they could not negotiate a potential contract with him. This led to an April 25 news conference where Kosar announced that he wanted to go home to Ohio as a member of the Cleveland Browns and that he would forgo the regular NFL Draft and make himself eligible for the supplemental draft.

On May 10, Kosar officially announced his intentions for the supplemental draft in a letter to the commissioner. On June 25, Kosar became officially eligible for the supplemental draft when he took his exam finals and the university notified the NFL front office that he had graduated. On July 3, , the Browns selected Kosar and signed him to a five-year contract that same day.

On a related note, Buffalo tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the worst record in and would have had the first pick in the draft. Since that pick was traded to Cleveland and it was used for the supplemental draft, the Bills essentially forfeited the first overall pick in the draft. The Bills however, still had the rights to Jim Kelly at the time and eventually signed him.

The Buccaneers ended up selecting Bo Jackson with the first pick at that draft. Both the Bills and the Buccaneers lost the opportunity to have the first player in the draft play for them. Kosar's choice of the Browns, who were coming off a 5—11 season, made him an immediate fan favorite. His friendliness with fans and on-field performance would make him one of the most popular players in team history. Kosar was not the most athletic man to play quarterback.

He was famously immobile and threw with an unwieldy sidearm motion. However, he threw with a high rate of accuracy and rarely forced throws or made bad decisions. In and , Kosar set a league record by throwing consecutive passes without an interception a record since surpassed by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on December 26, against the Buffalo Bills. The Browns intended Kosar to serve as Gary Danielson 's backup in Kosar's rookie season, but Danielson injured his shoulder in the fifth week.

Nevertheless, the team sneaked into the playoffs with an record, losing to the Miami Dolphins in the divisional playoffs. Danielson was injured again in the preseason, and by the time he healed, Kosar had established himself not only as the Browns' permanent starter but as one of the league's top quarterbacks.

In a new, passing-focused offense, Kosar threw for 3, yards and finished second in the league with completions. The Browns took top seed in the American Football Conference with a 12—4 record. In the divisional playoffs against the New York Jets , Kosar threw for a playoff-record yards in leading the Browns to a dramatic 23—20 comeback victory in double overtime.

Nevertheless, the novelty song "Bernie, Bernie", to the tune of "Louie Louie" continued to receive airplay on many Ohio radio stations throughout Kosar's tenure with the Browns. Kosar's finest year statistically was In the strike-shortened season, he completed 62 percent of his passes for 3, yards and 22 touchdowns and led the AFC in quarterback rating.

Kosar also made his only Pro Bowl that season. Kosar spent most of the season sidelined with injuries but came back to throw for 3, yards in That year, the Browns advanced to the AFC championship for the third time in four years, losing again to the Broncos in Denver. Kosar set a record for consecutive playoff games with at least three touchdown passes 3 games having thrown three scores against both Indianapolis and Denver in , and three against Buffalo in Kosar's later years in Cleveland were dampened by injuries and dwindling support around him.

In , Kosar threw a career-high 15 interceptions as the Browns went 3— As a rookie, the former national champion looked ordinary. But he took incremental steps forward, culminating in his only Pro Bowl selection in However, injuries took a toll on the 6-foot-5, pound signal-caller. The local hero spent nine years in orange and brown before a young Bill Belichick famously benched Kosar for Vinny Testaverde.

The Browns cut their long-time starter in the middle of the season after he went with five touchdowns and three picks. He started just two games in South Florida and lost both of them.

Kosar retired after his age season with a disappointing career record of He threw touchdowns, but his 87 interceptions and 51 career fumbles played a major role in his lack of NFL success. His ability to read the field and pull off the most remarkable of plays was legendary. But it was the read he made in the spring of to take advantage of a little-known and rarely used NFL rule so that this Northeast Ohio kid could end up in Cleveland that may be his greatest. It was March of , and Kosar was coming off his second season with Miami, meaning, playing-wise he was still an underclassman.

At the time the only players who could enter the NFL Draft were seniors and those who had graduated. As the spring semester started, Kosar wasn't thinking NFL, but his father identified a way for Bernie to enter not the regular draft but the supplemental draft, a move that would stand a better chance of him landing with the Cleveland Browns.

The supplemental draft to that point hadn't really been used with people that maybe were worthy of a first-round pick back then. I had convinced myself there was no way I was leaving the 'U,' no way," he said. We won a National Championship in '83, we went to New Year's Day Bowls each year and we were going to be even better the next year in '' I had seen how just easy it was to play top-tier dominating football, and I had kind of been there and done that already," Kosar said.