Ex-Browns QB Bernie Kosar has a new liver after more than a year on transplant waiting list

CLEVELAND (AP) — Bernie Kosar received a liver transplant on Monday, more than a year after being placed on the waiting list.

“Hey, I’m out and I’m feeling good. Just ready to enjoy the rest of the week and the rest of our lives," the former Cleveland Browns and University of Miami quarterback said in a brief video posted on social media.

University Hospitals spokesperson Ansley Kelm said the transplant took place at UH Cleveland Medical Center in University Circle.

“The entire UH team has grown fond of Bernie and we are astonished by the indomitable spirit Browns fans have known and loved for decades. As with all organ donations, we are humbled and awed by the generosity of the donor and their family. Due to confidentiality laws, we cannot provide additional details about the donor,” Kelm added in a statement.

Kosar told Cleveland Magazine last year that he had been diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and Parkinson’s disease.

The 61-year-old from Youngstown recalled being bothered by liver-related issues for years but brushed them off because he wasn’t sure of the source. A diagnosis of cirrhosis in late 2023 confirmed the specificity and severity of his condition.

He went on the transplant waiting list last July. He was scheduled to receive a liver transplant last weekend but said that it was delayed because the donor’s organ was infected.

During the past week, he has undergone five procedures to stop internal bleeding.

Kosar played in the NFL for 12 seasons after leading Miami to its first national championship during the 1983 season. He grew up rooting for the Browns, who selected him in the 1985 NFL supplemental draft.

Kosar played for the Browns from 1985-93, leading the franchise to three AFC championship game appearances (1986, ’87 and ’89), losing each time to the Denver Broncos. Kosar is third in franchise history with 21,904 passing yards.

After being released by the Browns, Kosar joined the Dallas Cowboys for the remainder of the 1993 season and got a Super Bowl ring. He then played for the Miami Dolphins from 1994-96.

The Browns played a tribute video for Kosar before Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Coach Kevin Stefanski said Monday that he texted with Kosar on Sunday night and wished him luck.

“Yeah, I mean, Bernie’s my guy. I know that this town has such a special relationship with Bernie from his playing days and then the impact that he’s had on this community over the course of all these years,” Stefanski said. “I didn’t have that experience with Bernie prior to coming here, but since I’ve been here, he has just been such a supportive person of me, so kind to my family. I think he sees my family every game day and just is so good to them. So, he’s a special person. He’s a special Cleveland Brown, and we are all rooting for him and we are all right there with him right now.”

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FILE - Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar waves during a Browns' Alumni event before an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Nobel week was underway in Stockholm and Oslo with laureates holding news conferences and lectures before they will be awarded the prestigious prizes.

Hungarian László Krasznahorkai, who won the Prize in literature for his surreal and anarchic novels that combine a bleak world view with mordant humor, was expected to give a lecture in Stockholm on Sunday in one of his rare public appearances.

When the Nobel judges announced the award in October, they described the 71-year-old as “a great epic writer” whose work “is characterized by absurdism and grotesque excess.”

“Krasznahorkai’s work can be seen as part of a Central European tradition," the Nobel Prize organization said. ”Important features are pessimism and apocalypse, but also humor and unpredictability."

Last year’s winner was South Korean author Han Kang. The 2023 winner was Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, whose work includes a seven-book epic made up of a single sentence.

Meanwhile, the director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Kristian Harpviken, said Saturday that Venezuelan Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader María Corina Machado will come to Oslo this week to receive her award in person.

The 58-year-old, who won for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, has been hiding and has not been seen in public since January.

Harpviken told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK that Machado was expected to personally pick up the prize on Wednesday.

“I spoke with the Peace Prize winner last night, and she will come to Oslo,” Harpviken said, according to NRK.

Nobel Prize award ceremonies are held on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896. The award ceremony for peace is in Oslo and the other ceremonies are in Stockholm.

FILE - The Nobel medal in physiology or medicine presented to Charles M. Rice is displayed, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, during a ceremony in New York. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP, File)

László Krasznahorkai, laureate in literature, speaks during the signing of the Nobel chair at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency via AP)