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NFL legend Bernie Kosar is dealing with some serious medical issues.
In a feature for Cleveland Magazine, the former Cleveland Browns great revealed that he is currently suffering from early onset Parkinson’s as well as live failure.
According to the 60-year-old Kosar, his health began to decline after the December 28th Browns game against the Jets where he learned he needed a new liver after being hospitalized.
“My body gave out on me,’’ he says. “I really felt like I wasn’t going to make it home from the Jets game. 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.’’
Kosar says that he feels a bit better now after following a strict diet but hit a rough patch after the Super Bowl.
“I wish you could have seen me three months ago,’’ he 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.’’
Kosas says he was also diagnosed with Parkinson’s, but he’s trying to keep a positive mindset going forward.
“I strongly believe in the power of positive thinking,’’ he says. “For me, it’s not just a slogan. I believe that positive energy can be manifested in our brains, and I love to live in the space of positivity. I want to think about things that are helpful. It sounds like I’m getting on a soap box here, but I visualize good health. It’s not so much that I’m trying to sell it to myself, or that I’m in denial, as it is choosing to be positive. Because everybody’s got something. We’ve all got health issues to some degree, we all have bumps in the road.’’