3 former Cleveland Browns stars you forgot played for another franchise
By Randy Gurzi
1. Bernie Kosar: Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins
To this day, Bernie Kosar remains one of the most popular Cleveland quarterbacks of all time. A local kid who went to Miami, Kosar wound up joining his hometown team via the 1985 NFL Supplemental Draft. It was controversial at the time but it worked out for both Kosar — who lived out his childhood dream — and the Browns, who landed one of the top prospects in the nation.
Kosar started 10 games as a rookie and led his team to a 4-6 record. The following year, they won 12 games with Kosar under center, and in nine seasons, they were 53-51-1 with him leading the way. Cleveland also made four playoff appearances with him as the starter and while they didn't win it all, he had a playoff victory in three consecutive seasons — from 1986 through 1989.
Eventually, Kosar's time came to an end thanks to Bill Belichick, who preferred Vinny Testaverde. He released Kosar during the 1993 campaign and the signal-caller wound up signing with the Dallas Cowboys. Again, the move worked for Kosar as well as the team he was joining.
Bernie Kosar played QB for the Dallas Cowboys in 1993 👀
— Let’s Talk NFL 🏈 (@TalkFootball34) April 14, 2022
Talk about great player wrong uniform!#NFL @VintageBrowns #Browns pic.twitter.com/W9mzPdghmN
Dallas was able to turn to a veteran quarterback when Troy Aikman was injured and he had 410 yards with three touchdowns in the regular season. He then made an appearance in the NFC Championship Game when Aikman suffered a concussion. In relief of the Hall of Famer, Kosar was 5-of-9 for 83 yards with a touchdown. He even got to take the final kneel-down a couple of weeks later when they won the Super Bowl.
While some remember Kosar went on to win a ring, his time with the Miami Dolphins isn't as memorable. There, he backed up another great player in Dan Marino. Kosar started two games in two seasons and threw for 987 yards with five touchdowns and six picks before retiring after the 1996 campaign.
It's strange to see him in a different uniform but at least he wasn't forced to move to Baltimore, which could have happened had he stayed a couple more seasons with the franchise.
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