With Cleveland poised to recognize October 13 as Bernie Kosar Day, we’re especially excited to share this episode of The O.H.I.O. Fund Report featuring Bernie Kosar — legendary Cleveland Browns quarterback, Youngstown native, entrepreneur, investor, and one of the most beloved figures in Cleveland sports history.

The timing feels especially meaningful. Cleveland City Council has introduced a resolution designating October 13 — 41 years to the day after Bernie’s first regular-season start for the Browns — as Bernie Kosar Day. We’re proud to share this conversation in advance of that recognition.

Growing up in Youngstown during the collapse of the region’s steel economy, Bernie developed an intense fear of failure and determination to find a way forward. That mentality ultimately carried him from an improbable childhood dream to quarterbacking the Cleveland Browns — but it would also be tested repeatedly long after his playing career ended.

In this vulnerable conversation, Bernie reflects openly on the highs and lows that followed: business and entrepreneurship, bankruptcy, addiction, mental and physical health challenges, and ultimately the liver transplant that gave him another chance at life.
Throughout our conversation, Bernie returns to a lesson he learned from Jimmy Johnson: somehow, someway, figure out a way to make a play.
It became more than a football philosophy. It became a way of approaching failure, recovery, business, health, and life itself.

We also discuss why Bernie has continued to choose Ohio throughout his life — from deliberately finding his way home to play for the Browns, to his optimism today about the state’s economic future and the opportunity to help raise Ohio’s collective ambition. That connection to place makes the city’s upcoming recognition of Bernie especially fitting.