FOOTBALL Kosar attracts crowd at Camp of Champs

The ex-Browns quarterback signed autographs for 30 minutes at Mooney High.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- A skinny kid in a T-shirt and shorts stood in the middle of the large crowd around Bernie Kosar at Cardinal Mooney High School, handed him a football and asked Kosar to sign.
Kosar signed, then looked down and smiled.
"Are you gonna catch it if I throw it?" he asked. The kid nodded.
"Good," he said. "Because I can still sling it."
He threw a (nearly) perfect spiral and the kid caught it into his chest. Kosar laughed and said, "Nice catch."
Then he resumed signing.
For more than 30 minutes on Tuesday, this happened over and over and over.
Guest appearance
Kosar made a surprise appearance at the Mooney Camp of Champions on Tuesday. He had just left the Korey Stringer Charity Classic in Warren, and after an hour stop at Mooney, he was headed back.
"I'm having a blast," he said. "I love being around kids. It beats the heck out of being with adults."
Kosar, a 1982 Boardman High graduate, attended a Catholic middle school and actually considered attending Mooney. Problem was, Kosar was a throwing quarterback and Cardinals coach Don Bucci didn't like to throw.
"People tell me, 'Boy, you should have gotten Bernie,' " Bucci said. "But I don't know what good that would have done. We probably would have made him into a tight end."
Kosar attracted the biggest crowd of autograph seekers on Tuesday, but he wasn't the only big name at the camp. The Stoops brothers (Bob, Mike, Ron and Mark) joined Nebraska defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, former NFL players Michael Zordich and Terry Taylor, YSU coach Jon Heacock and Heisman trophy winner Gino Toretta.
"People ask how a Boardman guy could come to a Mooney event," Kosar said. "Well, we're helping kids.
"You never forget where you came from. I think all of us [at the camp] are successful because we remember who we are and where we came from," Kosar said.
Kosar signed every photo, T-shirt and football handed to him. After some signatures, he wrote, "Do well in school."
"You might expect an ex-football player to write, 'Do well in football,' " he said. "But an education is important.
"You don't know if it makes a difference, but it might."
Kosar, who went to the University of Miami before playing for the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins, now works on college and pro magazines and websites. He was wearing a "Bucknuts" polo shirt, advertising an Ohio State publication/ web site.
"This is a lot of fun -- my life is a lot of fun," Kosar said. "It's great. I never have to grow up."
scalzo@vindy.com