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Former 'Canes, NFL star Kosar files for bankruptcy

Former gridiron great Bernie Kosar, dogged by financial and legal problems, filed for bankruptcy Friday.

Kosar, 45, the former Miami Hurricane and NFL quarterback, filed for Chapter 11, which is generally used by companies to reorganize.

The bankruptcy petition didn't provide much detail. Boxes were checked off on the petition indicating Kosar has assets estimated between $1 million and $10 million and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million.

The filing listed Kosar's largest unsecured creditors, owed a combined $19.5 million. Among them and the amount of their claims: the Cleveland Browns, a team he quarterbacked from 1985 to 1993, nearly $1.5 million; his ex-wife Babette, $3 million; and Jim Ferraro, the owner of the Cleveland Gladiators, an Arena Football League team, $725,000. Kosar is the team's president.

Other major unsecured creditors include Tampa's Florida Bank, owed about $9.7 million over some sour real estate investments, and Key Bank of Cleveland, owed $3.1 million.

The filing marks a hard fall for Kosar, the star Hurricanes quarterback in the 1980s who went on to excel in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns before ending his career with the Miami Dolphins in 1996.

Kosar, who owns a home in Weston, has endured a variety of setbacks lately. Kosar's wife, Babette, divorced him in 2007. Last year, his Bernie Kosar's Steakhouse went out of business.

Lenders also obtained foreclosure judgments on properties Kosar had an interest in in Tampa, Clearwater and Pinellas Park.

The Miami Herald
3:16 PM EDT, June 19, 2009