Bernie Kosar returns to Browns-affiliated TV station for 2017 coverage

The long-running story of Bernie Kosar’s affiliation with the Cleveland Browns continued this week when the team announced that he will be joining their “Browns Countdown” team on WEWS (Channel 5) this year. WEWS is the official television partner of the Browns.

The issues started back in 2013 when Kosar made critical comments about Rams players during a preseason game on WKYC (Channel 3), which at the time was the Browns’ television partner. In 2014, the team announced they were replacing Kosar with Solomon Wilcots, much to the dismay of many fans and the start of some bridge-burning that took place over the next two years.

In 2015, Kosar joined WOIO’s (Channel 19) pre- and post-game coverage on Tailgate 19, although the network was not affiliated with the team. He continued that role in 2016, but head coach Hue Jackson was instrumental in mending some of the fences with alumni, including Kosar, who was invited to attend some of the team’s offseason programs.

A story ran in April on Kosar getting some relief after having treatments related to concussions sustained during his career. Now, it’s good to see him return to a Browns-affiliated program, although it presumably means he’ll no longer work with the gang at WOIO. During the preseason, "Browns Countdown" will air 30 minutes prior to each preseason game broadcast. During the regular season, the pre-game show runs from 11:00 AM to noon, also featuring Andy Baskin, Matt Wilhelm, Hanford Dixon, and Nathan Zegura.

Earlier this offseason, we noted that although Wilcots will no longer be calling NFL games for CBS, he will still be doing the Browns’ preseason games. However, if he were to leave his post at some point, the door is more open than ever for Kosar to slip right in to that analyst role again.