Bernie Kosar addresses being fired for betting on Browns-Steelers game

It was a sack that former Cleveland Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar never saw coming.
Kosar was fired from the Browns radio pre-game show after placing a 19-thousand dollar bet on the Browns Steelers game Sunday.
Monday night on Kosar's podcast, The Bernie Kosar Show with Hanford Dixon, Kosar addressed the situation.
"It really was a vehicle of something for me that was a way to raise money for charity," Kosar said. "It was an awesome way I thought to raise money and be able to give back to people and to help and raise awareness for it but also generally flat out just to have dollars raised for people to help out Top Dawg, some of our ex-teammates, some of the people in the community."
Kosar says he's trying to raise money for foundations and organizations that can help people and ex-players dealing with health and wellness issues.
The Browns said in a statement, "Earlier this week we notified Bernie, that per league policy, we were required to remove him from our pre-game readio coverage for the season finale after he violated the NFL gambling policy by placing a bet on an NFL game. We understand what Bernie means to this community and our history but as team contracted personnel hired to provide content on our media platforms, his bet was a violation of NFL rules and we must adhere to all NFL policy."
Kosar said since he's not an employee of the Browns, he didn't think it would be an issue.
"I'm not an employee of the Browns so as an independent contractor, I'm sorry I had to put them in this position, I didn't want to put them in this position but because I'm not an employee I didn't think that was going to be an issue and because it was for charity, again, now I see the position for the Browns and the league that they're in but in no way do you want to put them on the spot and no way was this done in the interest of benefitting us," Kosar said.
Kosar apologized for putting the Browns in this position and while he's disappointed, he thanked Browns fans for all their support.
"I'm trending toward 60 years old, I haven't thrown a pass since the early nineties and to see this love and respect that you have for me, it makes me so proud to be from here and proud to be a Browns fan and you don't need to take it out on the team, we're all growing right now and learning and trying to do the best we can."