Rozelle Will Leave Play Call to Kosar

Instead of deciding whether the right to draft quarterback Bernie Kosar of the University of Miami belongs to the Cleveland Browns or the Minnesota Vikings, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle punted Tuesday, leaving the decision to Kosar.

Rozelle said he will uphold the rules as previously applied, announcing that Kosar has until midnight Thursday to declare himself eligible for the college draft next Tuesday.

If, however, Kosar chooses not to enter the regular draft, Rozelle said the junior quarterback can become eligible for a supplemental draft this summer, as long as he graduates before September.

Rozelle’s decision virtually assures that Kosar will play for the Browns, who have the first selection in the supplemental draft.

Kosar’s adviser, Dr. John Geletka, said Tuesday he believes the quarterback would prefer to play in Cleveland, which is 60 miles from Kosar’s home town of Boardman, Ohio.

“I’m elated by the decision,” Geletka said.

Kosar is expected to reveal his plans at a press conference today in Miami.

President Art Modell of the Browns said he is confident that Kosar’s decision will favor Cleveland.

“Here’s a kid from the Cleveland area who says that he wants to play in Cleveland,” Modell said. “No offense to the city, but that doesn’t happen very often in Cleveland. You hear about that happening in San Diego, Los Angeles and New York, but not Cleveland.”

The mood in Minnesota was less optimistic.

“We’re not running around clapping our hands,” a Viking spokesman said.

Minnesota General Manager Mike Lynn said he will resume efforts to persuade Kosar to apply for the regular draft. The Vikings, who got the second choice in the first round in a trade with the Houston Oilers, would be in position to draft Kosar if he were available. Buffalo has the first choice but already has a contractual commitment to Bruce Smith, a defensive lineman from Virginia Tech.

Lynn said that the Vikings have postponed discussion of possible legal action until Kosar makes his decision.

“We’d like to get him to send in the letter,” Lynn said.

The Oilers said Tuesday that they also are evaluating their legal options.

This certainly isn’t the scenario the Oilers envisioned when Kosar announced last month that he intended to graduate in June, thus becoming a potential NFL draft choice even though he has two years of college eligibility remaining. Kosar, redshirted as a freshman, is a senior academically.

The Oilers, who had the second selection in the first round, weren’t interested in Kosar because they are satisfied with their own quarterback, Warren Moon, but figured that Kosar could bring them at least two defensive starters in a trade.

After discussions with several teams, the Oilers completed a trade two weeks ago with Minnesota. The Vikings traded the third selection in the first round and the second selection in the second round for the Oilers’ first-round choice.

Cleveland also made an attractive offer but the Oilers rejected it because the Browns are division rivals. A provision in the trade with Minnesota prohibited the Vikings from trading the selection to any team in the AFC Central.

The Vikings’ elation was short-lived.

On the same day the Vikings announced their trade with the Oilers, the Browns traded a player to be named later and a first-round draft choice in 1986 to Buffalo for the first selection in any 1985 supplemental draft.

Supplemental drafts are for players who are not eligible for the regular draft but become so before the next season.

The Vikings and the Oilers objected, claiming that the Browns were encouraging Kosar to withhold his name from the regular draft and become eligible for the supplemental draft.

“I don’t like the way it smells,” the Vikings’ Lynn told the Houston Chronicle at the time. “The whole thing’s kind of bizarre.”

Houston General Manager Ladd Herzeg accused Kosar of attempting “to circumvent the spirit of the draft.”

He said it “reeks of chicanery.”

Their contention was that players who forfeit their college eligibility automatically are candidates for the NFL’s regular draft. Lynn and Herzeg said that Kosar forfeited his college eligibility when he acquired an agent to represent him in discussions with professional teams. NCAA rules prohibit players from hiring agents to negotiate for them.

Geletka, Kosar’s dentist, denied that he is an agent, contending that he has acted in an unpaid, advisory role.

Rozelle said Tuesday he is not in a position to rule on Kosar’s college eligibility.

“In the circumstances of this case, I did not feel it was appropriate for the NFL commissioner to make a definitive determination of Kosar’s collegiate eligibility status, as Minnesota and Houston had requested,” he said.

“The NCAA has informed us that it has not declared Kosar ineligible and would not further consider his status unless Kosar attempts to resume college football participation. We received no clear evidence that would justify a determination that Kosar has lost his eligibility.”

Lynn said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by Rozelle’s decision.

The Vikings can try to persuade Kosar to enter the draft but are forbidden from negotiating a potential contract with him. Coach Bud Grant, defensive coordinator Jerry Burns, quarterback coach Marc Trestman, formerly Kosar’s quarterback coach at Miami, and Lynn previously have met with the quarterback.

As for the trade, the second-round choice Minnesota dealt to Houston reverts to the Vikings. Minnesota retains the second choice in the first round, but, by previous agreement, they cannot draft Texas A&M; defensive end Ray Childress or trade the choice to a team that will draft him. The Oilers plan to draft Childress with the third selection in the first round.

Besides the first selection in the supplemental draft, the Browns have the seventh selection in the first round of the regular draft.

If the Browns get Kosar in the supplemental draft, Buffalo will have Cleveland’s first-round selection in the 1986 regular draft. Also, the Browns have offered inside linebacker Tom Cousineau as the player to be named later in the trade, but the Bills want outside linebacker Chip Banks.