Kosar Takes a Pass on the Vikings, Sets Himself Up for Browns

Bernie Kosar said Wednesday, that, as expected, he will pass up the regular National Football League draft next Tuesday and instead make himself available in the supplemental draft this summer. Using that strategy, Kosar will end up with the Cleveland Browns, his favorite team, instead of the Minnesota Vikings.

Kosar, the top quarterback in the history of the University of Miami, is from Boardman, Ohio, 60 miles from Cleveland.

Kosar, whose grade-point average is about 3.5, is graduating after only three years at the school. He took advantage of his advanced academic status and a loophole in the NFL’s rules to give himself a choice between the Browns and the Vikings, who have the second pick in next Tuesday’s draft. Buffalo, which has the first pick, already has signed defensive lineman Bruce Smith of Virginia Tech, but will have to go through the formality of drafting him. The Browns have the top pick in the supplemental draft.

The United States squandered a three-goal lead in the final seven minutes Wednesday and wound up with a 5-5 tie with East Germany but qualified for the playoff round in the World Ice Hockey Championships at Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Larry Holmes will end his brief retirement May 20 at Las Vegas when he fights Carl (The Truth) Williams in defense of his International Boxing Federation heavyweight title. NBC will televise the bout live.

A Manhattan appeals court has restored the licenses of boxing manager Carlos (Panama) Lewis, fighter Luis Resto and trainer Pedro Alvarado, who were banned by the New York Athletic Commission after charges of glove tampering. The Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court, saying that the athletic commission proceeded improperly, ordered a new hearing into the beating Resto gave Billy Ray Collins in Madison Square Garden June 16, 1983.

Liverpool and Juventus, two of Europe’s soccer powers, reached the final of the Champions’ Cup. Liverpool, the defending champion and a four-time winner, reached its fifth final with a 5-0 two-game total score by winning, 1-0, in Athens against the Greek club Panathinaikos. Juventus, beaten in the 1973 and 1983 finals, was defeated, 2-0, in Bordeaux, France, but advanced on a 3-2 total score, having beaten the talented French league leader in Turin, Italy, previously.

Robert Simels, a lawyer who successfully defended New York Jet quarterback Ken O’Brien against assault charges last year, sued the National Football League player, charging that O’Brien owes him nearly $40,000 and refuses to pay. Simels defended O’Brien after he and Jet defensive end Mark Gastineau were charged with misdemeanor assault on three men in a brawl at the Studio 54 discotheque in September, 1983.

A group of investors who want to bring major league baseball to the Tampa, Fla., area is negotiating to buy the Oakland A’s, according to members of the group, headed by Frank Morsani. However, the A’s, whose stadium lease in Oakland expires in 1977, deny that the club has held talks with the group.

Names in the News

Guard Johnny Davis of the Cleveland Cavaliers underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a broken jaw and will miss the rest of the playoffs.

Jacques Demers, coach of the St. Louis Blues, is facing two misdemeanor charges for allegedly poking a fan with a hockey stick during a National Hockey League playoff game at Minneapolis April 13.

Dale Earnhardt blazed to a speed of 167.702 m.p.h. on the final open practice day for The Winston at Harrisburg, N.C., breaking the unofficial world record for stock cars on a 1.5-mile track. The former record, 166.067, was set by Tim Richmond last October.

Former Dallas Cowboy John Niland remained jailed without bond in Dallas following a judge’s ruling that he violated conditions of his probation for a 1983 drug-possession charge. Niland was picked up April 8 on drunken driving allegations, authorities said.

Louisiana State University has given basketball Coach Dale Brown a new five-year contract worth at least $135,000 a year.