Charles Woodson to receive Tom Brady treatment as broadcaster after purchasing 0.1% stake of Browns
Charles Woodson and Tom Brady now have something new in common.
The former has officially joined the latter in the world of NFL ownership. Woodson purchased a 0.1% stake in the Cleveland Browns, something that was approved at the league meetings in Minneapolis on Tuesday. The deal will reportedly see Woodson pay $5 million to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, which will value the Browns at $5 billion.
The deal comes with strings attached, though. According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, Woodson must adhere to the same broadcasting restrictions Brady encountered when he bought his minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders. Both Woodson and Brady currently work for NFL partner Fox Sports, with Woodson as a "Fox NFL Kickoff" analyst and Brady as the network's top NFL color commentator.
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Under the current rules, Brady is barred from other teams' facilities, prohibited from other teams' practices and not allowed to participate in production meetings with coaches, players and executives of any team whose game he's calling.
Brady's conflicts of interest as both owner and broadcaster were laid bare at times last season, but the NFL notably did lift the restrictions as Brady prepared for Super Bowl LIX. At 5%, Brady's share of the Raiders is also far larger than Woodson's 0.1% of the Browns, and he also played an active role in the football operations department. It's unclear if Woodson will have similar responsibilities with Cleveland.
Woodson also must reportedly remove his name, image and likeness from all of his other business interests, the most notable of which is his "Charles Woodson's Intercept" win label. Funnily enough, Brady's Raiders have served that exact product at a luxury tailgating shack in the past.
Per Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, Haslam hit it off with Woodson last year and opted to let him join the growing number of former athletes buying into teams. Woodson is a native of Fremont, Ohio, less than a hundred miles from Cleveland.
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Obviously, Woodson and Brady have some history together. They were on either side of one of the most controversial moments in NFL history, the infamous "Tuck Rule" game in which Woodson appeared to force a key fumble from Brady, only to have the turnover called back after the officials ruled Brady was still in the process of tucking the ball.
The matter still appears to be a sore spot for Woodson.
Beyond that, Woodson and Brady were teammates at Michigan during the team's national championship season in 1997, though Brady wasn't a starter at that point. Woodson brings one of the most accomplished résumés football has ever seen to the Browns. He became the first defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy at Michigan, and remains one of only two in history alongside Travis Hunter. In the NFL, he won Super Bowl XLV with the Green Bay Packers, received the 2009 Defensive Player of the Year award and was named to the Pro Bowl nine times.
He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
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