Browns’ Plan To Add an NFL Legend As Minority Stakeholder Falls Through

The Cleveland Browns will not add a minority stakeholder after all.

And a legend of the game will have to wait in order to be a “proud owner” of an NFL franchise.

Charles Woodson told Front Office Sports that he won’t acquire a minority interest in the Browns, after refusing to erase his name from his whiskey and wine ventures.

“I thought I was going to be a proud owner of the Browns but it wasn’t able to happen because I wasn’t able to take my name off of my product,” said Woodson to FOS. “It’s what made the product. It’s how I started so I wasn’t able to do that.”

According to the report, Woodson would have been close to purchasing a 0.1 percent stake in the Browns, an interest worth around $4 million, assuming that Cleveland’s franchise holds its $4 billion valuation.

The Browns told FOS in a short statement: “We respect the decision by Charles and wish him well.”

Why Charles Woodson Won’t Become a Minority Owner of the Cleveland Browns

League policy prohibits any club owner, no matter the size of his share, to use his name, image and/or likeness for promotional purposes on alcohol. The Hall of Famer decided he wasn’t going to take his name off his Charles Woodson’s Intercept Wines nor WoodsonWhiskey labels.

Woodson was seeking to become the most recent Michigan man to own a minority stake in an NFL franchise, joining his former teammate at Ann Arbor, Tom Brady, who is a minority co-owner of the Las Vegas Raiders.

A former Heisman Trophy winner for the Wolverines, Woodson played 18 years in the NFL, distributed among the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. A nine-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro, Woodson was Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1998, Defensive Player of the Year in 2009, and a one-time Super Bowl Champion.

Woodson -- an Ohio native -- was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Browns are in the midst of another rebuild after the team put an end to Kevin Stefanski’s six-year tenure as head coach, replacing him with recently hired Todd Monken. Jimmy and Dee Haslam have been controlling owners of the franchise since 2012, when they acquired Cleveland’s franchise for $1.05 billion from Randy Lerner.

During the Haslams’ ownership of the Browns, the club has made only two postseason appearances with one playoff win, and have zero division titles.

Woodson had been originally approved to acquire a 0.1 percent minority interest in the club in May of last year.