Charles Woodson tells Front Office Sports he wasn’t able to by a small portion of the Browns because he didn’t want to give up his burgeoning liquor businesses.

CLEVELAND — Last spring, the Browns touted a new member of their ownership group, announcing that Pro Football Hall of Famer Charles Woodson had purchased a minority stake in the team.

“As he is an Ohio native, we’re so thrilled to have Charles on board as a limited partner of the Cleveland Browns because he knows how much football means to this community,” majority owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said at the time. “We know he will be instrumental in helping shape the future of the club through his insight and leadership and we are looking forward to having him as part of our ownership group.”

Woodson’s status as a limited partner hadn’t just been agreed upon — it had been fully approved by the league’s owners. However, in an interview with Front Office Sports this week, Woodson confirmed his status as a member of the Browns organization actually never came to pass.

The reason? He didn’t want to part with his burgeoning liquor businesses.

“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,” Woodson, a Fremont Ross alum, told FOS’ Ryan Glasspiegel. “It’s what made the product. It’s how I started so I wasn’t able to do that.”

Since 2019, Woodson has been the face of both Woodson Whiskey and Charles Woodson’s Intercept wine, with many of the drink products not only featuring his name but also images from his time as a star in both college and the NFL. The brands have also inked sponsorship deals with a number of organizations and teams — including the University of Michigan and the Las Vegas Raiders, whom Woodson both played for.

Alcohol advertising has been a part of the NFL for years and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, that advertising gets a bit trickier for people who actually own one of the league’s 32 clubs.

“The league’s policy prohibits any owner, regardless of the amount of ownership, to use his or her name, image, and likeness for promotional purposes (of alcoholic products),” an NFL spokesman told FOS last May, when the agreement between Woodson and the Browns was announced. “NIL could not be featured on newly produced bottles, for example.”

So, unwilling to take his name and image of the bottles of whiskey and wine, Woodson decided owning an NFL team wasn’t for him after all. In a statement to FOS, the Browns said, “We respect the decision by Charles and wish him well.”

According to multiple outlets including 3News media partner Cleveland.com, Woodson forfeited what would’ve been a 0.1% stake in the team — worth roughly $4 million-$5 million. It doesn’t seem like he’ll be strapped for cash, though, as the former Ohio Mr. Football and Heisman Trophy winner made around $100 million during his pro career and also works as an analysts for Fox Sports’ NCAA and NFL coverage. His liquor businesses also continue to grow, including during Super Bowl at some of the top spots in San Francisco.

“For the whiskey, for us what’s exciting right now is we’re in that phase of looking for funding to try to take it to the next level — increase sales force and reach across the country,” Woodson told FOS.