Tom Brady and Charles Woodson have plenty in common.
They were teammates at the University of Michigan. They both enjoyed Hall of Fame careers. They both have ties to the Las Vegs Raiders. They’re both currently employed by Fox.
And now, they’ll both potentially face restrictions as broadcasters and NFL owners.
On Thursday, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini broke the news that Woodson has purchased a minority stake in the Cleveland Browns. And while the Fremont, Ohio native will only own a 0.1 percent stake in his home state team, he’ll also be subjected to the same hurdles that Brady has faced as a broadcaster for Fox as minority owner of the Raiders.
As was highly publicized last season — Brady’s first for Fox — the 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback was barred from visiting team facilities and doing most of the standard background work that broadcasters do to talk to players and coaches ahead of broadcasts. Tom Brady was also restricted in what he could say with regard to being critical of league officials, although he was ultimately permitted to do so within reason.
While such restrictions likely won’t prove as impactful for Charles Woodson considering that the Hall of Fame defensive back doesn’t call games for Fox, his inability to criticize league officials could come into play via his role on the Fox NFL Kickoff pregame show. In addition to his broadcasting restrictions, Russini also noted that the 48-year-old also won’t be able to use his name, image and likeness on products that violate the NFL’s policies, including wine and whiskey businesses that he’s currently involved with.
All things considered, it doesn’t appear that the restrictions will be as prohibitive for Woodson’s role as they have been for Brady’s, nor will they be covered with the same level scrutiny. Still, it’s interesting to see another former player be able to keep his job as a broadcaster despite the inherent conflict of interest that comes with joining an ownership group in the league he covers and it will be interesting to see whether this becomes an emerging trend.