Caleb Williams is regarded as the next elite quarterback prospect in the NFL. The 2022 Heisman Trophy winner is the top-rated signal-caller in the 2024 NFL Draft class, and is likely going to be the No. 1 pick.
The USC quarterback has had another dominant college campaign, but his individual performance has not translated to wins. The Trojans have one of the worst defenses in the league, and with three losses already on their record, the chances of USC getting a Pac-12 title shot or a spot in the CFB playoffs are practically zero.
As the NCAA campaign winds down, and the NFL season begins its separation between contenders and pretenders, the bottom-dwellers of the league have their eyes on Williams and the No. 1 pick. He is viewed as an elite talent at the position and can be a centerpiece for an organization for years to come.
One of the more unique tidbits on Williams is his reported interest in owning part of an NFL team. It has been reported that the quarterback told teams that he was looking for a minority stake in whatever team selects him at the 2024 draft.
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Would it be possible for Williams to be a player-owner in the NFL? The Sporting News explains more about Williams’ ownership interest and the history of player-owners in sports.
Caleb Williams NFL ownership
Earlier this season, the NFL adopted a rule that prohibits giving equity in a franchise to current players or other employees within the organization. There were a number of reasons outlined by the league, including salary-cap complications and potential conflicts of interest.
The timing was not necessarily random. After the news of the rule broke in July, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that Williams’ representatives were letting prospective NFL teams know that the USC QB wanted partial ownership of whatever team selects him in the 2024 NFL Draft.
There has never been an active NFL player in the modern era that has also owned part of the team he plays for. Back in the 1920s, George Halas owned the Bears while he played, and then coached the team, but that was nearly 100 years ago.
Given the new rule implemented by the league, Williams’ reported wish of being a player-owner won’t come to fruition.
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History of player-owners in sports
There have only been a handful of player-owners in sports, and not all of them have worked. Here is a look at some of the most famous examples in recent history:
Mario Lemieux
Perhaps the best-known instance of a player-owner in sports is Mario Lemieux. The former Penguins superstar played for 17 seasons in the NHL and is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
During the 1990s, Lemieux dealt with a cancer diagnosis as well as multiple back surgeries. That never slowed down his play — he won two Hart Trophies and four Art Ross Trophies from 1992 to 1997 — however, the center announced his intentions to retire following the 1997 playoffs.
Pittsburgh owners Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg were running the team into the ground financially. During the 1998-99 season, the team was forced to declare bankruptcy and it appeared that the organization could be moved out of Pittsburgh, or folded entirely. Until Super Mario stepped in to save the day.
Lemieux proposed to buy the team, converting part of his deferred salaries into equity for the organization. He eventually got approval from the NHL’s Board of Governors in September of 1999, and Lemieux became the first former player to become a majority owner of a team.
“Le Magnifique” decided to come back during the 2000-01 season, and he ended up playing for another five seasons. Given his unique status as a player-owner, Lemieux did not vote in owners’ meetings, delegating the role to a Penguins vice president instead.
Lemieux remained an owner of the team following his second and final retirement in 2006 until 2021, when he sold his majority share of the organization to the Fenway Sports Group.
Michael Jordan
NBA fans likely remember Michael Jordan being an owner of the Hornets. The six-time champion purchased the Charlotte organization in 2010, but sold his majority stake earlier this year, keeping a minority portion of the team.
However, the Hornets are not the first team that Jordan has owned. When the NBA’s GOAT announced his second retirement in January of 1999, he ventured into the business world. Less than a week after hanging up the sneakers, the Wizards announced Jordan had purchased a minority stake in the franchise, as well as becoming president of basketball operations.
Despite stating previously that he was “99.9%” certain he would not play in the NBA again, rumblings began in 2001 about Jordan’s intention to return to the court as a player. That hope came to fruition ahead of the 2001-02 season, as Jordan un-retired for the second time.
Unlike Lemieux, who continued to own the Penguins despite returning to the ice for the team, Jordan was not able to hold both a player and owner role. When he announced his intentions to come back to the NBA and play for the Wizards, he was forced to step down from his role as Washington’s president of basketball operations and sell his minority stake in the team. Jordan sold his 10% stake in the organization to Ted Leonsis.
Jaromir Jagr
Another Penguins legend, Jaromir Jagr spent 24 years in the NHL, the first 11 of those seasons in Pittsburgh. A native of the Czech Republic, the superstar winger left the NHL in 2008 to play in the KHL before eventually returning to North America in 2011.
Jagr has never owned any stake in an NHL club; however, he is the owner of Rytiri Kladno, a professional hockey club in Jagr’s hometown that plays in the Czech Extraliga. The wing came up through Kladno’s youth system, skating for their U18, U20 and professional teams before he was drafted to the NHL. He purchased the franchise back in 2011, and remains an owner to this day.
While Jagr left the NHL in February of 2018, that did not mark his retirement from hockey. He returned to the Czech Republic to play for Kladno, and he has been a player-owner for the Knights ever since. The 2023-24 season marks his seventh consecutive campaign in a dual-role with the team, as he attempts to avoid bankruptcy for the club.
“I would never have been a hockey player if it was not for this town and this club,” Jagr said to The New York Times back in February. “I would be a totally different person. This club and this city made my life. It’s my responsibility to give it back.”
Even at the age of 51, Jagr remains on the ice in order to help bring in fans for the club that he owes his career to.
David Beckham
David Beckham was a long-time striker who played for numerous clubs, including Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy, as well as a successful international career with England. He’s one of the most popular figures in the soccer world around the globe, and remains involved in the sport due to his status as an owner.
Beckham was the first major player to leave Europe to play in Major League Soccer, the top level of professional soccer in North America. He joined the Galaxy in 2007, signing a monster five-year contract worth more than $30 million.
Part of his contract with the Galaxy was a unique provision that gave him the option to buy an MLS expansion franchise in any market (except New York City) when he decided to retire. There was a fixed price of $25 million attached in the deal.
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Once Beckham stopped playing, he exercised his option in February of 2014. The ownership group led by Beckham began the process of adding an MLS team in the Miami area. While it took longer than expected, the club, named Inter Miami, began playing in 2020.
Beckham’s involvement with the Miami club was a major reason why the team signed Argentina superstar Lionel Messi this past summer, bringing arguably the greatest current soccer player to the United States.