A Cleveland cornerback joins a Cleveland ownership group
Denzel Ward now owns a piece of the Cleveland Guardians. The club announced the investment this morning and did not disclose the size of the stake.
Ward has spent his entire football life inside Ohio. He played at Nordonia High School in Macedonia, earned All-American honours at Ohio State, and the Browns took him fourth overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. He starts his ninth season with them this week.
“Cleveland is my hometown. I’m so blessed to be able to show up for this city on the field and now as a part of the Guardians organization,” Ward said. He added that he was grateful “for the opportunity to continue to pour into this community and give back to the best fans in the world.”
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The money behind the move
Ward signed a two-year extension with the Browns in July that runs through 2029. It pays $62.2 million with $39.8 million guaranteed. Spotrac puts his career earnings at $103.4 million, which explains how a 29-year-old cornerback ends up on the cap table of a baseball franchise.
Five Pro Bowl selections back the football side of the resume. Away from it, Ward runs a foundation that raises money to fight heart disease, work that has kept his name in circulation around north-east Ohio well beyond Sundays.
Guardians chairman and chief executive Paul Dolan and vice chairman David Blitzer called him “a hometown hero on the field and off it” in a joint statement, and said his “excellence, character and commitment to this community” fitted the organisation.
Kelce got there first
Ward is not the first NFL player to buy in this year. Travis Kelce, another Cleveland-area native, took a minority share of the Guardians in May. Two months before that, the Chiefs tight end paid $5.35 million for a 21,000-square-foot mansion on Lake Erie in Bratenahl.
Minority stakes held by active athletes have spread across American sport over the past decade, and baseball has been one of the readier markets for them. The Guardians now have two current NFL players on the list, both of whom grew up within driving distance of Progressive Field.
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