Sometimes Antonio Brown leaves football at his own request, but he was forced out this time. The Albany Empire football team that Brown became part owner of in March, will no longer be part of the National Arena League.
Pay the Fine
It was reported on Thursday that the Albany Empire lost its membership because of unpaid dues. The two-time champs failed to meet their noon deadline.
The NAL said in a said in a statement that an emergency conference call was held to discuss Albany Empire’s failure to pay league mandated dues. Teams reportedly must pay for one-seventh of the league’s operating budget each month. The team’s payments were overdue and the league also fined Brown $1,000 for disparaging public comments, which he refused to pay.
Brown reportedly paid the league dues in April but not in May.
“After exhausting all avenues, the NAL board of owners have decided unanimously to terminate the membership agreement of the Albany Empire. The decision was reached after an emergency conference call of the members in good standing to discuss the Empire’s failure to pay their league mandated and overdue assessments,” the statement read in part. “Each team is responsible to pay for 1/7 of the league’s operating budget via monthly assessments starting in April. The Empire’s owner, Antonio Brown, was also fined $1,000 for Conduct Detrimental to the League for his recent public comments. Mr. Brown refused to pay that fine.”
Brown was set to play in their upcoming home game on June 17. The game was canceled and the league said that it will adjust the remaining of their league wide schedule with the departure of the Empire.
AB Ruins Everything
Brown is known to ruin everything he gets involved with and always having chaos around him. He has embarrassed the mother of his kids on social media, made Mike Tomlin look foolish for constantly giving him passes for his actions in Pittsburgh, forced the Raiders to release him, and quit on the Buccaneers by storming out of MetLife Stadium.
He took personal shots at Brady on social media, was wanted by police in April for unpaid child support, and was sued by Jeweler Suki International for not paying a $1 million tab.
He displayed that same toxic behavior as a owner. The team got off to a terrible start this year by only winning one game of the seven they have played.
Coaches and players also have departed the franchise because Brown failed to pay them in April. Damon Ware, former coach, said that the non-payment was the reason he and several other people from the organization left. The team’s starting quarterback Sam Castronova accused Brown of being crazy on Instagram before departing the team.
“This dude is crazy,” Castronova wrote under an Instagram post.
Eddie Brown, Antonio’s father and an arena league legend, responded by saying “I know.” Eddie is the team’s vice president and also failed to stick around. He attended the first two games and was never seen again.
Now, Brown has compared himself to Michael Jordan after the news broke of his team being kicked out the arena league.
He also tweeted a screenshot of a conversation between his former players about him.
