The Truth Behind Steelers' Antonio Brown: A Drawn Gun And The Chaos He Caused With The Empire

The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to have gotten wide receiver Antonio Brown's best years. A sixth-round draft pick in 2010, he appeared to be destined for greatness. He spent nine seasons in Pittsburgh and had 837 receptions, 11,207 receiving yards and 74 touchdowns. Unfortunately for Brown, things began to unravel as he neared the end of his time in the Steel City. After leaving, he went straight downhill and his troubles have only increased.

Brown's last time on an NFL field was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had a disagreement on the field with Head Coach Bruce Arians regarding a supposed ankle injury. He refused to go back on the field, stripped off his pads, and ran off the field. Brown officially retired from football in March of 2023.

Along with retiring, he announced that he bought a National Arena League (NAL) team, the Albany Empire, which happened to be his father's team. The NAL had taken a huge blow during COVID-19 with cancellations and closures. The previous ownership group agreed to work with Brown because they hoped the high exposure he would bring would generate revenue. Brown also made significant promises to help get the community of Albany to rally around the team, starting with bringing practices back to the community, and said he would provide NFL-level amenities, including personal chefs. 

This is when the problems really began. Brown promised to pay the $1.5 million New York required for workman's compensation. He paid the bill and started telling everyone he owned the whole team. His actions against the other owners escalated to the point that they sold their portion of the team, at a discount, in an effort to get him to stop spreading rumors about them online. Then things began to get really weird according to an article by ESPN. 

Steelers' Antonio Brown Broke The Trust Of His Players 

During training camp, the Empire players asked the team to post a birthday tribute to Mo Ruffins, a former teammate. Ruffins passed away in August of 2022 at the age of 38. While the post initially went up, it was quickly taken down and players were angered. Wide receiver Dwayne Hollis said that the guys were frustrated because they were so close to Ruffins. 

When no answer was forthcoming, they went and found Brown at a nearby cigar bar. Brown was there with a friend and local sneaker entrepreneur, Ryan Larkin. Hollis and fellow receiver Darius Prince said they just wanted to talk to him so they could understand. But Brown quickly escalated the situation and threatened to pull a gun.  

"AB looked at Ryan and was like, 'Hey, man you still got the AR in the car? Go get it," Prince said. "Then I was like, I'm not going to allow this dude to walk out of here after you just threatened us... After he said that, things did calm down and we had a conversation. But the fact is that he threatened us by telling his assistant to grab his AR."

ESPN said that Larkin was unwilling to speak with them about the incident. That wasn't Brown's only disagreement with his players though. Reports began to leak out that Brown wasn't paying them. Head Coach Damon Ware called him to inquire and Brown reportedly said that the players were complaining too much. Players were left trying to help one another with basic necessities such as food and shelter. These players do not make NFL money, the top-paid player on Empire was making $3,000 a game with most averaging about $250 a game. 

When the players or Ware pushed Brown about the paychecks, he would get "loud." Melvin Hollins who played both offensive and defensive line said that Brown did not show them any respect. He said Brown called them, "A bunch of broke arena boys."

"And all them old-ass players," Prince said, recalling Brown's words, "I'll tell the bus driver to pull over and kick y'all off my f***ing bus right now."

This was happening on a bus headed home after a game in North Carolina. Ware quit and Brown released several players. When they arrived back in Albany, the players that were released were locked out of their hotel rooms and were unable to get their belongings. The police had to be called and Brown had to be forced to allow them access. 

During his time in Albany, Brown's actions caused a ripple effect moving from the Empire and its staff, out into the Albany community, and into the NAL. He alienated and offended nearly everyone who interacted with him, including league officials. He even reportedly called an employee a slur, that targeted his mental abilities on Twitter, but removed the tweet.

In an attempt to revive the failing franchise, Brown told fans and players that he was going to take the field in May and play. In anticipation, almost 3,000 fans showed up at the MVP Arena. Brown once again let the community down, never taking the field, and made an excuse blaming the league and paperwork.

Meanwhile, there were still players complaining they were not getting paid or were having money withheld. Several players reported they were unable to rent housing for themselves because landlords had heard Brown wasn't paying consistently. 

About 100 days after, Brown arrived in Albany, as the supposed savior of his father's team. He was thousands of dollars in debt to the league. He had not paid Albany's membership fees nor had he paid a $1,000 fine he received for detrimental conduct. The league gave him a deadline and when he refused to pay, they voted unanimously to kick Empire out of the league. 

Brown did not have the guts to tell his players, they found out from the local news. After being exiled from the league, Brown seemed to disappear from Albany. He appears to be focused on his music career based on his social media reports. 

Are you surprised at all by anything Brown does anymore? What do you think should happen to him? Tell us what you think. Click to comment below.

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