Antonio Brown is accused of locking Albany Empire players out of hotel room after his ‘hostile takeover’ with the ex-NFL wideout ‘sending violent messages’ to former head coach
- Empire players have not been paid since April 21 and turn against each other
- Brown owns 95 percent of the franchise after buying out previous team owners
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Antonio Brown has been accused of wildly locking certain Albany Empire players out of their hotel rooms and making “violent threats” against them, following his “hostile takeover” of the National Arena League team earlier this year.
Head coach Damon Ware and quarterback Sam Castronova both revealed they have been slowly sidelined by other members of the organization after speaking out against the former NFL wide receiver, who also allegedly failed to pay his players since April 21.
Compensation issues have even led players to turn on each other after it was previously reported that there was a postgame incident on the team’s bus on Sunday, leading to several suspensions and the departure of Ware, according to published reports.
It is alleged that Brown, who owns 95 percent of Empire, has mismanaged the franchise – located in upstate New York – since taking over in March after buying out the team’s previous owners.
Ware claims Brown has been difficult to deal with and his ego has kept him from signing new players to help improve the current squad. The controversy-ridden Super Bowl champion also wouldn’t be interested in giving advancement to the same team his dad played for growing up as a kid.
Antonio Brown has been accused of running the Albany Empire badly since he took over in March
The Empire started the season slow under Damon Ware, with an overall record of 1-2 in the NAL
Empire quarterback Sam Castronova has denied that players have been fairly compensated
“It was all about him, not the football team,” said Ware TMZ sports. “We built a great organization over three years — he came in and killed it.”
Albany’s won back-to-back NAL championships, but is off to a slow start to the season this year with an overall record of 1-2 to date.
Players usually receive payments after every game, presumably almost weekly during the regular season. However, players have considered sitting out as a form of protest against Brown’s ownership, as no funds have been deposited into their bank accounts for the past 11 days.
In the end, the local stars relented and geared up for Sunday’s game after being told they had been paid, though Empire quarterback Sam Castronova denied the update, before several team captains clashed with senior officials on the bus back from North carolina.
Brown (R) bought the empire in March, but Ware accused him of coming in and ‘killing it’
What’s more is that upon arrival at the team hotel in Albany, Ware, the captains and several other players discovered that their room keys were no longer valid.
Hotel employees reportedly eventually told them that they had been instructed by Brown not to allow them access to their beds.
TMZ Sports also reported that players had to beg housekeeping to have their belongings removed from their room.
It looks like Brown is one payment behind for now, but that doesn’t matter to Ware, Castronova, and several other key members of the team, who are reportedly upset with the former Pro Bowler’s way of running the franchise, as they are. set to search for new pastures.
“It’s a lucky day for me to be out of this crazy situation,” said Ware. “Goodbye, goodbye.”