Antonio Brown’s Albany Empire: The Ship That Sunk

Eddie Brown, a legendary player for the Albany Firebirds, caught touchdown throw after a touchdown in the 1990s, according to a video shared on February 21 by the Arena Football League’s official account. Football in the early 1990s was characterized by large shoulder pads, hard collisions, and over-the-shoulder receptions. Antonio Brown, @AB84, Brown’s son and a receiving expert, saw the compilation.

“My daddy was a legend,” Brown wrote in a quote-tweet of the video. “Imagine what that’s [sic] makes me.” There are a number of ways to answer that: Wide receiver on the NFL All-Decade team, Super Bowl champion, alleged lawbreaker, troublemaker, and creator of the most spectacular take-this-job-and-shove-it play in recent NFL history.

“Hey @AB84, wanna make history?” Nelson tweeted at Brown, with a trophy emoji.

Mike Kwarta, the main owner, received a call shortly after.

“It’s f—ing Antonio Brown,” Kwarta said to two team officials who were in the room.

Brown was only a year away from his dramatic last act as an NFL player—ripping off his Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey and stomping off the field in the middle of a game against the Jets—when the Empire’s social media account contacted him. A career distinguished by both majestic peaks and unfathomable troughs came to a sad end as a result. Over the course of 12 seasons, he concluded his career with 12,291 receiving yards and 83 touchdowns, which are among the highest results ever for an NFL receiver.

However, he also spent a large portion of his career getting into and out of trouble. He was suspended for eight games for personal conduct infractions and pleaded not guilty to accusations of burglary and violence, among other offenses. After parting  ways with Pittsburgh in 2018, he only got a second chance in New England, and a third in Tampa Bay, thanks to the intervention of Tom Brady

Despite this, Kwarta and other Empire owners considered the idea of bringing Brown into the fold, mostly because they desperately needed a cash injection.

“COVID crushed us, attendance-wise,” Kwarta said. “We needed something to jump-start it, and the idea was that he would sign autographs, take pictures, kiss the babies and let us run football. … And his dad is a great dude. That’s why we thought it would be a good idea to give it a shot.”

Brown was in Albany to complete the papers to purchase 47.5% of the Empire for $350,000 less than a week later, on March 1, according to Kwarta. At a news conference at MVP Arena the next day, there were broad smiles, nostalgic talk about the time Brown spent in Albany as a child and big promises to make the Empire financially sound after several failed iterations.

“It means everything to be back here in the community where I grew up as a kid,” Brown told a local TV reporter. “For me, for the most part, it’s about keeping Albany football sustainable and being here forever and offering the community, the kids, the players a great opportunity to be successful.”

Antonio Brown’s Albany Empire: The Ship That Sunk

After players weren’t paid, the Albany Empire, an arena football team in which Antonio Brown owns a 95% stake, appears to be in total disarray. After a misdemeanour incident involving delayed payments, the coach and many players left the team.

For a football team captained by Antonio Brown, things were going about as expected.

The former NFL player has been charged with several felonies, including but not limited to domestic violence, sexual assault, failure to pay child support, and attacking a moving truck driver (he resolved a rape case with his former trainer in 2021).

Every Friday, players and coaches are expected to receive their pay, according to the Albany Times-Union. Despite not receiving payment on April 28, two days before the game, the team played a game against the Carolina Cobras this past Sunday despite being paid last on April 21.

According to Rubel, Empire’s acting president Alberony Denis stated that “the lack of payment was due to issues with the payroll processor” that had existed since Mike Kwarta, the previous owner, had been in charge.

The Empire had to choose between boarding the empty bus waiting to transport them 10 hours south to play a Sunday afternoon game against the Carolina Cobras on a late-April evening or refusing to board until their pay arrived.

They were checking their banking apps and messaging in a group chat while sitting in their rooms at a two-star motel between the Greyhound bus terminal and the freeway. Should they go to Greensboro just to decline to participate? What if they were banned by the league? Would that put a stop to their NFL aspirations?

Prince assisted in compiling a list of the amounts due to each player, which he delivered to the team’s recently appointed president Alberony Denis. Denis attempted, but failed, to pay the players via a Zelle cash transfer.

The players were informed they would be paid on Monday afternoon, according to Denis.

Both the delayed payment and the player’s resignation from the squad were verified by head coach Damon Ware.

According to a local attorney who is drafting prospective cases, Empire players are still due money from Brown’s stint four months after his departure. Brown, who sparked excitement by investing in the squad in March, has vanished, and the Empire have ceased operations. According to Alex Gunaris, Brown’s accountant, and two league sources, the National Arena League board unanimously decided to expel the club in June for failing to pay three months’ worth of membership dues.

According to players, coaches, club personnel, and fans surveyed, Brown’s brief, tragic ownership of the Empire was characterized by unpaid debts, unmet promises, and unstable conduct.

The Empire was more than just another local company in a town like Albany. Arena football has a storied history in the city that dates back three decades. In both 2018 and 2019, The Empire averaged approximately 10,000 spectators each game, and 12,000 people showed up to watch them win the 2019 Arena Football League title at home. After the AFL filed for bankruptcy, they transferred to the National Arena League, where they won back-to-back titles prior to Brown’s arrival.

Blackjacks, Valor, Brigade, and Firebirds are just a few of the former Albany teams that Kwarta is the intellectual property owner of. They could all be revived, or they could create a completely new team.

 

 

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