Antonio Brown has only recently become the majority owner of the Albany Empire from the National Arena League (NAL). Within weeks of the ex-NFL star taking power, however, the indoor football team is sinking deeper into chaos

The Albany Empire from the National Arena League (NAL) seem to be sinking more and more into chaos after Antonio Brown took over as majority owner.

According to “TMZ Sports”, the controversial former NFL star is accused of bankrupting the organization in a very short time. The report refers to two former employees of the team – head coach Damon Ware and quarterback Sam Castronova – who both described their bad experiences before leaving the team.

“It became all about him and not about the football team,” Ware explained. “We spent three years building a wonderful organization – he came in and destroyed it. “

Albany Empire: The “hostile takeover” of Antonio Brown

Brown’s entry into the franchise as the now 95 percent owner of the indoor football team would have been a “hostile takeover,” according to Ware, when the 2020 Super Bowl champion came on board with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last March and allegedly drove the other owners away by throwing money in their direction.

According to the report, the 34-year-old’s ego would have stood in the way of improving the team and helping the players advance to the next division. The Empire became champions in the “NAL” for the second year in a row, but have made a start this season with one win and two defeats.

Antonio Brown may have threatened former Albany Empire coach

The Empire ex-coach went on to say that the main problem had been paying all the players on time. His conversations with “AB” over the matter reportedly went so badly that the longtime star receiver even threatened Ware with violence in chat messages afterwards.

According to the report, payments for the two games in April were not handed over in the form of checks in the week following each game, as is usually the case. This report was confirmed by the local newspaper “Albany Times Union”. As a result, several Empire players are said to have already considered going on strike, but then refrained from doing so.

After the payments were said to have continued not to be received despite showing an alleged confirmation of payment, the team captains would have confronted the team officials on their way back from a game in North Carolina a few days ago.

“Pro Football Talk” further elaborated that several players were suspended as a result of the described incident on the team bus. Albany police responded early Monday to a report of “aggravated harassment” in connection with the alleged incident, according to the report.

Acting Empire president, Alberony Denis, was still trying to calm the internal team escalation and reportedly stressed, according to the Albany Times Union, that the failure to pay was due to payroll problems dating back to the days of former owner Mike Kwarta.

Albany Empire: Were players locked out of team hotel?

But that apparently didn’t list all the allegations against Brown.

Once they arrived at the team hotel, Ware and numerous other players reportedly found that their room keys no longer worked. Hotel employees then apparently told them it was Brown’s fault.

After only one of the missed payments was reportedly received, several key players, as well as the ex-coach, had immediately drawn their conclusions and would no longer play for the team.

“It’s a happy day for me to be out of this crazy situation,” Ware added, “Goodbye. Good riddance. “