Antonio Brown accused of threatening players on his Arena Football team with gun

At one point, Antonio Brown was one of the NFL‘s best wide receivers. However, in recent years, he’s become better known for controversies off the field. That includes a tenure as a part owner owner of the Albany Empire, an Arena Football team.

In June, Brown was removed from the ownership group when the National Arena League terminated the Empire’s franchise agreement. Brown’s failure to pay league dues and fines was cited as a key factor why. Now, more disturbing details of his time running the Empire have come to light.

Antonio Brown is being accused of threatening players on his own team with a gun.

Leading up to the season opener, there was a scary moment when that tone of hope started to change. The players wanted a post about Mo Ruffins, who played for the team and died last year at age 38. It was posted and deleted. The players wanted to know why but couldn’t get an answer. So, Dwayne Hollis, Darius Prince, and others went to approach Antonio Brown.

This was at a cigar lounge and Antonio Brown was with Ryan Larkin, a local sneaker entrepreneur that he brought into the office.

“We were there to just talk, to give our views about how that’s wrong,” Hollis said.

However, the conversation turned into an argument quickly. That’s when Prince alleges that Brown threatened the players with a gun.

“AB looked at Ryan [Larkin] 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.”

For Antonio Brown, his tenure as the Albany Empire owner was another controversy in a long line that includes things like a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault, another woman’s allegations of sexual misconduct, failing to pay child support, and more.

Antonio Brown reportedly failed to pay players as the Albany Empire owner

The Albany Empire doesn’t exist anymore because of the fines and fees that the organization failed to pay under Antonio Brown. However, the league appears to not have been the only group that Brown wasn’t paying.

Reportedly, Brown failed to pay his players following his first game as the majority owner of the Empire. That’s a huge loss at this level of the sport, where salaries are as low as $250 and maxing out around $3,000. With another game coming and still no pay, the team was faced with a decision. Go to the game and possibly not get paid again, or hold out.

So, Darius Prince and two dozen teammates talked about their opinions and went to the game once they were assured with a screenshot that payment was pending. They went to the game, lost, then came home. They were never paid. Players are still owed their salaries from Antonio Brown’s tenure as owner, according to a local attorney. The Empire isn’t even a team anymore.

“He came in promising the world,” Prince saud, “and didn’t show for s***.”

There are plans to sue Antonio Brown over the financial issues that players dealt with during this time period.