Antonio Brown allegedly threatened Albany player with a gun during chaotic ownership tenure: Report
Antonio Brown's tenure as owner of the Albany Empire in the USFL was disastrous, to say the least. He reportedly didn't pay anyone, employed a hostile takeover and ran the team out of the league, disbanding them in the process. Now, a report suggests that he threatened one of his players with a gun.
During the Albany training camp, players asked the team to share a birthday post for Mo Ruffins. He was a former Empire offensive lineman who had passed away the year prior. Social media manager Ben Nelson posted it, but took it down right after.
Exploring the report on Antonio Brown's alleged gun threat
According to ESPN, that frustrated some players, who had been close with Ruffins. When no explanation was given, a few players approached Brown. The former Pittsburgh Steelers standout was there with Ryan Larkin, a local sneaker entrepreneur he'd brought in to the front office.
One player said:
"We were there to just talk, to give our views about how that's wrong."
The conversation reportedly got very tense in a short period of time. Another player revealed Antonio Brown's threat:
"AB looked at Ryan [Larkin] and was like, 'Hey, man, you still got the AR in the car? Go get it.' 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."
Larkin didn't comment on the story, per ESPN. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers' star has been in and out of the news for everything but football, and the vast majority of it has been negative press. He's been arrested, involved in disputes with the law and other people, and more.
He allegedly flashed members of a hotel at the pool and has supported those caught in anti-Semitic controversies. His tenure as the Empire owner was awful, and this report suggests that it was even worse than anyone realized.