Antonio Brown set to make history with unorthodox pro football comeback

19 May 2023 , 22:09

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Former NFL star turned-rapper Antonio Brown performed at Rolling Loud Los Angeles in March. (Image: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)

NFL exile Antonio Brown says he will be back on a football field soon – for the National Arena League (NAL) team he owns.

Brown bought Albany Empire earlier this year and he has revealed he will suit up for a game in the coming weeks in a bid to boost ticket sales.

Seven-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Brown has been without a team since he was jettisoned by the T ampa Bay Buccaneers in January 2022 after raging at head coach Bruce Arians on the sideline during a game against the New York Jets before tearing his shirt and pads off and running across the field and down the tunnel topless.

He was swiftly released by the Bucs and the 34-year-old's behaviour has spiralled since, courting controversy, "exposing himself" to hotel guests in a Dubai swimming pool in October, according to the New York Post.

There have also been social media digs at former teammate Tom Brady involving his ex-wife, Gisele Bündchen, and just last month he bizarrely claimed he was signing for the Baltimore Ravens, with the post accompanied by a picture of him wearing a jersey, only for the notion to be quickly quashed by the team.

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Amid the chaos, Brown bought the Empire in March, seemingly motivated by a link to his father "Touchdown" Eddie Brown, who played for the Albany Firebirds in arena football in the 1990s. After announcing the takeover, Brown said he was retired from the NFL.

However, Brown's ownership of the team has been fraught with trouble. Head coach Damon Ware quit after multiple reports in April said players and staff had not been paid.

Earlier this month, Brown and staff confirmed to WTEN that players and staff, including those who left, had been paid what they were owed.

Yet problems remain for the team, with an average attendance of 2,500 at the MVP Arena, a fraction of the 10,000 capacity, and Brown is determined to sell more tickets.

Antonio Brown was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after storming off the field topless in January 2022.

In a bid to lure more fans to the arena to see the Empire, former Pittsburgh Steelers star Brown says he will come out of retirement to feature in a game, according to Rodger Wyland of WYNT.

Brown – a Super Bowl-winner with the Buccaneers in 2020 who has since performed as a rapper – could feature as soon as May 27 when the Fayetteville Mustangs visit Upstate New York, or on June 17 for the game against Jacksonville Sharks.

The Empire sit tied at the bottom of the seven-team National Arena League with a 1-3 record, losing three consecutive games.

Arena football sees teams of eight take to a field which is 50 yards long and 85ft wide, with the rules broadly similar to college football.

Sam Frost