Police called by management Friday night to eject owner of Albany Empire arena league team
Albany Empire owner and former top NFL receiver Antonio Brown is interviewed during a team practice on May 25 at Afrim’s Sports Park in Colonie.
Will Waldron/Times UnionALBANY — Antonio Brown was asked to leave the city hotel where his arena league football team, the Albany Empire, has been staying due to complaints of loud music and marijuana smoking, according to a source with knowledge of the episode.
Albany police were called to the Holiday Inn Express at 300 Broadway on Friday just after 9 p.m. Brown’s associate Alberony Denis declined comment on Saturday morning beyond expressing confusion about why he was receiving media outreach concerning what he characterized as “a misunderstanding.”
The hotel’s manager and owner did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Albany police spokesman Steve Smith said no charges were filed and Brown was cooperative.
The latest development in the former NFL wide receiver’s tumultuous ownership of the Empire comes at the end of a week in which the team demoted one head coach, hired another (its fourth this season), and fired a member of Brown’s management team.
The Empire’s players are enjoying a bye week; its next game will be against the Orlando Predators on Friday. The team’s next home game at MVP Arena is Saturday, June 17 against the Jacksonville Sharks.
Brown has practiced with the team and expressed interest in playing, though he passed up the chance to do so during the most recent home game last weekend.