Folks who bought tickets to Saturday night’s Albany Empire game expected to see owner/receiver Antonio Brown. They didn’t.
Via WNYT-TV, Brown did not play. The official reason is that the paperwork on his physical didn’t come through in time.
That seems a little convenient, and maybe even a little untrue. How hard is it to pass a physical? He either did or he didn’t. And, as the owner of the team, he could play if he wanted to play, regardless of the results of whatever physical he did or didn’t take.
Indeed, the article posted by WNYT.com explains that the league’s commissioner said Brown can play without a physical, since he’s an owner.
Not surprisingly, the crowd for Saturday night’s game reached 4,500, two thousand more than the average home attendance.
“Stay tuned, AB’s coming,” Brown told Rodger Wyland of WNYT. “There’s proper procedures you’ve got to do to play football. You’ve got to pass the coach, the commissioner. You’ve got to be in physical condition. You can’t just pop up, so I’ve got to get my feet wet. We’ve got to get the proper equipment. We’ve got to do the right thing.”
Brown now says he’ll play next week. He last played in early January 2022, for the Buccaneers.
“I am going to be playing,” Brown told Wyland. “You didn’t lie. Everything is going to fall in place.”
Unless and until something else happens. He loses his helmet or his cleats or he pulls a muscle in pregame warmups or freezes his feet in a cryogenic chamber. (Again.)
It all feels like a scam to me. So prove me wrong, AB. Show up and play in the next home game.
While you’re at it, give everyone who bought a ticket for last night’s game a free one.
