Former Buccaneers Star Wide Receiver Getting Sued by Arena League Team

Former Buccaneers' wide receiver Antonio Brown will likely be sued by the National Arena League team he partially owned, the Albany Empire.

Moe Leggett, head coach of the Albany Empire - a football team in the National Arena League - stated that members of the team are planning to file a class-action lawsuit against owner and former Buccaneers wide receiver, Antonio Brown.

The potential move and announcement from Leggett comes after all of the Empire's players and coaches discovered the paychecks from their final game were rescinded from their bank accounts.

This is not the only course of action that Brown has faced up to this point when it comes to his ownership of the Empire. Just six days following the end of the Empire's final game, they along with Brown, were kicked out of the league altogether.

“I’m frustrated,” Empire head coach Moe Leggett said. “I’m frustrated. I tried to give (Brown) the benefit of the doubt. I tried to work with him. I was trying to be the peacemaker, the mediator to make sure things ran smoothly and just under the radar. But I can no longer do that.”

READ MORE: Antonio Brown Blames Tom Brady, Buccaneers For His Dramatic NFL Exit

The players and coaches were initially paid for their final game of the season, but one player noticed that the check had been pulled from his account which rose suspicion with other players and coaches who all eventually discovered that their paychecks too had been pulled back. 

Leggett says that the players are still owed $500 for their final game for the Empire and that he has tried to reach out to Brown, his accountant, Alex Gunaris, and team president, Alberony Denis, but to no avail.

With no contact being made by one side of the transaction process, Leggett is looking for a lawyer to help move the process along and get his players, or former players, paid for the work they put in in their final game.

Empire wide receiver Fabian Guerra quickly found more work following the end of the Empire's season but also spoke openly about his intentions to join the lawsuit if it comes to fruition.

“I’m thinking since he didn’t pay us, it’s only the right thing to do,” Guerra said. “It’s kind of like bad business by him, but I’m over here in Massachusetts and playing with a new team, so I’m not worried. It sucks it has to come down to that and now there’s going to be a lawsuit, so he just looks bad.”

“I feel like this was his plan all along,” Guerra said. “I feel like he does stuff for social media and to sell his songs. I think it’s just what he does. That’s the type of guy he is. No one trusts him anymore. I see it hard for him to get any future deals going because of how he is as a person.”

The team as a whole as well as their ownership could be in for it as the league's commissioner, Chris Siegfried, said Brown owes more than $21,000 in league assessment fees following the emergency vote by league owners to kick the Empire out of the NAL.

READ MORE: Former Buccaneers' Quarterback Offers Harsh Assessment of Kyle Trask

If things continue on the path they are on and with the Empire falling from the graces of the NAL, litigation seems on the horizon.

“We have certain damages we’re going to be demanding from the Empire ownership,” MVP Arena general manager Belber said. “Assuming there’s a favorable response to that, then everything can be worked out and we’ll get paid hopefully the damages that we’ll be owed. If it doesn’t, then we’ll see what other actions we may have to take.”

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