According to a person familiar with the situation, Antonio Brown and the rest of the Albany Empire arena football team were forced to leave the downtown hotel where they had been staying owing to complaints of loud music and mar*juana use.
On Friday night, about 9 o’clock, police in Albany were summoned to the Holiday Inn Express on 300 Broadway. Both the hotel’s manager and owner were unavailable for comment early Saturday. According to Albany police spokesperson Steve Smith, Brown was cooperative and no charges were filed.
On Friday night, when asked for reaction, Brown sent a video via text showing himself in the hotel parking lot, according to WNYT.
Brown, pointing at the police officer, stated, “Just got kicked out the Holiday Inn Marriott. They said I was trespassing. I’ve been here for like 60 days. It’s a part of moving and trying to be a young Black entrepreneur, a young owner.”
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In a longer statement sent by text, Brown described his “friendship” with Morris Oiring, the owner of the Holiday Inn Express, as being based on their “mutual love for the city and growing business. Brown claimed he took Oiring up on his offer of a hotel room for the team.
“However, things did not play out in the same mutually respectful manner as Brown was bombarded by not only the hotel staff, but also by the Albany Police force, and forced to leave the premises,” the statement added.
Brown claimed he was given “no warning, no conversation, and surely no professionalism.”
Alberony Denis, Brown’s associate, declined to comment a few hours before Brown provided the video to the Times Union, saying he didn’t understand why he was getting media attention over something he called “a misunderstanding.” Denis texted after the Times Union published its initial piece, “our attorneys will be reaching out to… the Times Union for misleading and false advertisement. Just FYI.”
Denis did not reply to questions regarding the inaccuracies in the paper’s reporting or requests for the lawyers’ contact information.
The latest twist in the turbulent ownership of the Empire by the former NFL wide receiver comes after a week in which the team fired a member of Brown’s management team, demoted one head coach, and hired another (the fourth this season).
The Empire has a week off before playing the Orlando Predators on Friday, so the players can relax and recharge. The next home game for the team will be against the Jacksonville Sharks on Saturday, June 17 at MVP Arena.
Brown has worked out with the team and said that he wants to play, but he didn’t play in the most recent home game last weekend.
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