'I'm Broke' - Infamous NFL Star Hits Rock Bottom, Files for Bankruptcy as Debt Reaches $3M
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
Former NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, one of football’s most polarizing and eccentric figures during his 12-year career, is broke, according to news reports and social media posts from the 35-year-old.
Brown shared the news that he had filed for bankruptcy on social media on May 20 and, in typical AB fashion, treated the matter as a joke.
The former Pittsburgh Steeler shared a popular meme from the NBC sitcom “The Office” in which star character Michael Scott — played by Steve Carell — shouted, “I declare bankruptcy!”
WARNING: The following social media posts contain language that some readers might find offensive.
CTESPN — an account Brown appears to run that plays on speculation he suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy from concussions he sustained in the NFL — posted a video with the meme followed by a clip of the former receiver jubilantly running through a backyard.
Brown promptly reposted it.
Nigga of the Century #CTESPN https://t.co/XOiXF08HVl
— AB (@AB84) May 21, 2024
A day later, he posted a link to his personal CashApp account to allow people to chip in and said, “I’m Broke,” along with some sexually charged language.
I’m Broke Baby U Still Gone Suck It 😈 https://t.co/6cG4wKR2Rp
— AB (@AB84) May 22, 2024
The Times Union of Albany, New York, reported the bankruptcy filing on May 22, saying Brown had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy two days earlier in Florida, where he is from and currently resides.
The seven-time Pro Bowler listed debts to eight creditors for an amount nearing $3 million.
He also owed at least four people who sued him in civil court but whom he never paid.
Per the report, $1.2 million of Brown’s crushing debt was owed to a single individual, a truck driver who claimed the former NFL star assaulted him and who a court awarded the sum.
Brown lost the case by default as he never showed up to court to dispute the lawsuit from Anton Tumanov, who said he was assaulted at Brown’s home in 2020, Yahoo Sports reported.
Three others to whom he was ordered to pay six figures each in civil court also had not been paid.
Many of Brown’s debts also appeared to be related to credit cards and to his tumultuous time as the partial owner of the Arena Football League team the Albany Empire, based in the New York state capital.
The team was kicked out of the league with seven games remaining on its schedule last year after Brown said he would not pay the fines he owed and the team was accused of not helping pay some of the league’s operating costs.
Players and coaches later said Brown either never paid them or removed paychecks from their bank accounts after they had been paid, CBS Sports reported.
The former Steeler also owed $28,589 to a company called Avanti Solutions and a sum of $296 to a Florida plumber.
He declared $50,000 in assets, and it was unclear who owned the 18,000-square-foot Fort Lauderdale estate he listed as his address in the filing.
Brown earned more than $88 million playing in the NFL from 2010 to 2021, according to Over the Cap.
The first nine seasons were with the Steelers. He was traded to the Oakland Raiders in 2019 but never appeared in a game after feuding with management. Brown finished that season in New England and concluded his career with two years in Tampa Bay.
In October 2019, the former football star posted and later deleted a screenshot on his Instagram page that purported to show he had a bank account balance of more than $24 million.
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