Antonio Brown didn't play for Arena team despite promise

In the latest chapter of the never-ending Antonio Brown soap opera, he did not actually take the field for the Albany Empire -- the arena football team that he owns -- on Saturday night despite promising to do so earlier in the week.  

The official reasoning he gave was because of a delay in the paperwork regarding his physical, according WNYT. 

The problem with that argument is that league commissioner Chris Siegfried has said that Brown can play without passing a physical because he is the actual owner of the team.

Brown himself also acknowledged that fact, but said he was trying to set a good example for the other players on the team. 

Here is what Brown had to say, via WNYT:

“Stay tuned, AB’s coming. 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. But I am going to be playing. Everything is going to fall in place.

It is certainly possible that Brown is trying to set a good example about following rules and doing things the right way. But this would be an interesting time for him to actually start doing that. 

The more likely -- and far more nefarious -- possibility is that this was simply a shady way for Brown to boost attendance. 

Saturday's game drew a crowd of 4,500 fans, more than 2,000 more than their average home game, as noted by Pro Football Talk.

Brown has not appeared in a football game of any kind since January 2, 2022 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was the game where he stormed off the field, removing his uniform in the process against the New York Jets. 

Brown joined the Empire's ownership group earlier this year and it has been swimming in controversy ever since. Making promises to play and then not showing up won't help.