Former wide receiver Antonio Brown isn’t having a good week. He reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, and owes eight different creditors nearly $3 million. His media company, CTESPN Network, confirmed the news with a tweet and attached video of Michael Scott from The Office shouting, “I declare bankruptcy!” followed by a video of Brown running around his backyard shirtless, for some reason.


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In the filing, Brown claimed that he has less than $50,000 in assets, despite making $88 million throughout his 12-year career in the NFL. Some of his creditors include a credit card company, a marketing company and a law firm, as well as three six-figure civil judgements and a moving truck driver who sued him for assault and battery in 2020, and to whom he owes $1.2 million.


But how did he get here?




One Twitter user, Tyler Webb, who specializes in sports business, laid it all out in a thread, explaining that Brown didn’t actually make $88 million once you account for taxes and agent fees; after all of those, most athletes are left with 50 to 60 percent of their reported earnings. By Webb’s estimate, this means that Brown retired with around $50 million in 2021, which is when things started to spiral out-of-control for him.




In 2020, when he was still playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brown was arrested after failing to pay $4,000 to the moving company whose driver sued Brown, and he was also suspended for eight games in addition to being ordered to pay the $1.2 million. In April 2021, he settled a sexual assault case with his former trainer, and in September of that same year, he was sued by a marketing firm for owing his agent more than $2 million. He has failed to pay either of these parties, and this isn’t even the half of it.




In March 2023, Brown bought 47.5 percent of the Albany Empire, and the team was soon kicked out of the National Arena League because Brown failed to pay a $1,000 fine. He also failed to pay his coaches and staff, although a lawsuit addressing that concern was never filed. In April 2023, he was sued by a jeweler who loaned Brown two diamond fingers that cost $500,000 each — Brown never returned the jewelry, and was ordered to pay the jeweler $1.1 million.




Once you factor in the $100,000+ credit card debt and multiple settlements with private chefs and moving companies for unpaid wages, it starts to become clearer how somebody who retired with $50 million just three years ago could already be bankrupt.



Maybe Brown can make some of his money back in his role as president of Kanye West’s sports fashion line, although considering how quiet the brand has been since 2022, that seems unlikely.