"Must need engagement farming": Antonio Brown blasts wild bankruptcy report on WR

Antonio Brown is never not in the news. This time, the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver is making bankruptcy headlines. According to ML Football on Tuesday, Brown declared a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, often known as "reorganization" bankruptcy.

It was also reported that he had under $50,000 in assets and was around $3 million in debt, which included unpaid vendors and court judgments.

Fans were surprised to learn about the former NFL receiver's bankruptcy news. According to Spotrac, he earned over $80 million in his 12-year career. A few moments later, Brown hit back against one of the news outlets that reported the story on X.

Brown commented under MLFootball's post, saying:

"Old news… must need engagement farming. Broke on @CtespnN a year ago."

Brown handled it in a fairly humorous way rather than issuing a statement or denying the allegations of his bankruptcy in the conventional way. In addition, he quoted the widely shared post about his bankruptcy and added a screenshot of one account with an account balance of over $24 million to prove that he's not broke.

During his nine seasons with the Steelers, Brown established himself as one of the most talented receivers of his time and was selected to four consecutive First-Team All-Pro teams from 2014 to 2017.

Brown was the leader in a number of statistical categories during his time in the NFL, such as catches and receiving yards in 2014, catches in 2015, receiving yards in 2017 and receiving touchdowns in 2018.

The seven-time Pro Bowl receiver broke numerous team records for Pittsburgh, including the highest receiving yards (1,834), the most catches (134) and the most receiving touchdowns in a single season (15).

Antonio Brown first spoke about his bankruptcy in 2024

Antonio Brown responded to reports of his financial difficulties in a 2024 appearance on The Pivot podcast, denying that he is broke and describing his bankruptcy filing as a calculated move to better regulate his debts.

"I just can't comply with debt," Brown said. "You know, it's all about protecting yourself. But yeah, you know, I'm not broke, but I'm fractured. I'm just reallocating the debt to take care of the debtors. That's all I'm doing. So, you know, Chapter 11 is about restructuring the money you're making so you can take care of the debt."

News of Brown filing for bankruptcy adds another layer to his interesting and contentious lifestyle, especially after his NFL career ended. Even while AB continues to maintain that he is only reorganizing his finances and is not truly insolvent, it is expected that judicial processes will eventually reveal accurate information about his claims.