Antonio Brown joins the Albany Empire practice as owner gears up to play Saturday's game - after reports of bust-ups and a poor attendance record in rocky start to his tenure

His legendary father 'Touchdown' Eddie Brown played for the Albany Firebirds Brown owns 95% of Albany Empire after a deal was agreed several months agoDailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news 

Former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown suited up in practice for the Albany Empire on Thursday, as he prepares to make his debut in the National Arena League on Saturday.

Brown was said to have showed up with about 20 minutes left in the two-hour practice before warming up and running only one route, catching a short pass from quarterback Roland Rivers.

‘Anything you have, a skill, you got to work at it. And if you don’t work at it, you can lose it. So today was a good day. It was the start of working at it,’ Brown said, per Times Union.

The seven-time Pro Bowler however did not specify exactly how much he would be on the field when he suits up Saturday.

‘I don’t know. We’ll see,’ Brown added. ‘Get my feet under me, see what the coach thinks. It’s going to be up to him and his direction, but I’m here to just provide experience, give good energy and produce a winning outcome.’

Albany Empire owner Antonio Brown suited up for the final few minutes of practice Thursday

Brown set to make his National Arena League debut on Saturday vs. the Fayetteville Mustangs

Brown’s head coach on Saturday will be newly-hired Pete Porcelli, who took over earlier this week, following the sudden departure of Damon Ware and resignation of Tom Menas.

The one-time Super Bowl champion’s tenure as a team owner in the National Arena League has gotten off to a rocky start with some key players also leaving the team due to compensation issues and tensions within the locker room.

Brown also once reportedly asked for some of his players to be locked out of their hotel rooms after they complained about his ownership. Claims of poor management and home attendance record were leaked as well.

After Ware’s departure the Empire brought back Menas, who was fired before the season started.

Menas failed to even last a full three weeks, before he resigned after a 45-point blowout loss at the Jacksonville Sharks last weekend.

Chances are high that Brown’s addition to the active roster will cause at least a small spike in ticket sales as the ex-NFL star has never played in the NAL before.

During his distinguished NFL career Brown recorded 12,291 receiving yards, 928 receptions and 83 touchdowns across 11 years that saw him suit up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, and mainly the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Brown also spent time with the Oakland Raiders although he never played a game for the team before moving to the Patriots.

He has arena league blood running through his veins. His father ‘Touchdown’ Eddie Brown played WR for Albany Firebirds and was voted the best player in Arena Football League history in 2006.

Ex-NFL All-Pro WR recently bought the Empire but his tenure has gotten off to a rocky start

According to the soon-to-be player-owner, the only advice he received from his father was very simply: ‘Get in the end zone.’

Brown also recently raised speculation that he was trying to get former NFL MVP Cam Newton to join the Empire when he said: ‘Stay tuned … my friend Cam will be here soon.’

Newton’s agent told the Times Union that he ‘wouldn’t know about Newton’s plans regarding the Empire and couldn’t comment if he did know.’

In April, Brown was repeatedly told to ‘get off’ the Empire’s field by security staff who didn’t believe the ex-NFL star was the owner of the team.