First Call: Albany Empire players may sue Antonio Brown; Steelers' fantasy sleeper; eyeing up Pirates homestand

Tuesday’s “First Call” features Antonio Brown’s latest problem. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a “fantasy sleeper.” We look at the Pirates’ upcoming homestand. It’s another stop for a Western Pennsylvania hoops alum.

And we look at Robert Morris’ return to the ice for women’s hockey.

Suing A.B.

Antonio Brown might get sued by the players of his National Arena League football team, the Albany Empire.

The former Steelers All-Pro purchased the team in March. What followed was a series of disastrous missteps that included alleged failure to pay players, run-ins between Brown and on-field security, numerous coaching and quarterback changes, a failed attempt by Brown to join the Empire on the field as a player and accusations of players getting booted from team housing.

It all culminated in the team getting kicked out of the league on June 15, because of Brown’s failure to pay league fees and fines. Since the club’s final game, various players have accused Brown of either not paying them or paying them and recalling the payment.

Now the Empire’s head coach, Moe Leggett, is telling the Albany Times Union that members of the organization are planning a class-action lawsuit against Brown after seeing their final game checks pulled from their bank accounts.

“I’m frustrated,” Leggett told the Times-Union. “I tried to give (Brown) the benefit of the doubt. I tried to work with him. I was trying to be the peacemaker, the mediator to make sure things ran smoothly and just under the radar. But I can no longer do that.”

Leggett says players are still owed amounts of $500 and up for their final game. Brown did not return calls for comment to the paper.

Don’t sleep on Warren

Steelers running back Jaylen Warren is being tabbed as a fantasy league sleeper.

That’s according to the Pro Football Network.

According to their fantasy draft analyst Jason Katz, Warren could be a great fantasy late-round selection.

“(Warren) is still clearly Najee Harris’ backup, but Harris saw his opportunity share drop from 86% as a rookie to 70% as a sophomore. Warren could carve out enough of a role to be worth starting in deeper leagues. He’s also someone we are confident can assume at least 80% of the starter’s workload should the starter go down. Warren is a fantastic late-round sleeper,” Katz said.

Yeah. Maybe. Late round. But I do think a lot of Warren’s yards were picked up in lower leverage situations and because Harris was playing injured early. I question how much that will translate this year if Harris is healthy. And if Harris isn’t healthy, will the Steelers really use a ground attack as much or will they use a short passing game more often?

I lean toward the latter. I like Warren. A lot. I just wonder if he is in that Amos Zereoue range of a real good No. 2, until he has to be a No. 1 for a full season.

If so, look at 2003.

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Welcomed guests?

The San Diego Padres are the next opponent for the struggling Pirates. The three-game series begins Tuesday night at PNC Park.

They aren’t stumbling quite as much as the Buccos, but it’s not great. The Pirates have lost 12 of 13. The Padres have lost five of seven.

San Diego arrives as the National League West’s fourth-place team at 37-41. They are 9½ games back of the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

San Diego starts three big-name pitchers against the Pirates though. Yu Darvish opens the series, followed by Blake Snell on Wednesday, then former Pirate Joe Musgrove throws against his old club Thursday afternoon. Those three men have combined for seven All-Star game appearances. The Pirates will counter with Rich Hill, Mitch Keller and Luis Ortiz.

After the Padres leave town, the Brewers visit PNC Park for three games. The Brewers beat the Mets 2-1 last night. That means they are on a two-game win streak. The up-and-down Brewers haven’t had a consecutive result since finishing their three-game sweep of the Pirates on June 18. They had been win-loss-win-loss every game since then until last night’s result.

Another stop

Well-traveled Elizabeth Forward basketball player Tre Mitchell is heading to yet another destination.

In the wake of Bob Huggins’ resignation, the former West Virginia Mountaineer is transfering to Kentucky to play for Moon’s John Calipari. Mitchell averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 points per game last year in Morgantown.

The 22-year-old announced his decision on Twitter.

Next chapter pic.twitter.com/bqZSpNdcc5

— Tre Mitchell (@tre_mitch33) June 26, 2023

Born in Germany, Mitchell began his high school career at Elizabeth Forward after his parents moved to the Pittsburgh area when he was 1. But Mitchell played his last two years at Woodstock Academy in Connecticut. The 6-foot-9 forward then played two years at UMass to begin his college career and stopped at Texas for a season before going to WVU for 2021-22.

Schedule released

Another step toward returning to the ice is complete for the Robert Morris women’s hockey team.

After it was folded following the 2020-21 season, the program is scheduled to relaunch this fall. Head coach Logan Bittle and his team released their schedule Monday.

The Colonials are slated to play 32 games. Twenty of them will be College Hockey America conference games (and one exhibition contest).

The club’s regular-season opening series will be on the road against Union College on Sept. 29 and 30. The home opener will be Oct. 7 against Saint Anselm at 2 p.m.

Conference play starts in Erie for the Colonials, as they’ll take on Mercyhurst in the last weekend of October.

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:https://t.co/H8wr6RI3xA
: https://t.co/yAKGlazqWF #BobbyMo | | #RMUnite #CollegeHockeyAmerica pic.twitter.com/hoIGv9XWBv

— RMU Women's Hockey (@RMUWHockey) June 26, 2023

The men’s team is returning to competition this year as well. Their schedule was released last week. Coach Derek Schooley’s team starts play Oct. 7 against Bowling Green.