PITTSBURGH - Steelers safety Anthony Smith told reporters this afternoon he always knew a bar partly owned by teammate Hines Ward would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. “I guaranteed it,” said Smith.
Smith’s teammate, linebacker James Farrior, praised Smith’s business acumen, and foresight. “You talk that [stuff], you better back it up. And he did.” Smith said his extensive knowledge of the restaurant/nightclub industry, combined with a rigid analysis of the business model provided by Ward and his partners made his conclusion inevitable. “I knew it was going to happen. I told him it was going to happen. And it did.”
When Smith found out after practice that The Locker Room Bar and Grille on East Carson Street had indeed sought protection from creditors by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Federal Court, he ran across the locker room and began taunting Mr. Ward. Mr. Ward began jawing back at Mr. Smith before they had to be separated.
Asked later what he said to Mr. Smith, Ward smiled. “I told him the next time he guarantees something, I’m going to believe it.”
