Plaxico Burress: Can His Post-Prison Career Be on Par with Michael Vick's?

Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick's careers have much more in common than they'd like. They're both former Pro Bowl players from Virginia's Tidewater area who belong to a more exclusive list of NFL players who have served prison sentences. 

But this coming season, Plaxico will look to join Michael on the short list of players to come back from behind bars and find success. 

Vick made this look like an easy task last season. Two years after earning eternal disdain from PETA and dog-lovers everywhere, he led the Philadelphia Eagles to an 8-3 record, while throwing for career-highs in yards (3,018), touchdowns (21) and completion percentage (62.6%). 

During the fourth-quarter comeback against the New York Giants and his one-man dismantling of the Washington Redskins on Monday night, there were times when I thought, "Wow, prison was the best thing to happen to Michael Vick."

Of course that is a stretch, but you can't knock the resourcefulness of these guys. They both made insanely stupid decisions, but going to prison has surely helped both realize how fortunate they had it and also re-affirmed their love for the game. 

But will it yield a "better-than-ever version" of Burress as it did for Vick last season?

The short answer is that it's possible, but highly unlikely. He should fare better than Vick did in some areas, however.

For one, he will have more teams interested in his service—publicly, at least. But not because he will make a bigger impact. Signing him won't cause as much backlash outside of football as signing Vick did two years ago. Though they both served their time, Plaxico's crime only hurt himself (all puns intended). Having agent/PR guru Drew Rosenhaus in his corner doesn't hurt either.

But as far as his on-the-field output, don't expect any career highs. 

Hell, anything more than a 1,000 yard season should be considered a rousing success; since 1970, it has only been done 25 times by receivers after turning 34. (Burress will be 35 by the start of the season.) 

Also keep in mind that Vick's breakthrough season came in his second season with the Eagles. I don't expect a 36-year-old Burress to do what only Jerry Rice has done in the past (Rice had 1,000-yard seasons at 39 and 40).

Scrutiny aside, Plaxico may still have enough left to make an impact on a team as a second or third option. I hope I'm wrong and he sets the league on fire, but history is certainly not on his side.