The Media Created "Plaxico Burress Problem"

Let’s get this straight. The Giants are 6-1, defending Super Bowl champions, alone in first place in the heavyweight division of the NFL, the NFC East, and all anyone wants to talk about is the “Plaxico Burress Problem?”

So, what is this “Plaxico Burress Problem?"  I’ll tell you what it is: It is the media trying to drag down the defending Super Bowl Champions.

People outside of the New York metropolitan area hate when New York sports teams are excelling. Thus, the media has decided, since the best team of all time, the 18-1 New England Patriots, could not beat the Giants in the biggest game of all, it is their job to pull the Giants down.

Additionally, the media hates the Giants because they do not have the big-name, sexy type of players. Therefore, since there are none of these big-name, sexy players on the Giants, the media must find something else to write about.

To top it off, the media hates how the Giants players won’t give them quotes to fill other teams’ bulletin boards or to cause destruction in the Giants' own locker room.

Thus, in order to write about the Giants, the media has developed the “Plaxico Burress Problem.”

Here are five reasons why their so-called “problem” is not actually a problem at all.

• Plaxico Burress battled through a badly sprained ankle the entire season last year and put up monstrous stats—including 11 catches for 154 yards in the arctic temperatures in the NFC Championship game. This earned him the respect of his teammates.
• In addition, Burress did not practice the entire year, yet, he and Eli Manning looked to be on the same page the entire season.
• Furthermore, this “problem” was apparently occurring during the Giants phenomenal run to win the Super Bowl—with sources claiming Burress was fined between 40-50 times last season.
• When asked if being a “problem” would affect his play on the field he responded, “Never has, never will.”
• Lastly, Burress described his relationship with Coach Coughlin as “working.” I don’t know about you, but I certainly have had my share of bosses that I did not see eye to eye with but was still able to produce quality work—a “working relationship.”

It is time this “problem” is put to bed. The Giants knew what they were getting when they signed Plaxico Burress as a free agent—a dangerous weapon for Eli Manning. 

The Giants' management has handled this situation amazingly. Perhaps the Giants players have handled the “Plaxico Burress Problem” even better—refusing to let the media trick them into saying something that could pull the team apart.

The media needs to stop this campaign to pull down the New York Giants, and, instead, write about how the Giants, including Plaxico Burress, are focused on returning to glory.