Does the NFL now stand for the "National Felony League"? Because it sure seems that the inmates are running the asylum. The latest being New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who may now be facing the end of his time with the Giants.
You probably all know this, but just to set the stage, Burress, whose team had a game against the Redskins on Sunday afternoon, was out at a New York nightclub called the Latin Quarter in the early hours Friday. Reportedly, he was drinking and had a loaded gun in his pocket. The gun accidentally went off, shooting Burress in his thigh.
Police, with the cooperation of the NFL, are looking into a potential cover-up, as the hospital apparently didn't report the incident. Burress was said to have used a phony name. Teammate Antonio Piece's involvement is also under investigation.
This is not the first time that Burress has shot himself in the foot (or thigh). He has been penalized by the Giants on more than 35 occasions in his career in New York, with penalties exceeding $300,000 for mere tardiness alone.
Now the Giants may be poised to just rid themselves of the problem altogether by releasing the beleaguered receiver.
While some say the Giants should be understanding that Burress hasn't been the same since his mom passed away, others ask how much the team should be expected to put up with.
According to Stephen A. Smith, after catching 70 passes for 1,025 yards with 12 touch-downs last season in helping New York to a Super Bowl title, Burress has been a shell of himself this season. His numbers (35 catches, 454 yards, 4 touch-downs) are down.
Worse, his downward spiral came after he signed a five-year, $35 million deal hours before the season opener—weeks after haggling over his contract because he felt the Giants should have offered more guaranteed dollars.
In return, Plaxico has been a royal pain-in-the-ass to the organization, his teammates and to the fans.
Look, Burress isn't the only athlete to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. Yet, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg pointed out, he shouldn't be given any special treatment just because he's a star athlete.
"I don't think anybody should be exempt," Bloomberg said as he called for enforcement of the state law that requires mandatory prison for carrying a loaded handgun. "And I think it would be an outrage if we didn't prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. Particularly people who live in the public domain, making their living because of their visibility—they're the role models for our kids."
According to Smith, those who know Burress describe him as "kind, sensitive and giving."
But how can anyone know? The media doesn't publish stories about goodwill as vigorously as they do stories of football players with illegal handguns and players know this and need to be particularly careful.
I think this may be the last hurrah for Burress as a Giant. Head Coach Tom Coughlin has been known for exercising discipline. While it almost got him fired, it helped the team win a Super Bowl last season.
Players crave structure.
They need discipline.
Sometimes they act like children.
And like children, they need to understand that there are consequences for their actions. I have no doubt that Burress will find another chance with a different team if the Giants dump him, providing that the league doesn't suspend him, though that is likely. However, he probably lost the privilege of being a Giant, and he took yet another shot to his reputation.
Those are consequences, come to think of it.
20 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Kyle Gemon 7 months ago
i think the law in New York is 3.5 years minimum in the slammer for possesion of a loaded firearm. If Burress doesn't see jail time it will cause an uproar. The mayor should make a stand and throw him in jail.
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Yes and if he gets jail time he won't be playing for anyone. And at 31, by the time he gest out his career could be over. But I think somehow he avoids jail time. Thanks Kyle.
Edit Comment Cancel
Kenny Stein 7 months ago
Read the latest ESPN the magazine and see a lot of players talking about carrying and owning guns. The magazine was very biased towards athletes needing to be able to protect himself. Plaxico is acting like an idiot, but we are also sending mixed messages.
Players, especially volatile personalities like Burress, are honestly in danger constantly. From players like Dunta Robinson and Sean Taylor being attacked in their homes to Ken Hamlin and Darrent Williams being attacked while out at night.
More than half the league is probably packing heat when they go out at night, Plax was just the first dummy to shoot himself. Otherwise, we would have kept on going without even acknowledging or caring what these players were doing, just don't wind up in the headlines.
The Giants rid themselves of Shockey cause they found they could win a championship without him. They are the best team in the league right now and Burress has not been a big part of that, they'll probably do the same this season and he'll be gone in the offseason.
And even after he's suspended for 4-8 games, he'll DEFINITELY be signed by another team. Raiders anyone?
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
I guess the question, then, Kenny is why do they feel they need to pack heat? And why is it mostly young black athletes? Is it because they come from the mean streets and continue to hang on with their homies? Is it because they flash around all that bling & cash? Or is it because they do drug deals? There has to be a reason because you don't see Peyton Manning carrying around a gun, for example.
Edit Comment Cancel
Edgar Antonio Nunez 7 months ago
Bob that's a stupid comment. Black versus white. Your cred with me is gone, completely.
This is a class issue.
I come from a rough background and I own a gun. I live in Nevada and have one legally. I have it to protect my property. (Just like many white NRA card carrying members).
His mistake is to take it to an establishment. Not having a gun.
When you come from a tough background, trained to think about the other guy looking at you weird, want to take your [stuff], who's "looking to eat" you protect yourself. And you can't get a bodyguard because that's being a [slang for cat].
If the NFL made an honest assessment about who had guns... They must know because they hold annual meetings about guns for players.
This isn't a race thing, this is a class thing, because as I said, I live in Nevada and the poor, white folks have their rifles, cocked and loaded, hanging next to the bison head hanging from their wood paneled walls.
Edit Comment Cancel
Kenny Stein 7 months ago
Bob, Im afraid I have to agree with Edgar. Your statement comes off as kinda racist.
The aforementioned Jeremy Shockey I believe is a gun-carrier. And a volatile personality.
Ben Roethlisberger has bodyguards for whenever he goes out and other situations. Does he "look" like the type of person who would get into a bad situation? No, but he still has to protect himself.
All of these athletes do.
I honestly don't even know if it has to just do with "class" though. Its a matter of being stupid or a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes its about guys keeping childhood friends around for far too long and guys who continue to get them in trouble when the athlete should have moved on (Michael Vick) when they "had it all"
But what did Sean Taylor do to deserve being killed? Or Darrent Williams?
Javon Walker was beat up in Vegas - but he put himself in a bad situation and was doing the wrong thing and got f'd up. I don't feel bad for him.
Sean Taylor just got robbed. So did Dunta Robinson.
Thugs don't attack and rob large company CEO's and wealthy businessman because those people often are very protective of their money, their holdings, spend a whole lot on security, and have been doing it for a long time.
But many of these athletes are in their 20's, went from the ghetto to Beverly Hills overnight - from welfare to 7 figure paychecks - and weren't aware of how to protect themselves. How to act. And the "bad guys" know how to take advantage of this.
The athlete often acts immature and often is wearing stuff more valuable than you or I make in a year (jewelry, watch, sunglasses) or it is at least assumed he'll have more money in his wallet than a convenient store would have in the cash register, but in this case there aren't security cameras around.
And then one thing leads to another and the athlete gets shot because he's too proud and too cocky to just "give up whats his"
So the athletes protect themselves. And because of the way society is, thats fair for them to do. I know personally if I was in the shoes of one of these athletes, making 10,000,000 a year and was a familiar face, so I knew that anytime I was at the club, I would get recognized as a millionaire, I'd do what I'd do to protect myself, and honestly that would scare me to death. I'd rather not have to do that. I wouldn't want to be a shut-in either though. I'd probably take the Roethlisberger route.
Edit Comment Cancel
O'Dell Isaac II 7 months ago
The Giants would be better off with Plaxico -- that is, if he could behave himself. But they can win without him. They've done a great job of adding depth through the draft.
You may or may not have seen that Plax's teammate, WR Steve Smith, was robbed at gunpoint last week. Would he have been able to thwart the robbery if he'd had a gun himself? Or would he have been shot?
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Two schools of thought on gun ownership. One, why should the robbers be the only ones to have guns? We should be allowed to have them to protect ourselves. But the second school says having a gun only increases the liklihood of a) an accidental shooting, including the ugly possibility of one of your kids finding it; or b) a robber comes into your home and only feels compelled to shoot because he sees you have a gun? Hard to say on Smith...I guess I lean to the thought that he would have gotten shot.
Edit Comment Cancel
David Adams 7 months ago
I won't get into the argument about who should be carrying guns for protection, but I will observe that it is illegal to carry a gun into a drinking establishment in New York City. Protection or not, it's against the law and Burress plainly violated that law. He should be treated like any other person caught violating that law, with no special treatment because he's a famous athelete.
I believe it is time for the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB to insert an additional clause into all player contracts, which reads: "Any player convicted of a felony is permanently ineligible to participate in our league, and the player's contract is immediately declared null and void, with no monies owed to the player." Playing a sport for money is a privilege, NOT a "right." There's already too many "rights" these days. No player has a "right" to participate, and any of the major sports should be able to essentially say "thugs need not apply."
That way, we only have to read the headlines about these jerks just once. Then the morons like Burress and Vick are permanently out of the picture and fans can concentrate on "model citizens" like Terrell Owens, "Pacman" Jones and Randy Moss (had to throw that in ...).
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Yeah, DAvid, model citizens, good one. Well, I thnk that the clause regarding conduct is in most if not all contracts tho I'm sure it's not as specific as your suggestion. Thanks for reading.
Edit Comment Cancel
Vincent DeFazio 7 months ago
I really don't agree with any special treatment for Burress. I do agree with Kenny about the fact that athletes should probably carry weapons because there is an increased threat to them as public idols. However, why is it fair that if one does actually get caught thaht they don't even get in trouble for it? The league seems to be a little too lax on criminal records and other incidents that occur. Their interests should be in protecting the integrity of this great sport and not have people look down upon it more than they already do.
-v
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Good quesiton V. If they got in trouble for carrying one, it (hopefully) might make them think twice and that way, avoid a situaiton such as the one that Burress had. Thanks.
Edit Comment Cancel
Edgar Antonio Nunez 7 months ago
I thought NFL meant No Fun League??
Burress is actually very well liked by teammates. That's a fact.
Also, to equate his being late to team meetings 40-50 times over the time he's been with the Giants isn't at the same level as the charges facing him now.
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Yeah, it's no fun - they won't let players shoot off guns to celebrate a TD in the endzone! Imagine that!
As I wrote, he may be well liked, a great guy and so on, but the media only reports what sells. You know, "if it bleeds, it leads." You never hear the good stuff only the bad. But the players aware of this hazard.
I understand that being late is nothing like shooting yourself in the leg, but it serves the point that he's been trouble for the Ginats before, it's not like this is the first time he's ever been in trouble. So I wasn't trying to compare the incidents, just trying to point out why the Giants may be at wit's end with Burress.
btw, getting back to the "race" thing you brought up. I only asked the question why does it seem to be young black athletes? If it's because it's a class thing and it mostly affects poverty stricken neighborhoods and more blacks are poor than whites, then OK, that's a possible answer. But just because I asked the question doesn't make me a bad guy or a racist.
Edit Comment Cancel
Edgar Antonio Nunez 7 months ago
I apologize for jumping the gun (pun intended). You're right. It's a legit question.
However, guns go across race and class lines. For the record, there are actually more whites on welfare across the country than blacks. That's simple, because there are more whites in the country. We only see poverty in the city, never see the rural poverty that makes up most of America (I've driven/traveled everywhere throughout the country).
But the issue is not guns proper, it's the compulsion to travel to places where guns are prohibited. Sure, as citizens the second amendment protects our gun rights, but I'm not going to walk into a bank, casino, business, etc with one on me.
To risk the public's safety, that's the issue.
But back to young black athletes carrying guns--I understand the rationale, but it's not giving them a pass. Burress should be prosecuted fully. Period. But, again, I understand the rationale.
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Edgar, I caught the pun, good one. And it's OK, in re-reading it, I worded it poorly, definately can see why you would say what you did. But I understand your thinking and appreciate the comments.
Edit Comment Cancel
John Rademaker 7 months ago
The stories I have read say that Burress carried a Glock .40 cal. That is an interesting gun in that it has 3 safeties and in order to fire one MUST pull the trigger. Really stupid!
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
If that's true, and I can't doubt what you're saying as no article I read mentioned what kind of gun it was, or at least I don't recall one that did, then I'm confused. I thought it went off when it fell out of his wasteband onto his leg? That would mean he wasn't shooting the gun. But if what you're saying is true, wouldn't he have had to pull the trigger himself? If so, that's yet another cover-up, so it doesn't help the situation at all, does it? geez...
Edit Comment Cancel
Jim Bouchard 7 months ago
Excellent debate. I also have a permit to carry a weapon and I was once an armed bodyguard. The fact is that a responsible person carrying a handgun for protection must change his/her behavior entirely while carrying a weapon. This includes not drinking and securing the weapon.
It is possible that Plax's weapon may have discharged accidentally. He should have secured it properly which would make that possibility remote if not impossible.
More thoughts on this here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/88101-what-if-he-shot-someone-else
Edit Comment Cancel
Bob Warja 7 months ago
Thanks Jim and fine article yourself.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.