Free Plaxico Burress!

It's time to toss the challenge flag. If ever a replay should be called, now's the time. It's been roughly a month since Plaxico Burress was sentened to two years in prison for violating New York City gun laws, and I still don't understand how the system has allowed this to happen.

At minimum, Burress will serve 20 months in prison. That's roughly 600 days behind bars. 14,400 hours. 864,000 minutes. 51,840,000 seconds. Seems a little steep, considering that no one was actually hurt in the incident, other than Burress himself.

Yes, Burress did break the law. He carried a concealed weapon into a nightclub and it accidentally went off. Burress was hit in the thigh, and had to be rushed to the hospital. One could make the argument that if things had gone differently, someone could have potentially been killed in the accident. A bystander at the bar. Or the bouncer doing his job.

But no bystander was shot. Or hurt. And yet, Burress was sentenced for two years anyway. Accidents are unfortunate and often unjustifiable. But there is a big difference between an accident that results in injury, and one that does not. Yes, it can be a matter of luck, but that's the way things work in society. Traffic accidents happen all the time because someone was talking on their cell phone rather than paying attention to the road. However, we all continue to talk on our phones anyway. Lucky for us, our close calls don't result in two year prison sentences. That time we almost hit that person in the cross-walk because we were busy texting the cute girl from work, that was just an anomaly. Won't let that happen again.

But why compare traffic accidents to a gun accident? Because roughly 40,000 more people die in traffic accidents than gun accidents each year in the United States. Yet, rarely do we ever punish anyone for causing a traffic accident, even when they were under the influence of alcohol. Maybe they'll lose their license, or get fined, but scarcely will they get jail time unless the accident resulted in death. And let's remember the key word here; accident. Plaxico Burress did not intend to hurt himself or anyone else. There was no premeditation, no intent to harm. Have we suddenly forgotten that bit of information?

All too often, when celebrities commit crimes, they get off with a slap on the wrist, infuriating the rest of us who know we would never be afforded such kind treatment. But in one of the rare instances where the celebrity should have actually been given a slap on the wrist, Burress was given an upper cut to the jaw, a two year prison sentence for breaking a law that resulted in exactly zero bystanders being hurt.

So as the NFL season continues on, we must remind ourselves that a grave injustice has taken place. And while the NRA has remained surprisingly silent on this issue, the general public should not. A bad call on the field is one thing. A bad call by the legal system is another. This call is inexcusable. I for one, demand a replay.