Plaxico Burress, standing at 6-5, 232 pounds has intimidated defensive backs throughout his NFL career but has never seen smaller. He has seen the glory of an NFL superstar and the wrath that comes with it. A Super Bowl hero for the New York Giants just two years ago when he caught the winning touchdown over the previously undefeated New England Patriots, Burress has fallen a long way from the pinnacle and defining moment of his career. A headache in the locker room and constantly late to meetings, Burress’ athleticism and playmaking ability kept him in the starting lineup and a consistent target for Giants quarterback Eli Manning. But his celebrity may have cost him in this situation. On November 29, 2008, Plaxico went to the Latin Quarters where he accidentally shot himself in the leg. Burress proceeded to attempt to cover up the act by hiding the gun through linebacker and friend Antonio Pierce and the gunshot went unreported by the hospital, a violation of NYC law. The mess he entangled himself in warranted punishment, even jailtime but not to the extent at which he was punished. Plaxico accepted a plea agreement for two years in jail, twenty months with good behavior.
I agree that Plaxico should have gone to jail but two years seems way too much. Plaxico took the gun with him in order to protect himself. Young men with money often wear expensive watches, chains and bracelets. As we’ve seen in the past, football players are no exception to the preying thieves that lurk the nights. Javon Walker, who has seen the worst of guns as he was with Broncos cornerback Deron Williams in the same limo when he was shot to death was robbed in a Las Vegas street and left unconscious. Yes, guns are dangerous and they should not be carried without a license. The laws of New York State, though, are flawed as a mandatory three and a half year sentence is ridiculous. No one knows the gun laws of New York State. Legislation is as confusing as is and it’s not as if signs are posted on the street reminding us that guns must be licensed. Plaxico was simply a man looking out for his own best interests and it is unfair that he was given this ridiculous punishment. Can a person honestly say that Plaxico deserves twenty months in prison when Donte’ Stallworth killed a man while drinking and driving and only got thirty days (served 24).
Most shocking of all in this case is the way that Plaxico was placed a target on his back. Mayor Mike Bloomberg was set on making Plaxico the posterchild of his strict but suffocating gun laws. It is ridiculous that a mayor should thrust himself into a case where no one’s life was taken. If he doesn’t do it for every case, he shouldn’t single it out Plaxico’s when it was a non-violent act and he cooperated with authorities. Plaxico’s high powered lawyer tried every manuever to ensure his client’s well-being but the city wouldn’t budge. The Manhattan district attorney Robert Morgenthau came out in public and said that Plaxico would receive no less than two years of incarceration. A district attorney should not comment on cases that are ongoing and single out a plantiff. I find it ridiculous that Plaxico was given this insufficient treatment and the district attorney never budged. A similar case with no celebrity would receive somewhere from six months to a year or maybe even probation. Two years is absolutely ludicrous. Plaxico will come back to the NFL with two years off meaning a lost step but two less years of beating. It will be important to see how Michael Vick readjusts to the NFL in order to see whether an athletic specimen like Vick has any problems after two years of prison. It is insane that Plaxico will forever be compared to a man who electrocuted, drowned and hanged dogs but this is the world we live in.
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