Over in Baltimore, receiver Donte' Stallworth preps for a return from surgery on his fractured left foot. Injured in a preseason game over the weekend against the New York Giants, Stallworth is targeting late October for a return to the field.
On Tuesday, in New York, Plaxico Burress was informed that the Department of Correctional Services had denied yet another of his applications for work release. Incarcerated with a two year sentence stemming from an accidental firearm discharge in November 2008, Burress has little hope of returning to an NFL field until the 2011 season at the earliest.
In March 2009, Stallworth killed a pedestrian while driving drunk in Miami Beach. He served 24 days of a 30 day jail sentence. He was suspended one season without pay by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and was reinstated following the New Orleans Saints' victory in Super Bowl XLIV.
Stallworth killed a man; Burress committed a brazen act of criminal stupidity. The question is, does the latter truly merit 704 days more of incarceration than the former?
Again: Burress was foolish. He slipped a .40-caliber Glock pistol into the waistband of his sweatpants and strolled into a crowded club, bypassing security. Unsurprisingly, it accidentally discharged. To call him incredibly, stupendously, mind-numbingly, painfully foolish would not be an overstatement.
Incredibly foolish, that is, but not inconceivably so. Burress's mishap occurred less than a year after the senseless murder of Washington Redskins' star Sean Taylor underscored the extent to which all star athletes are targets. Just this past July, Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson's Charlotte home was robbed and his wife held at gunpoint.
Yet because Burress happened to commit his act of supreme stupidity within New York State -- worse, within New York City -- he received a two-year jail sentence for what would have been a slap on the wrist incident in the majority of the country. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, so clear-minded and empathetic in public discussions over the Park51 community center project, has been bewilderingly thickheaded and obstinate with his grandstanding this issue.
Burress, it should be remembered, has a wife, an infant son and a newborn daughter. These two years during which he is not drawing an NFL salary are also the first two years of his daughter's life, which he's experiencing only through jailhouse visits. When Burress emerges from prison, he will be 34 years old, ancient in football terms. His career will likely be over, his earning potential decreased hundredsfold for the rest of his life as he attempts to support his young family.
Were Burress to be made a free agent today, there's little doubt he could find work. The Minnesota Vikings recently signed former Packers castoff and Raiders big-money failure Javon Walker and expect him to play a significant role in their offense, compensating for injuries to stars Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin. The St. Louis Rams, who lost starter Donnie Avery to injury reserve earlier this month, will be starting some combination of Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson and rookie Mardy Gilyard. Combined, this trio totals 77 NFL receptions. Burress, before his career was prematurely abbreviated, racked up 505 catches. The Rams have been rumored to be considering a trade for San Diego holdout and headcase Vincent Jackson; one would have to assume they would take a flyer on Burress.
Instead, he stews in jail, as Donte' Stallworth rehabs and prepares to retake the field for a championship contender. Burress is still a pariah, while Michael Vick, Stallworth and Leonard Little, the Rams defensive star who made two pro-bowls since his 1998 drunk driving-related manslaughter conviction, are allowed their fair shakes at second chances. Little, who was pulled over and failed three road sobriety tests in 2004, has played the bulk of his career on chance number three and is now contemplating retirement, his football dreams more than fulfilled.
Somehow, though, we are supposed to believe that Plaxico Burress's victimless act of negligence deserves a special circle of Hell. Somehow, we are supposed to believe that, regarding Burress, this all makes sense.
Burress discharged an illegal gun in a public place. In New York City, they obviously take that sort of thing very seriously, and he has to pay the penalty for his stupid and criminal actions. Burress did all this to himself, and his family is not suffering because of the actions of Bloomberg. They're suffering thanks to the criminally stupid behavior of Burress.
yes, and if he had killed someone in the club, their relatives could enjoy graveside visits with their loved one. so, which is more important? that an idiot be locked up or a family being at a graveside?
He lives in a gated community.
Allegedly, he was separated from his wife.
Does not pass the litmus test upon further review.
Burress put other people at risk with his behavior. Then he lied about his name and his whereabouts when the incident took place. Hospital personnel are legally required to report shootings to the police, but in this case, they didn't. I assume that was because Burress peeled a few Benjamins off his money clip in the ER.
Don't compare Burress' situation to Sean Taylor's. Taylor was attacked in his home. Burress left his home to go to a place where he thought he would need a gun. That suggests that he went out looking for trouble.
I do agree that Burress has served plenty of time and should be home by now. Hopefully, he will never endanger other people's safety again. I also agree that Stalworth got off way too easy. A man's life is worth more than a few days in jail.
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You leave a hell of alot of facts out of the discussion, dont you? Such as Stallworth cooperated fully, didnt run and hide, pled guilty, the vitcim's family pleaded for lenency and a few other things.
Where as Plax, whom had a gun license in other states but let it laspe, knowingly carried a gun w/o one, so he had no excuse, further tried to hid evidence and more then a few other things.
Try using all the facts next time. It wasnt just "foolish". Foolish is leaving the door unlocked and open when you leave so you can be robbed. What he did was criminally neglegent and he had ZERO excuse in the matter given that he knew he needed a license and knew it was wrong to carry without it and knew it was absolutely wrong to cover it up and try and hide the gun.
Now having said all that, I think his sentence was a bit excessive, excusive of Stallworth's actions. But thats Bllomburg and guns for you.
Gun crimes do in fact deserve their own "special circle of Hell." Idiots like Burress reinforce a violent gun culture without thinking twice about it. That New York City has shown no mercy on one of their greatest Superbowl heroes is commendable.
Don't carry a pistol if your not permitted to do so. It's as simple as that!
Shooting himself just made it REAL easy to prove the crime he was imprisoned for.
He knew what the law was and ignored it. As a multi-millionaire he could hire security with permit firearms. He chose to play gansta and could have just as easily shot a bystander in the head as his own thigh.
There are genuinely innocent people in prisons across the country, and you take up the cause of a over-indulged professional athlete who thinks the laws don't apply to him.
Thank you for your valuable service.