TMS
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http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=491774 Gunshot latest evidence Plaxico Burress' life is off track Email this article E-MAIL Sporting News - Print this article PRINT COMMENTS 2 Sporting News - User Comments WATCH THIS TOPIC Sporting News - RSS Feed Posted: November 29, 2008
Plaxico Burress should be at the pinnacle of career. Instead, he seems bent on ruining it.
Everything a wide receiver could want, Burress has -- new contract, Super Bowl ring, superb athletic ability, great team and an excellent quarterback. But this season has been one incident after another with Burress, the most serious occurring Friday night, when he accidently shot himself in the leg at a nightclub. Burress spent the night in a Manhattan hospital, and details about the incident remain sketchy.
Fortunately, Burress' injuries were not life threatening. Thankfully, nobody else was injured. Hopefully, Burress makes a full recovery. He was released from a Manhattan hospital Saturday afternoon.
"We are aware of the fact that Plaxico was involved in an apparent accidental shooting last night," team officials said in a statement released Saturday afternoon. "We have been in contact with Plaxico since shortly after the incident. Plaxico suffered a wound to his right thigh. Obviously our primary concern is for Plaxico's health and well-being, and given the circumstances we are relieved to say he was released from a New York City hospital at approximately 2 p.m. today.
"We have been in touch with NFL security on this matter. At this point, we are attempting to gather all the facts surrounding this incident. This incident could become a matter for law enforcement officials, and because of that we have no comment on any of the details."
No matter how quickly Burress returns to health, he must examine the turmoil in his life and take immediate steps to end it. He already has been fined, benched and suspended this season. It has become painfully clear that his personal life is out of order.
The Giants (10-1) again face the challenge of dealing with a Burress distraction, starting Sunday when they visit the Redskins. But in some ways, the Giants already have moved on without Burress. Steve Smith has more catches (41) than Burress (35), with Amani Toomer (34) close behind. Burress was going to miss the Redskins game anyway with a hamstring injury. Even with Burress having a subpar season, the Giants have won six consecutive games and have the NFC's best record as Eli Manning has bonded even more with his other receivers.
It is possible that Burress will not play again for the Giants -- this season or ever. Depending on the facts pertaining to the shooting, he could face punishment for violating the league's personal code of conduct. He will have to recover from his injuries. And the Giants, tired of his troubles, might not want him back after this season.
Burress caught the winning touchdown in last year's Super Bowl, but he has not been the same player since. Meanwhile, the Giants have shown amazing resiliency, winning the Super Bowl the year after Tiki Barber retired and rolling this season despite the retirement of Michael Strahan and a season-ending injury to Osi Umenyiora.
Certainly, the Giants are better with Burress. But they have proven they can win without him.
The Giants, as a team, clearly have the discipline Burress lacks. Surely, all of his teammates are thankful Burress was not seriously injured. But they also surely have grown weary of his distractions, and you cannot blame them.
When Burress was given a one-game suspension earlier this season for skipping a day full of team meetings, none of his teammates said they were surprised. None of his teammates said they thought the punishment was too harsh.
Whether Burress gave thanks on Thanksgiving, he should be more thankful now. One bullet in the wrong place can end your life, not just your career.
Hard work, talent and good fortune have taken Burress to the NFL, but he keeps finding trouble and ignoring warning signs.
Maybe this latest incident will be the wakeup call that has not registered up to this point. But before Burress runs another pass pattern, he should run to get whatever help he needs to end the off-field drama.
After 7 years & 40K+ posts, banned by martin for calling Nalod a 'moron'. Awesome.
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