Plaxico Burress - Fair or Foul?

So another career goes up in smoke, gunsmoke if you will. Plaxico was a player with great potential who probably was just starting to consistently live up to some of that potential with the Giants. I could write a thousand articles on players who I feel, like Burress, have the greatest potential but for whatever reason (entitlement issues, coaching, personality, the system) can't consistently maximize that potential. But with the Giants, Plax was a playmaker and a big contributor to their Super Bowl run.

Now for the tough part. Was Plax treated fairly or not? I did a similar article about Goodell's punishment for Mike Vick. The big difference here, though, is that Vick's punishment from the NFL does allow him to play while Plax's punsiment from the judicial system could effectively end his career. By the time his 2 year sentence is served he'll be 34.

I've heard so many debates about this and the chasm between schools of thought on this is vast and surprisingly does not lie along racial lines. At least not solely. On the one hand you have Vick who killed dogs and Stallworth who killed a man. Meawhile, Plax shoots himself and gets 2 years!

On the other hand, if you're a resident of New York you know how tough the gun laws are and how important it is to have a valid registration, not to mention the potential for someone getting hurt.

Here's my take on this, and perhaps it is a harsh stand. But I can't feel too sorry for Plax. I feel bad for him as a person because I don't want the primadona rich men in prison, I want the hardcore thugs who are committing real crimes in prison. But it comes down to this. He knew the laws and he chose to break this one. Although he ended up hurting himself, he could have very easily shot someone else by accident. Also, I can't help but feel a little resentment when I see men who are making millions of dollars from playing sports but can't seem to keep their nose clean. If I were making millions of dollars as an athlete, I would be making sure that I protected that at all cost. Among other things, that means that if I think I will need a gun if I go to a certain club...I won't go that club. Or at the very least I will make sure that my gun is registered...and that the safety is on.

That being said, I do think 2 years under the circumstances is a little much. And considering that he had to plea guilty to get 2 years tells me that he felt he would definitely get more than that in trial. If they're going to make an example out of Plaxico, then they'd better go after the club management because somebody let him in with full knowledge that he had a gun. And if someone at the hospital did not initially report the shooting to the police as has been rumored, then somebody better go after the hospital. I've never subscribed to the theory of administering harsher punishment than usual on someone just to make an example of them. So if they are making an example of Plax, it means nothing if they don't also go after the enablers.