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No more reason to placate Plax
by Mike Vaccaro, New York Post
Giant headache
Timeline: It's been a trying year for Plaxico Burress, from his regular-season suspension to the nightclub shooting. Get caught up on how we got here.
Fantasy impact: Will Plax's exit from New York affect Eli Manning? Roger Rotter has the fantasy impact of Plaxico's release.
Fallen stars: Burress isn't the only big name athlete you don't want to be. Here's a look at 10 more that took a dive.
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Plaxico Burress has officially reached that place with the Giants now — officially no longer worth the extra energy and effort that goes along with keeping him a part of the team.
Placating Plax has long been a full-time job for the Giants, anyway. But now, after word comes that a bullet wound up in his right thigh — shot from his apparently unlicensed gun, at that — this is overtime that no one associated with the Giants needs.
There's a lot we don't know about what happened early yesterday in the LQ nightclub, but what we do know is troubling enough:
Most troubling is that we know Burress again found himself in the kind situation where only bad things happen and where cops want to ask you questions. If this were an isolated incident — say, like teammate Kareem MacKenzie's recent DUI arrest — perhaps it would be only a red flag.
But this isn't an aberration. It is a culmination, a climax to a busy season of discontent and disconnect for Burress, which included a protracted salary dispute, blowing off practice that resulted in a one-game suspension (a game, not coincidentally, the Giants won in a rout) and an even more disquieting nonchalance when he returned from the ban.
The Giants were willing to tolerate Placating Plax an awful long way, all the way through his game-winning catch at Super Bowl XLII and all the way to a $15 million contract extension. But Burress has kept pushing, kept tugging, kept kicking. And Giants GM Jerry Reese is too smart a personnel man not to recognize the fine line between irreverence and irresponsibility.
Burress now finds himself on the same side of the line that Jeremy Shockey ultimately found himself last year without ever pulling the trigger of a gun. Ultimately, your presence will be tolerated until your insolence is greater than your usefulness.
Maybe the Giants should have learned from other teams' lessons. Latrell Sprewell was a soul worth saving for the Knicks until he ultimately became a cancer in his own clubhouse. There are similarities aplenty between Sprewell and Burress, right down to this: ultimately, keeping Sprewell would have meant losing something much deeper, much greater. It was one of the last smart things the Knicks did until recently.
Ultimately, a team has to live with itself. And the Giants, ultimately, will live with themselves a lot more peacefully when they cut ties with No. 17 and allow some other team to engage in the difficult art of Placating Plax.
Member Comments
plaxico burress will be in jail just like oj simpson
fuqwa212/4/2008 17:23:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
plaxico needs discipline (heavy duty)...!!!<br />I disagree with paying the sob to leave the giants & football. That's been the problem for too long. PAYING THESE IDIOTS big $$...then they think they're above the law & rules. They start out with $millions and ruin our sports (all). They don't want to be role models (TILL THEY GET CAUGHT)... then they're so sorry...!!! It's time for all sports owners to kick their **** out, if they <br />screw up !!! And they certainly do that. By the way, we really don't want vick back, either. Fans would rather watch a good game from a complete team who doesn't embarass our country !!! Does any owner have a clue?<br />How about the GIANTS setting the example<br />and kick his ass out (and others).
robertphillips12/2/2008 13:06:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
motherterp:<br />Sorry! The Cowboys can't take on another 31 year old adolesent millionaire needing constant supervision while off the field of play. Maybe YOU should take on the task, seeing how you convey yourself as an expert on what the Gaints and Cowboys should do with this goofy ba$TURD. Sounds like you would be the perfect babysitter for Plax. No doubt you can raise him in a way that would make him a better human. Again, the Cowboys have their allotment of "constant care" players, so your insightful thinking the Cowboys "would pick him up" is wrong as three eyebrows! Speaking of flushing, go brush your tooth because your breath makes your typing stink!
gret-pearl12/2/2008 10:38:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
wish he would have caught it in the nut sack so he can't reproduce that low brain power.
Stevie_R12/2/2008 10:09:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
dam it feels to be a gangster<br /><br />at the club and gettin high<br /><br />then to top off the evenin<br />I shoot myself in the thigh
Lostballs12/1/2008 15:17:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
There is no surgery for being brainless. One can educate the ignorant; however, there is no cure for being brainless. There is only misery and heartbreak. The Giants should fire the mornon before he kills someone.
lacemuptight12/1/2008 15:02:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
You can't fix stupid - what the H E double hocky sticks did he need a gun for where he was? The Giants should flush him, the NFL should flush him but the Cowboys will probably pick him up if the Giants do flush him. Idiot.
motherterp12/1/2008 13:28:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Smart. Carry a loaded weapon into a nightclub. Nevermind that he's a visible sports figure, there are some things you don't take chances doing for fear of getting caught and losing everything you've worked your whole life for.
srn196212/1/2008 13:11:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
OK i have seen some comments on this Plax situation and some refering to racist comments being made. Think, this has nothing to do with race, the ignorant athlete had a gun straped to his leg without the safety on, DUMB A**. Then when the gun started slipping the idiot grabbed it by the grip and trigger, go figure for his IQ, no wonder he shot him self. Let alone this brain donor was in a club, yeah someone threatening him that bad. The dude's a millonaire, maybe its some sort of penis envy for these high profile idiots.
Stevie_R12/1/2008 12:30:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
This is a joke. Burress is pathetic. And to think that he will return to the NFL at some point is even worse. While playing in the NFL, he was a donkey. Just like Vick and TO, he could care LESS about his team...he's he's not dumb---he's arrogant. There is a big difference. Dumb would be Donovan McNabb not knowing that overtime is one quarter only......no---Burress is thinking he's bulletproof to the rest of the world...literally speaking he is not. However, do any members of the press mention that he is a role model to young kids? NO. The press cares only about the win/loss column. The only time the press will soak this up is when they have nothing to talk about in March. It's obvious that Burress was trying to act IceCube growing up in Compton. But the difference is that he will likely go home that night to a multi-million dollar home with a garage full of Ferrari's and Porches. And it definitely wasnt his brain that earned those. I will be very thankful if the Giants win another superbowl---because that will help define Burress for what he is. A selfish, cocky, punk who thinks he's a gangster. <br /><br />By the way---almost all NFL teams have access to offduty police officers and body guards to prevent this.
ROCKETROY12/1/2008 11:01:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
I think a portion of a player's salary should go to a NFL-approved baby-sitter...it's clear that alot of football players can't take care of themselves once they reach the big time....they get popped for DUI's , possession of just about anything , car crashes and carrying guns in clubs.... they need to GROW UP !!!
00pnut12/1/2008 10:37:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
too funny! thank goodness only dumb@$$ plax got hurt and not some innocent clubdancer. He MUST serve time like any other person w/o $35M would. I count 4 felony charges here totaling up to 10-12yrs, but since he's a rich athlete he'll prob get 10-12mths. Maybe he can share a cell w/ Vick. IDIOTS! I hope his lawyer gets capped in the leg too! scumbag.
thrilladelphia12/1/2008 7:58:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Coming soon, to a theater near you - "8 Mile the sequel - Eminem does New Jersey". Co-starring Plaxico Burress as Cheddar Bob.
hizes12/1/2008 5:37:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
If Burress is arrested and convicted of the gun charge....is that a felony in NY? And if it is a felony, can a player remain in the NFL with an felony arrest record. Help me out here...
whocareswhatmyscreennameis12/1/2008 3:46:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
I feel sorry for him, he really just messed up his furture. Ilove him as a player, hopes everything works out.If they cut him I will miss him. Hopeful he learn a lesson, your not untouchable. Wishing You better days.
just_me12311/30/2008 21:30:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I THINK THW ATEELER ORGANIZATION IS STILL APPLAUDING HIS LEAVING THEM,AND BESIDES THE STEELERS WON A S.B. AFTER HIS HIGHNESS LEFT. MAYBE THE GIANTS SHOULD TAKE NOTICE OF THIS FACT AND JUST CUT HIM. HELL, PAY HIM TO LEAVE TOWN IF THEY NEED TO JUST GET HIM OUT OF THE GIANTS ORGANIZATION AND LET THE NEXT SUCKER TRY TO PUT YUP WITH HIS 13 YEAR OLD ANTICS.
georay5711/30/2008 21:20:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
The saddest part of it is that when he is cut there will be teams jumping at the chance to sign him. You can bet that Jerry Jones is mad at himself right now for the trade to Detroit because he would have been at the front of the line with a big sloppy grin on his face.
EmbraceReality11/30/2008 21:12:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Well it's time to go to work so I can afford a 10.00 beer, 75.00 ticket, 40.00 parking fee, 50.00 souvenir, 8.00 hot dog. But, at least it's comforting to know that my hard earned cash will go towards keeping Plax in bling and bullets. Ha-ha, just kidding. Anybody who gives even one dime to a pro sports team is dumber than Plax. I'll watch for free until these pro sports leagues clean up their acts and stop employing criminals. It's the money that's ruining pro sports because quite a few of these just can't handle it without it getting them in big time trouble. It was better when players had to have off-season jobs to make ends meet. The game was better, too. Average teams from the 70's would steam roll the crap that passes for pro football today.
18_Wheels11/30/2008 21:04:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
The G's actually seem to be a better team w/o Plax. How much heat does Jerry Reese take for re-signing this headache to that huge extention? And,just wondering, if the reports are accurate, how can you plead not guilty to having a firearm if you have already claimed that you shot yourself? Spin doctors have their hands full with that one.
18_Wheels11/30/2008 20:48:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
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