TEAMMATES SPEAK! OUT! ABOUT BURRESS PLEA DEAL!
// August 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Hott Sports
some words aren’t meant to be left unsaid
“I know a lot of our players are hurting right now just thinking about it because he was a friend to them. I hope it’s a wake-up call to some of them.”
HOTT SPORTS!
WOW! Maybe he should’ve case! Because doing jail time over shooting yourself is a major waste of prison space!
Though PLAXICO BURRESS hasn’t been a Giant for more than four months, the news of his accepting a plea deal for two years in jail still had a major affect on the team.
It could be seen in the eyes of wide receiver Sinorice Moss as he struggled for words upon hearing the news and it could be heard in the somber voice of team president and CEO John Mara.
“He was a part of the family,” Mara told reporters on his way to lunch. “I know a lot of our players are hurting right now just thinking about it because he was a friend to them. I hope it’s a wake-up call to some of them. I hope they’ve all learned a lesson — that you make a bad choice, a bad judgment, it can cost you your career and it can cost you having to go to prison.
“It’s a terrible situation when you think about what he threw away by doing what he did. It’s terrible. He had all that talent, he had a brand-new contract, he had a brand-new baby. It really is an American tragedy.”
Moss, who remains a close friend of Burress and trains with him in the off-season in Miami, wasn’t aware of the news until reporters informed him. Moss was apparently expecting to field questions about football when he was asked about the Burress situation.
“Wow,” Moss began. “It’s been a very, very tough situation since the beginning. Our concern was Plax always. …”
Moss gathered himself and said, “I’m so speechless, man. I can’t even think of anything to say right now, just hearing about this whole situation from the beginning to now. Plax is a good friend of mine I speak to a lot, even since he departed from this team. I just wish him the best. He made a decision on what he had to do. He’s going to be well.”
Said quarterback Eli Manning, “I’m saddened by the news. It’s just sad. I’m disappointed and feel bad for how this worked out and the circumstances that he’s been put through and his family. No one wanted this and wanted this to happen and it’s a shame it did.”
Antonio Pierce, who accompanied Burress last November on the night of his self-shooting and transported the gun from the crime scene, did not make an appearance at the players’ cafeteria Thursday. Running back Brandon Jacobs, who’s been outspoken in his support of Burress, also did not appear. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora, a staunch Burress supporter who clearly believed the district attorney was being too hard on Burress, declined comment.
That left a handful of players to react to the news.
“In the back of your mind, you kind of chalk it up as something that’s bound to happen sooner or later,” defensive end Justin Tuck said. “But once the sentence came down and you look at it, no one expected that. I don’t care how much you kept up with all the proceedings, nobody expected that. We thought, somehow or another, everything would turn out for the best with Plaxico and we were hoping for that and praying for that. But it is what it is now. All we can do now, as the New York Giants and the teammates of Plaxico, is try to support him any way we can.”
One recurring theme, as it pertains to the current team and all NFL players, is whether the Burress sentencing will serve as a wake-up call. Mara said he hopes that message has been sent and suggested that, if it hasn’t, there’s nothing more the team can say to make them understand.
“I think it’s been verbalized to them enough. I don’t think we need to beat them over the head with it any more,” Mara said. “I think all of them understand what the message is.”
Mara believes the district attorney, as well as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, wanted to send a strong message to everyone.
“The laws in New York are pretty strict for this type of offense and rightfully so,” Mara said. “I think, had this been Joe the Plumber, would he have gotten two years? I’m not so sure of that.”
Mara said Burress is “entitled” to a second chance after his sentencing but cautioned that everyone should wait and “see what happens when he comes out.” If Burress goes to jail when he’s sentenced on Sept. 22 and serves the minimum 20 months, he’ll be 34 years old when he gets out in May 2011. Is that too old for him to resume his NFL career?
“No, not for a guy like that,” defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said. “It all depends on how well he keeps up while he’s in there and how quickly he can rebound. But I think for a player of his caliber, he’s definitely still got a lot left in the tank. As tough as it will be to be away from the game, he’s one of the guys who could do it.”
Of course, there’s always the threat of disciplinary action from the league. But before that, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith is promising a fight during negotiations on the new collective bargaining agreement. The current CBA is set to expire at the end of next season.
“The disciplinary system is something that, now that we’re forced to come to the bargaining table, it’ll be something I’m interested in talking about,” said Smith, who was visiting the Giants Thursday on his tour of all 32 teams, “because I have very strong feelings about the way the discipline system is now. And the players have equally strong feelings.”
