NEW YORK (AP)
Locked up for 20 months for illegally carrying and firing a gun at a Manhattan nightclub, Plaxico Burress is ready to walk out of prison and face another grim reality, a lockout that could jeopardize the resumption of his football career.
The former New York Giants receiver who caught the game-winning pass in the 2008 Super Bowl is set to leave the Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York on Monday. Burress, who turns 34 in August, plans to return to his Florida home to spend time with his wife, son and a daughter born while he was in jail.
Unlike Michael Vick, released in 2009 from a federal term for dogfighting, Burress doesn't have a league waiting to bid on his services.
But ''he will play in the NFL this year,'' Drew Rosenhaus, Burress' agent, said in an email to The Associated Press. ''Many teams want him. He will be a top free agent. He is healthy and ready to go. He will be signed shortly after the lockout ends.''
Burress' release caps a more than three-year saga that saw yet another athlete put behind bars, separated from family and friends and losing the riches and lifestyle most only dream about.
''You go from being the absolute hero to finding yourself in jail for a mistake in judgment,'' Peter M. Frankel, Burress' attorney, told the AP in an interview. ''It's really a tragic story.''
Burress was at the pinnacle of his career when everything went south.
The lanky 6-foot-5 receiver seemingly had a career-defining moment when he caught a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning with 35 seconds to play to give the Giants a stunning 17-14 win over the undefeated New England Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl.
Nine months later his world unraveled. Burress, with a handgun tucked in his sweatpants, hit a a New York City nightclub with then Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce. Burress' weapon slipped from his waistband and discharged as he attempted to grab it, injuring him in the thigh. The bullet narrowly missed a security guard, prosecutors said.
Burress' wound was not serious. The fallout was disastrous.
Full story here
Locked up for 20 months for illegally carrying and firing a gun at a Manhattan nightclub, Plaxico Burress is ready to walk out of prison and face another grim reality, a lockout that could jeopardize the resumption of his football career.
The former New York Giants receiver who caught the game-winning pass in the 2008 Super Bowl is set to leave the Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York on Monday. Burress, who turns 34 in August, plans to return to his Florida home to spend time with his wife, son and a daughter born while he was in jail.
Unlike Michael Vick, released in 2009 from a federal term for dogfighting, Burress doesn't have a league waiting to bid on his services.
But ''he will play in the NFL this year,'' Drew Rosenhaus, Burress' agent, said in an email to The Associated Press. ''Many teams want him. He will be a top free agent. He is healthy and ready to go. He will be signed shortly after the lockout ends.''
Burress' release caps a more than three-year saga that saw yet another athlete put behind bars, separated from family and friends and losing the riches and lifestyle most only dream about.
''You go from being the absolute hero to finding yourself in jail for a mistake in judgment,'' Peter M. Frankel, Burress' attorney, told the AP in an interview. ''It's really a tragic story.''
Burress was at the pinnacle of his career when everything went south.
The lanky 6-foot-5 receiver seemingly had a career-defining moment when he caught a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning with 35 seconds to play to give the Giants a stunning 17-14 win over the undefeated New England Patriots in the 2008 Super Bowl.
Nine months later his world unraveled. Burress, with a handgun tucked in his sweatpants, hit a a New York City nightclub with then Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce. Burress' weapon slipped from his waistband and discharged as he attempted to grab it, injuring him in the thigh. The bullet narrowly missed a security guard, prosecutors said.
Burress' wound was not serious. The fallout was disastrous.
Full story here
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