Plaxico Burress

In 2008, Plaxico Burress, former wide receiver for the Steelers and Giants, created his own nightmare by shooting himself in the leg with his own gun while in a New York nightclub.

Burress had the gun in his waistband when it started slipping. When he reached for the gun it went off and shot him inches away from his femoral artery. The hospital failed to report the incident to the police but they found out anyway due to the news coverage. He turned himself in to face charges.

Burress is scheduled to report to prison in September and I think it's just crazy. Here is a man with no serious priors. Okay, He did have a couple of domestic issues which were dropped, some moving violations, and he had plenty of issues on the field.

He has to serve a 2 year sentence and then once out, will be under supervision.
Now under New York law, he should have received at least 3 1/2 years so apparently he was shown some leniency. However his bond was a bit suspect.

Before finding out his status, Burress' bond was only $10,000. After finding out who he was, it was set to $250,000. This is where I had an issue. It's obvious that the state saw his bond as an opportunity to fatten their pockets. I hardly think they suspected him to be a flight risk because he would have too much to lose. Also, they knew most likely that even if he were a flight risk, he could still afford bail and leave.

Plaxico said in an interview that he didn't know it was illegal to carry at all. I don't know if he was telling the truth or not. He stated that after being burglarized twice and knowing friends that had been robbed, he felt the need to protect himself.
In his case, I am sympathetic to his concerns and I'm sure many other athletes feel the same way. However, with owning firearms and having a public status, one should think wisely enough to go the extra mile to be aware of and adhere to city and state laws. They have too much at risk to not be knowledgeable in these things.

Due to the mishap, Burress will miss the birth of his new daughter in November and will be away from his wife and son as well. Professionally, he is now a free agent and will most likely play again after his release, hopefully more humble and wiser.