Plaxico - PreTried

I will be the first to say I don't like the Plaxico Burress of the media. I just don't like the over-active arrogance that I see, and I don't like what he seems to stand for: athletes who are so 'good' that they are better than the rest of us.

They aren't. But that's another story for another day.

But Plaxico Burress is a man who has been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion before we really know the whole truth. We know he had a gunshot wound to the leg. We know that there was a gun involved. Everything beyond that is basically conjecture.

We apparently know that he had a permit to carry a gun in Florida that expired. In some places that I have read, apparently gun laws in New York are so strict that they don't recognize other states' laws (what, no multi-state compact?). So, we can probably say that this is ignorance of the law (if we are pre-trying and pre-convicting) is probably Mr. Burress' worst offense (outside of the discharge of the weapon).

What really gets me about all this is that Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg the same week ESPN the Magazine comes out with the story of the NFL after the home invasion killing of Sean Taylor. These guys are walking contradictions: they are the biggest, baddest athletes we have in this country and they're scared beyond belief. Many NFL athletes of the 'good old days' were playboys and I'm sure that there are some today.

They have the money to do anything but be anonymous. Any other young man would be expected to go out on a Friday or Saturday night. These guys, they have a job that makes them play on Sunday, so Friday should be their night. So, are they not supposed to be social? Are they not supposed to be 'out there' to meet people?

That's my question for the people ready to castigate Burress and his teammates for being out and about. The only thing is the ridiculous law that they are hammering him for, even if he was the only one who got hurt. I was listening to Mike and Mike the other morning and Jack Ford said something that was interesting, that Plaxico Burress is being, essentially punished for his fame.

And I have issue with that.