plax-turns-self-inI am done with Plaxico Burress. As I waited for all the details pour in on Saturday, including my nervous phone call to Monkeykong which included two shot jokes in three sentences, I felt that the Super Bowl run was now over. But as I thought about it and then watched the Champs dismantle another “good” team, I realized they don’t need him. Plaxico is one of those players who needs everyone’s constant attention. It is good when he needs double coverage in the field opening up the offense. It is bad when you have your friend and teammate trying to cover up your mess and possibly putting himself in a position he never would have been without you.

Plax is Plax. Steve Smith told us that earlier in the season. For all the talent and all the attributes that make him a special football player, he ruins it it because Plax always needs to be Plax. He has to be a difficult teammate. He has to follow his own rules. He can’t be content being paid a ridiculous amount of money to play wide receiver for a World Championship football team. He is the only player on a defending Super Bowl Champion that has the Super Bowl hangover. Think about that. You see it with whole teams. Players leave. Players get paid. Players get comfortable. The hunger is gone. With 52 other guys on the team that is not the case. With Plax it is. It is sad.

I am concerned for Plaxico Burress the football player. That is selfish of me but I care about the World Champion New York Football Giants*, and he is an important player for them. Trust me, Plaxico would not give a shit if I shot myself in the leg and was facing 3 1/2 years in jail. So all the false caring from people who don’t know the guy is a little self serving. Plaxico the football player is a dynamic offensive force that demands double coverage. Demands the defense scheme his way. He can catch a ball over anyone’s head and allow Eli to force the issue when need be. He blocks down field on running plays and is a fantastic decoy on routes not designed for him. You have not heard word one about him demanding the football. He knows what he means to the team by just being on the field. Now he may never be on the field for the Champs, or anyone else, ever again.

Here are my other two concerns, Antonio Pierce and Ahmad Bradshaw. Plaxico was not a bad teammate on the field. He was a terrible one off it. He went to a nightclub with two teammates. Trust me the Latin Quarter is a nice place so it is not like they went to some shithole. He illegally carries a gun around one teammate who is dealing with probation from a crime committed as a teenager. Bradshaw still has to do 60 more days in jail in the offseason. (Virgina has an interesting legal system to say the least) Now he may have to deal with bigger problems because Plaxico’s gun fell out of his waste waist band and went down his leg. Bradshaw was on the other side of the club at the time but who knows. My advice to Ahmad is to hang out at home for a while.

plax-is-plaxWhat happened with Pierce is even more troubling. He drove Plax to the hospital and took the gun. Now from everything that is coming out from Jay Glazer (who is way ahead of this story, again) Pierce is cooperating with everyone, so let’s hope he is not given an obstruction charge. Who knows if the NFL will still penalize him? Now, did Pierce feel the need to cover up for Plax because he was worried about his friend? Or maybe his team? Or maybe both? Who knows? Antonio Pierce has shown to be nothing but being a good stand up guy and player in his time with the Champs. He is so important to the defense. He is one of those quarterbacking Middle Linebackers that positions his teammates during the play, not just before it. He is a tremendous run stopper. In 2006, when the WCNYFBG started off 6-2 and faded to 8-8 everyone talked about the Strahan injury, but the real loss was Antonio Pierce. That defense was never the same without him. Now because Plaxico carried a gun, he may be taken away again.

In one fumbling action, Plaxico Burress may have ended his career and hurt his team. If everything works out with Pierce and Bradshaw that would be great. I hope for all of our sakes (The Team and The fans) it does. But The Mara and Tisch families need to let Plax know that he can’t hurt the family again. The World Champion New York Football Giants have always preached family. The Mara family has always been very conservative. But they also have had more compassion for it’s players then most other franchises. They treated and cared about LT, Shockey and those guys just like they cared about the class acts like Carl Banks and Harry Carson. They helped players who needed help even when they were no longer helping them win football games. There are countless stories about paying for hospital bills, mortgage payments, getting guys to rehab and a myriad of other things big and small for former players who needed them. They preach family. To help the family it is time to let Plax go. I am sure they will do it their way. The Mara’s hate being embarrassed but they also have compassion. Whatever way helps John Mara sleep at night is fine with me, but it must involve Plax not being Plax for the Champs anymore.

*fixed for correct reasons…just mailed my playoff money to the New York Football Giants as per the invoice..I put World Champion next to the account number for factual purposes

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