The former wide-receiver for the New York Giants began his 2-year prison sentence today.  Burress broke the very strict New York firearm laws after he accidentally shot himself in the leg last year in a Manhattan club.  Burress has had quite a fall from grace after being a Super Bowl champion and hero to Giants fans after he caught the game winning catch against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

This seems like a pretty unfair sentence for Burress, but he would have gotten at least 3.5 years if he was convicted in trial.  Although it was a completely moronic move by Burress for having a concealed weapon in a nightclub, and an even bigger idiotic move when he shot himself in the leg, I think two years in prison is way too harsh.  Michael Vick only gets a year for running a dog-fighting ring and brutally killing some of those dogs.  Donte Stallworth killed a man while driving drunk and was charged with DUI manslaughter.  How long was he in jail?  Thirty days!

Now Burress is no saint, as he has had a few minor run-ins with the law and has been sued almost 10 times for delinquent payments on countless cars and houses.  But does he really deserve to have his football career destroyed and his life put on hold for two years for accidentally shooting himself in the leg?  What is way more devastating than losing his football career is that he is leaving behind a pregnant wife and a 3-year-old son.  Had this not happened in New York (where gun laws are one of the most strict) and if he were not a famous athlete being made into an example, he probably would only see a few months, at most, in jail.

When it comes down to it though, Burress is the idiot who shot himself with a concealed weapon in a night club.  Why does he need a gun in the first place?  If he thinks he does need protection then hire a body guard who knows how to use a gun (and wont shoot himself in the leg).  Let him legally carry a firearm.  I still don’t think Plax should be put in jail for two years, I mean he did kind of get punished when it happened with a bullet going into his thigh…

Now a humorous message from LandlineTV via YouTube on gun safety by Plaxico Burress (not really):