Some will blame the security at the nightclub, which was, without question, irresponsible for allowing Burress to enter the club knowing he had the gun tucked in his waistband. But had Burress left the gun at home, this entire situation could have been avoided.

One thing I don’t understand is why he didn’t at least have the safety on. He shouldn’t have had the gun with him in the first place, but had he kept the safety on (or had a holster), he probably wouldn’t have put a hole through his foot.

Based on the video, it appears that Burress owns up to what happened and is ready to take accountability for his actions. One would hope that this situation will not only be a learning experience for him, but also other athletes who still believe the law doesn’t apply to them.

According to the New York Times, former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty to felony weapon charges on Thursday and received a two-year prison sentence.

Justice Michael H. Melkonian of State Supreme Court accepted the guilty plea. Under the plea agreement, along with the two-year prison sentence, Mr. Burress, 31, is to be sentenced on Sept. 22 to two years of post-release supervision.

If the case were to go to trial and Mr. Burress were convicted of all charges — two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment — he could face 3½ to 15 years in prison. The plea agreement still needs the approval of a State Supreme Court justice.

Given his age, this sentence could mean that his career is over. A team might give him a workout once he’s released from prison, but it’s doubtful that anyone would sign him to a contract no matter how much it was worth.

Not to kick someone while they’re down, but it’s amazing how far Plax has fallen since helping the Giants win a Super Bowl in 2008. He has no one to blame but himself either, after trying to secure a loaded gun in the waistband of his sweatpants while out at a nightclub. How stupid could you be? Who was he trying to impress? Was he actually trying to protect himself or was carrying the gun about image? Even though he shot himself, he’s lucky that no one else was hurt or else his punishment would have been more severe.

Either way, he has put his football career on life support. Maybe other athletes will look at this situation and realize how great of an opportunity they truly have and strive to stay out of trouble off the field. It’s highly doubtful, but one could hope.

Plaxico Burress has officially been indicted by a New York grand jury on charges of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, according to the New York Times. His former teammate with the Giants, Antonio Pierce, was not indicted.

Mr. Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and one count of reckless endangerment in the second degree.

Each of the weapons counts carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 3½ years, and a maximum sentence of 15 years, in state prison. The charge of reckless endangerment carries a maximum sentence of 1 year in jail.

The New York City District Attorney is pushing for Burress to serve at least two years in prison, although Plax’s attorney is hoping that his client will only serve a max of one. The question now becomes whether or not Burress will be suspended this season and if so, for how long.

According to a report by ESPN.com, Plaxico Burress was willing to spend a year in jail for carrying an unlicensed gun into a bar last November, then subsequently shooting himself in the leg with it. But prosecutors in his case want him to spend at least two years in the slammer.

Manhattan’s district attorney says he wants Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress to serve time in prison, the New York Post has reported.

Robert Morgenthau told the newspaper that Burress, who shot himself with an unlicensed gun in November, was willing to agree to spend a year in jail, but prosecutors insisted on two, the Post said.

“We’ve always taken the position that he’s going to have to go to jail, whether by trial or by plea,” Morgenthau told the Post for a story in Monday’s edition.

Burress shot himself in the thigh at a nightclub early on the morning of Nov. 29. He was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and faces up to 3½ years in prison. Burress has pleaded not guilty and is free on $100,000 bail.
His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, told the Post he was “bitterly disappointed.”

“Now that they have drawn a line in the sand, this is going to be a battle,” Brafman said.

Brafman is “bitterly disappointed” that his client could potentially serve two years in prison instead of one? I might be misinterpreting the gun laws in New York, but isn’t carrying a loaded, unlicensed weapon a maximum prison sentence of 15 years? If Burress only spends two years in jail, that’s still a freaking slap on the wrist compared to what he could have served.

If Joe Schmoe does the same thing, how many years in prison is he getting?

According to a report by ESPN.com, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has told Plaxico Burress that he’ll begin the reviewing incidents (i.e. shooting yourself in the leg with your own gun because you decided to secure it in the waist band of your sweat pants) involving Burress that fall under the personal conduct policy.

Burress, who shot himself in the thigh Nov. 29 in a Manhattan nightclub, was charged with criminal possession of a weapon and faces up to 3½ years in prison.

He made a brief appearance in court Monday where Judge Felicia Mennin adjourned the case until Sept. 23, enabling the former Giants receiver to continue negotiations with several NFL teams in hopes of returning to the field in 2009.

Goodell had been waiting for the legal process to be complete, but as it is delayed with no clear indication of when it will be concluded, the commissioner decided to take the initiative, league sources said.

ESPN’s very own Chris Mortensen believes that Burress will be suspended at least four games, which seems realistic.

In a related topic, Burress’ agent Drew Rosenhaus now says that there are five teams interested in his client’s services. The Jets, Bucs and Bears are the only reported teams that are interested in Burress, so that leaves two unidentified squads. But I’m sure Rosenhaus will dream up more teams as the weeks go on.

Plaxico Burress had another run-in with cops earlier this month — but this time, the only person packing heat was the guy holding the badge. Plaxico racked up four separate violations … at the same time … when Florida cops pulled over the NY Giants WR’s black SUV on March 1st — speeding (60 in a 45), improper display of tags, improper lane change and for improper window tinting (too dark).

Well, at least the good news is that he wasn’t carrying a gun in the waist band of his sweatpants and accidentally shot himself in the freaking leg. Now that would be embarrassing.

After soundly beating the Redskins 23-7 in Week 13 of the regular season, the New York Giants were unquestionably the best team in the NFC at 11-1. But two days before the victory in D.C., things suddenly changed for the G-Men.

On November 28, wide receiver Plaxico Burress brought a loaded weapon into a nightclub and instead of being responsible with it, he accidentally shot himself in the leg and forced the Giants to end his season by placing him on the non-football injury list.

The Giants never really recovered after that. They had beat the Redskins so convincingly that it gave the players and coaches the opportunity to say, “See? We don’t need him.” And the public bought it because they had witnessed Eli Manning throw for 305 yards without his star receiver being on the field.

But the Giants then went on to lose three of their final four games, including two games against divisional opponents. Manning, who had looked so good in the win against the Redskins, couldn’t even crack the 200-yard passing mark in any of the Giants’ last four games.

So New York limped into the playoffs (albeit still the No. 1 seed in the NFC), and were thumped by the six-seeded Philadelphia Eagles 23-11 last Sunday. They didn’t even reach the end zone once and Manning had trouble throwing in the swirling winds of Giant Stadium, completing just 15 of his 29 pass attempts for 169 yards and two interceptions.

While Manning’s struggles were more obvious, his receivers had issues as well. They couldn’t create separation from Philly’s defensive backs, they had trouble getting open and none of them could make a play to save Manning from his accuracy issues. They were horrible to say the least, which prompted at least one New York sports writer to suggest that Burress be given another shot next year.

It made sense – after all, he’s still under contract with the Giants until 2013. And if GM Jerry Reese even reiterated that he’s open to bringing Plax back, then why should anyone question the idea?

Here’s why: his selfish antics cost the Giants a chance to defend their Super Bowl title. What was nice about the 2007 version of the G-Men was that they didn’t have any selfish players. Granted, Burress was still on the team but he shut his mouth and played his role. He was instrumental in the Giants’ Super Bowl run and he waited until after the season to publicly demand a little contract respect from the team he had helped win a Lombardi Trophy.

On September 4, the Giants awarded Plaxico’s great play with a new five-year, $27.25 million contract. Almost three months later, Burress repaid them by shooting himself in the leg and leaving Manning and the team’s passing game in dire straits.

Every man deserves a second chance; nobody is perfect. But the Giants won last year because one of their biggest distractions – Jeremy Shockey – was on the sidelines. They certainly weren’t one of the best teams to appear in a Super Bowl (they might have even been one of the worst), but they played together and executed as one unit.

It’s easy to forgive Plax for his selfishness when you consider how bad Manning struggled with his receivers last Sunday. But don’t forget that the Giants were in that predicament because of Burress. What happens if he’s a choirboy for 13 weeks next year, just to do something stupid again right before the playoffs? Do they forgive him once more? No. They should part ways this offseason and work on re-building the receiving corps.

Receiver is one of the most overrated positions in the NFL and considering the Giants don’t have a ton of holes to fill, it’ll be easy for them to acquire a playmaker at wideout via the draft or free agency. Depending on the cap ramifications, they should part with the distraction that is Plaxico Burress and realize that they lost last Sunday because of him, not without him.