I wanted to wait until (most of) the facts were in before giving Plaxico Burress this prestigious award.
For those that have been living under a rock for the past few days, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unregistered hand gun while at a Manhattan night club.
ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack reported that Burress could face up to seven years in prison if convicted on the felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Burress had a concealed-weapon permit issued to him in Florida but records show it expired in May and New York does not recognize out-of-state permits anyway, New York media have reported.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for a full prosecution of state law that requires mandatory prison for carrying a loaded handgun.
“I don’t think anybody should be exempt from that, and I think it would be an outrage if we didn’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, particularly people who live in the public domain, make their living because of their visibility — they’re the role models for our kids,” Bloomberg said.
Brandon Jacobs added this brilliant analysis:
“I called him and made a few jokes about the situation and his laugh is what I wanted to hear,” Jacobs said, according to Newsday. “If he didn’t laugh I knew he was going to be down, which he shouldn’t be down. It’s a mistake that happened, something that shouldn’t have happened and that’s that.”
Burress “shouldn’t be down”? “It’s a mistake that happened”?
On second thought, maybe Jacobs’ deserves this award. Mistakes just don’t randomly happen. People make mistakes. Accidents happen. Burress made the mistake of carrying an unregistered, concealed weapon around the streets of New York, which has the toughest unlicensed weapon laws in the country. When he shot himself in the leg – now that was an accident.
I don’t know why Burress was at a night club anyway. He has a leg injury, yet he has the mobility and is healthy enough to party into the wee hours of the morning? The Giants are paying him $35 million over five years to play wide receiver, yet the guy endangers his career by carrying an unlicensed, concealed weapon around New York City.
For this, he wins the Boner of the Week award. Congratulations, Plaxico.
