Burress headed to prison

Plaxico Burress is heading to jail. He has accepted a plea deal in his New York Weapons case and will accept a sentence of two years for attempted criminal possession of a weapon. This is a lesser charge that what he initially faced. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell responded to the plea by announcing Burress will be suspended by the league until he has successfully completed his prison sentence. Since Burress is currently not under a contract to any NFL team, he will not be allowed to sign with a team until said sentence has been served.

It is very likely that Burress will serve at least 20 months of this sentence making him a very old 34 when he would be eligible for reinstatement to the NFL. 34 is pretty old for a receiver, but he likely would get another shot with some team. However given the current state of the NFL collective bargaining agreement talks, it is very likely the NFL owner’s will lock out the players for the 2011 season. If that happened it is likely we have seen the last of Burress on the football filed.

This was the latest in a string of gun related incidents for players of the NFL. Goodell is correct is dealing out harsh penalties for players who continue to act as if they are above the law. In recent years more that a few sports celebrities have been murdered in other gun related incidents. Luckily in this case the only injured party was Burress himself.