Plaxico Burress Indicted: Is it Fair?

To be honest I am not shocked. I figured the Manhattan D.A. had plenty of evidence to prove that Plaxico Burress violated the gun possession law. Burress was indicted on 2 felony counts of criminal possession of a weapon and 1 count of reckless endangerment. Each gun possession count carries a minimum of 3 1/2 years behind bars. Ouch! At 31 years old and seemingly at the prime of his career, Plaxico could now face jail time and might never play ball in the NFL again. (The league has not ruled or acted on the personal conduct policy) Is this fair? I think so. Look if anyone else had done the same thing, and the grand jury had to decide based on the same evidence (including not calling police right away and initially hiding the gun used in the incident last November) I think the outcome would be the same.

Should it be any different for a defendant named Plaxico Burress, a former Giant who was many fans' apple of their eyes just a year ago? No. In fact, this should be a learning experience, a really, terrible and tough learning experience, but one nonetheless. Before today's decision, Plaxico's attorney tried to negotiate a plea deal for less than the minimum jail time and asked for leniency based on several facts:

* Burress was not carrying the gun to commit a crime (still he was carrying an unlawful gun and thank goodness he only shot himself. If the gun fires outside the pants instead of inside, and hits someone at the club, injuring him/her or worse, then what?)

*Burress was the only person injured. (see above)

*Burress agreed to testify before the grand jury.

Not good enough to me. If I was on the grand jury, I would look at the law and the evidence presented to me and make a final decision based on these things. Would I feel bad for Plax, sure? I mean, the guy was stupid and his dumb mistake could cost him some of his youth and his career. However, it's not like Plax is the most outstanding guy. These circumstances do not necessarily count in the initial stages of the legal process and should not be used in determining if there was illegal actions taken at the club that night. For my argument here though, Burress has a history of missteps: missing meetings and not answering authority figures with any credible reasons, criticizing officials and having to be fined and suspended for it...the guy thought he walked on water. Maybe this is when reality sets in. So many professional athletes need to realize that they are human too and that their actions have consequences, no matter the millions and the contracts. When your fans, groupies, and limelight are all gone, what do you have left? You should be left with your integrity and self respect, but we should ALL make that a priority anyway! Good luck Plax...