Double Shot

I wonder what Plaxico Burress must be thinking right now.

Eighteen months ago, he was catching the touchdown pass that won the Super Bowl for the New York Giants. He was interviewed immediately after and said he felt like he was on top of the world just before he broke into tears. Today, he entered a plea that will, for all intents and purposes, end his career as a professional football player.

So how did we get here? How did someone who finally looked like he'd turned the corner from being a stuck-up prima donna devolve into a prisoner? I remember hearing analysts talk about him after he decided not to re-sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers (or after the Steelers decided they didn't want to re-sign him, depending on who you talk to). They said his career could go one of two ways, either an ascension to stardom or a fall from grace.

Turns out, both happened.

He was so good in Pittsburgh. You could just see he was ready to be something great after being drafted out of Michigan State in 2000. He got back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2001 and 2002, the same year he set the Steelers' single-game receiving record with 253 yards. By the time he went to New York, he was known as a guy who was good, and could be great, but still hadn't taken "the step".

As the No. 1 receiver with the Giants, he eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards twice in the first three seasons and 988 in the other. In 2007, he fulfilled the promise others had seen in him. He played all 16 regular season games, catching 70 passes for 1,025 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns as the Giants made the postseason for yet another season. Doing something that had never been done before, New York went on to win three straight road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl. In the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers, in what was the coldest-ever football game played, Plax (pictured above in that game) shined. He caught 11 passes for 151 yards and simply dominated the Packers' physical secondary. Then, against the previously unbeaten and heavily favored New England Patriots, Burress made the biggest catch of his life, even if it was only his second of the game.

Then last season happened...

I don't know if he got too full of himself or if catching that touchdown pass the season prior all of a sudden made him feel bullet-proof, but obviously the events in that night club proved just how mortal he is. After multiple incidents which kept him out of multiple games, Plaxico decided to take a gun into a club and accidentally shot himself in the leg. The subsequent legal troubles and coinciding New York state gun laws have lead to him pleading guilty to a lesser offense than what he'd originally been charged. The sentence will emprison him for two years. At 31, he won't even be eligible to play again until he's 33, not including any extra suspension time he'll face. No team in its right mind would take a chance on him. He's done. His sun has set.

I guess in cosmic terms, there was nothing special about him. He was just like any star.

He flamed out.