Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges and accepted a two-year jail sentence on Thursday, leading to a strong reaction from NFL Twitter nation -- both regarding the sentencing and regarding Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision not to suspend Burress beyond his prison term.Your questions and comments, and my responses, for our NFL Twitter mailbag are below.
bkbdby: NY does not play with possession of illegal firearms. They wanted to set an example with him. Should have taken deal.
You're definitely right about that. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg made no secret that he wanted to make an example of Burress. And as for the deal Burress should have taken? There were reports in the spring that Burress turned down a plea deal that would have seen him serve as little as three months in jail. Burress's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, disputed those reports, but even if Burress would never have gotten any better than the 20 months he's now expected to serve, he would have been much better off taking a 20-month deal back in December. If he had, he'd be looking at returning to the NFL in 2010. Now he's looking at 2011.
Unsilent: What if he gets out early?
That's an interesting question. The NFL's statement said, "Burress will be reinstated and eligible to sign with an NFL team upon the completion of his sentence." So if his sentence turns out to be shorter than we all think -- if the judge surprises everyone at sentencing, or if Burress gets out in 2010 because of some legal loophole -- then I guess that means he'd be eligible to play in the NFL in 2010, too. None of the legal analysts I've heard discuss the case seems to think there's any real chance of that, though.
TheCBB: But Vick gets suspended longer?
Vick spent two NFL seasons in prison, and Burress will too. Goodell gave Vick an additional suspension on top of his jail sentence but has already announced that Burress can return as soon as he's out of jail. That indicates that Goodell considers Vick's actions worse than Burress's. Also noteworthy: Donte Stallworth got a much shorter jail sentence than either Vick or Burress, but he got a much longer post-jail suspension.
PJHarrison: I knew that was coming. A few heartfelt, I learned my lesson speeches when he gets out then back to making millions!
I wouldn't be so sure that Burress will be back to making millions in 2011. There aren't a lot of 34-year-old wide receivers in the NFL, and I think there's a good chance that by the time he's out of jail, Burress will lack the necessary skills to play in the league.
smittyssports: Being out two years will hurt Plaxico like it did Vick. He will have a short contract for low amount of money.
Actually, I think two years in the slammer will hurt Burress more than it hurt Vick, mostly because Burress is three years older than Vick. I definitely agree with you that if any NFL team ever gives Burress another contract, it will be a low-money, low-risk deal.
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