Cowher's Plaxico Burress interview to air Sunday

[hawaiiansteel]

Cowher's Plax interview to air Sunday

Posted by Evan Silva on February 2, 2010 3:15 PM ET

Richard Deitsch of SI.com reports that a Bill Cowher interview of imprisoned former Giants receiver Plaxico Burress will air during CBS' pre-Super Bowl coverage on Sunday.

The former Steelers head coach made the trip to upstate New York's correctional facility to tape the interview. Cowher promises that we'll see a contrite Burress during the prerecorded segment.

Burress' application for work release was denied last month. He can reapply in July.

Burress, convicted on felony gun charges last year, isn't eligible for true freedom until June 6, 2011.

[steelblood]

I think it is bogus that he is in jail for more than 6 months. 6 months + max fine and probation would have been plenty. Dude isn't a criminal.

[hawaiiansteel]

I think it is bogus that he is in jail for more than 6 months. 6 months + max fine and probation would have been plenty. Dude isn't a criminal.


I would classify what Plax did wrong more under the category of "Stupid" than criminal.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Bringing a loaded gun into a bar, tucked in your sweatpants, and shooting yourself in the leg is a criminal act in New York.

Actually, now that I think about it, simply wearing sweatpants into a bar in New York is a fashion crime in New York, and probably most other places as well.

Spiking a live ball is a criminal act in Pittsburgh.

He also weighs the same as a duck, and is therefore a witch.

Guilty on all charges. Burn him!!!

[fordfixer]

Bringing a loaded gun into a bar, tucked in your sweatpants, and shooting yourself in the leg is a criminal act in New York.

Actually, now that I think about it, simply wearing sweatpants into a bar in New York is a fashion crime in New York, and probably most other places as well.

Spiking a live ball is a criminal act in Pittsburgh.

He also weighs the same as a duck, and is therefore a witch.

Guilty on all charges. Burn him!!!
Thanks for your input Monty :lol:

[proudpittsburgher]

I had a conversation with a coworker about plax a couple of months ago. I kept askign him "what am I missing here?" Now, before you jump down my throat, I get that what he did was wrong. I get that it is illegal to carry a fire arm without a permit in the state of new york. I get that he was stupid, but essentually, Plax got thrown in jail for quite a long time for shooting himself in the leg.

I'm not a Plax fan. Didn't really care for him while he was in the burgh, and not quite suer why. I didn;t know of him to get in trouble with the law, just heard that he was selfish,a nd it showed a bit in his play.

But I see players kill pedestrians on the street, while they are driving drunk. Guilty as sin, clean cut case of a guy who is a murderer and a drunk driver, and he gets a plea deal with little to no jail time. Throw in OJ and Kobe, well, you get my point. Plax shot himself in the leg, he was a laughing stalk, and he is sitting in a jail somewhere. Again, what am I missing here?

[SteelHead]

I had a conversation with a coworker about plax a couple of months ago. I kept askign him "what am I missing here?" Now, before you jump down my throat, I get that what he did was wrong. I get that it is illegal to carry a fire arm without a permit in the state of new york. I get that he was stupid, but essentually, Plax got thrown in jail for quite a long time for shooting himself in the leg.

I'm not a Plax fan. Didn't really care for him while he was in the burgh, and not quite suer why. I didn;t know of him to get in trouble with the law, just heard that he was selfish,a nd it showed a bit in his play.

But I see players kill pedestrians on the street, while they are driving drunk. Guilty as sin, clean cut case of a guy who is a murderer and a drunk driver, and he gets a plea deal with little to no jail time. Throw in OJ and Kobe, well, you get my point. Plax shot himself in the leg, he was a laughing stalk, and he is sitting in a jail somewhere. Again, what am I missing here?

I don't think your missing anything. It's sound logic. Unfortunately for Plax what he did was illegal and if the courts choose to pursue it to the fullest extent , they have that right. If Plax so badly wanted to "carry" while out on the town he should of done a little investigating to see what kind of trouble could come of it. Was the level of punishment fair ? Probably not. Justified ? You bet.....

It's like the running argument I have with a co-worker about the government profiting millions on alcohol and tobacco sales. Two of the biggest killers in America and people are lining their pockets with it. At the same time we're filling jails up with marijuana users which hasn't not been responsible for one single abuse related death in the history of mankind and yet it's classified as a narcotic right along with cocaine and heroin.

Does it make sense. Hell no. But then, not much of what goes on today does....

[hawaiiansteel]

Plax picked the wrong city to have this happen in...


The terms of New York's gun laws are very severe. Possession of a gun in the city is a felony. It is a rule that is absolute. There is little room for discussion. If you're caught with a gun, you face a minimum mandatory sentence of 3½ years. And it was obvious that Burress was guilty from the moment his gun accidentally discharged in the Latin Quarter nightclub. He was instantly in serious trouble.

[fordfixer]

I had a conversation with a coworker about plax a couple of months ago. I kept askign him "what am I missing here?" Now, before you jump down my throat, I get that what he did was wrong. I get that it is illegal to carry a fire arm without a permit in the state of new york. I get that he was stupid, but essentually, Plax got thrown in jail for quite a long time for shooting himself in the leg.

I'm not a Plax fan. Didn't really care for him while he was in the burgh, and not quite suer why. I didn;t know of him to get in trouble with the law, just heard that he was selfish,a nd it showed a bit in his play.

But I see players kill pedestrians on the street, while they are driving drunk. Guilty as sin, clean cut case of a guy who is a murderer and a drunk driver, and he gets a plea deal with little to no jail time. Throw in OJ and Kobe, well, you get my point. Plax shot himself in the leg, he was a laughing stalk, and he is sitting in a jail somewhere. Again, what am I missing here?
Your not missing any thing NY just had some one willing to push the issue

[hawaiiansteel]

I had a conversation with a coworker about plax a couple of months ago. I kept askign him "what am I missing here?" Now, before you jump down my throat, I get that what he did was wrong. I get that it is illegal to carry a fire arm without a permit in the state of new york. I get that he was stupid, but essentually, Plax got thrown in jail for quite a long time for shooting himself in the leg.

I'm not a Plax fan. Didn't really care for him while he was in the burgh, and not quite suer why. I didn;t know of him to get in trouble with the law, just heard that he was selfish,a nd it showed a bit in his play.

But I see players kill pedestrians on the street, while they are driving drunk. Guilty as sin, clean cut case of a guy who is a murderer and a drunk driver, and he gets a plea deal with little to no jail time. Throw in OJ and Kobe, well, you get my point. Plax shot himself in the leg, he was a laughing stalk, and he is sitting in a jail somewhere. Again, what am I missing here?
Your not missing any thing NY just had some one willing to push the issue



Here is a counter-argument to those who think Plax's sentence was excessive...


AUGUST 26, 2009 (Stillonpatrol.com)

Why the Plaxico Burress Sentence Is Not Excessive

If you have even a passing interest in sports, you have probably by now read something about Plaxico Burress pleading guilty and being sentenced to two years for illegal gun possession. Burress, the New York Giants' wide receiver who two years ago caught the winning touchdown in the 2008 Super Bowl, was charged for carrying an unlicensed, loaded gun in his pocket into a night club. While in the club, the gun went off and wounded Burress in the leg.

It was fortunate that no one else was injured; the bullet barely missed a club security guard, and was found embedded in the floor later that evening. No charge for "wanton endangerment" was filed, but in my opinion could have been. The weapon carried by Burress was unlicensed in New York or New Jersey, where he lives, and his Florida license had expired.

Many people have criticized the two-year sentence as "excessive." The simple fact of the matter is that the sentence is less than what the law calls for in New York,, which is a 3 1/2 year minimum sentence. Obviously New York takes carrying a loaded gun into a public place very seriously, which before that night Burress apparently did not. What any other state may do is irrelevant; under our Constitutional system, each sovereign state is free to define and punish crimes as it sees fit.

I think the New York prosecutor, Robert Morgenthau, and his assistant, Mark Dwyer, should be applauded for enforcing the law and not giving in simply because Burress is an NFL star. Unlike the Scottish Justice Secretary who released a mass murderer last week, Morgenthau obviously believes in the rule of law, which is an all-too-rare quantity in these star-struck times. Dwyer said that a two-year sentence is the minimum to which his office will agree in such cases, and Burress should be treated no differently.

In addition, Burress was clearly what I like to call "felony stupid" on many levels for carrying the weapon as he did.

If Burress was under any sort of threat, why did he go to the club, and if he had to go, why did he not rely on a bodyguard? Surely Burress could have afforded to hire private security if such was truly necessary.

Why do NFL players, and other celebrities and athletes for that matter, expose themselves to criminal charges by doing stupid things, like this and like driving drunk, when there will always be help available to them? Burress has lost two years from his career now, and, given the short shelf life of NFL wide receivers, has to be considered unlikely to resume his career once he is paroled.

The weapon was not in a proper holster, but simply in his pocket, and a shell was chambered, i.e., in the barrel and ready to fire. Anyone with any sense about guns should know better. His permit course, if he actually took one, should have taught him better gun safety than that.

A large part of owning and carrying firearms should include the responsibility to know the local laws and comply with them. I have a Kentucky permit, but some states accept it with reciprocity, and others do not. Even with reciprocity some states have different requirements for how a gun can be carried. When I cross into another jurisdiction it is my responsiblity as a gun owner to find out what the law is, and to comply with it.
The efforts of Burress and his friends to "cover up" the shooting by not reporting it was also a violation of the law, although it was not charged as such. Most of the time, however, the "cover up" can end up being worse than the original crime.

I am sorry to see yet another celebrity athlete fall prey to his own outsized ego and immaturity, and perhaps sacrifice not only his own career, but the fans' enjoyment at watching him perform. At the same time, though, Burress' punishment will hopefully serve as an object lesson to other athletes, of all ages, that their skills at their chosen sport do not provide them with a permanent "Get Out of Jail Free" card. More cases like Burress, and yes, Michael Vick, where the athlete does the time for his own stupidity, and fewer where athletes get below-minimum sentences for serious crimes, might just save some careers, and lives, down the line.