Plaxico Burress Article/Interview

Dr. Cheese · #1 09-09-2011, 09:24 AM

Plaxico Burress rips New York Giants, reflects on prison lesson - ESPN New York

Food for thought.

Relic · #2 09-09-2011, 09:42 AM

Kinda gives one pause when you think about the claims that "athletes have it made and can get away with anything because they're rich" etc.

bjabass · #3 09-09-2011, 09:53 AM

Let me get this straight...you get paid like a blue million dollars to play a game at a professional level. You take a gun in to a nightclub illegally, leave it hanging around in your sweatpants and nearly shoot your 'wedding tackle' off, you luckily don't kill anyone else, and you want 'concern' from your professional coach?

Here's my favorite quote...

"Burress' response to fans who took pleasure in his pain?

"What are you doing now?" he said. "You still mad at your job? You still angry about your life? 'Cause I'm back living my life and enjoying my family while you're still doing the same thing."

Like "yeah you peon, I'm makin 3.1 mil a year again and you are still a citizen..screw you."

What a piece of .... work.

What a guy

Dr. Cheese · #4 09-09-2011, 09:54 AM

I liked the piece because it really makes Burress more human and really reflective about what got him where he was. Being an athlete is a razor edge situation in that one gets a lot of money, but also lots of pressure. An athlete has a lot of fans, but many of those fans are also jealous, and delight in seeing an athlete fall. That is why I can see a prison guard really getting a kick out being able to dump on Burress. I'm sure they all weren't that way, but when a person is locked up, it only takes one or two bad apples to really make someone miserable.

Dr. Cheese · #5 09-09-2011, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjabass

Let me get this straight...you get paid like a blue million dollars to play a game at a professional level. You take a gun in to a nightclub illegally, leave it hanging around in your sweatpants and nearly shoot your 'wedding tackle' off, you luckily don't kill anyone else, and you want 'concern' from your professional coach?

Here's my favorite quote...

"Burress' response to fans who took pleasure in his pain?

"What are you doing now?" he said. "You still mad at your job? You still angry about your life? 'Cause I'm back living my life and enjoying my family while you're still doing the same thing."

Like "yeah you peon, I'm makin 3.1 mil a year again and you are still a citizen..screw you."

What a piece of .... work.

What a guy

Why on earth should Burress be nice to people who went out of their way to insult him when he was down? A person who took the time to write him a letter clearly sought to insult and put him down; why should he be nice or humble towards such a person now that he is back on his feet again?
I see no where in the article where Burress said he was not at fault. He admits he made very decisions and that he realized he had to change. Change should not mean that he has to spend the rest of his life kissing the rears of people who look down on him.

MJ5150 · #6 09-09-2011, 10:02 AM

Burress doesn't have to be nice to anyone, but if he had half a brain, he would have not lashed out at the folks who make it possible for him to make his millions.

Did Ben Roethlisberger come out and bash all the people making fun of him? Use some of your millions to buy a clue Plax and shut your mouth.

-Mike

Funky Ghost · #7 09-09-2011, 10:10 AM

I think the real consensus is that he should have kept it to himself. Right or wrong, some of those things ( the derisive comments towards fans in particular ) should have been kept to himself. What did he think it would accomplish? Certainly it didn't make anyone go "Oh, hey, he's right. I'm his biggest fan now!"

It could only hurt him and his standing with the league, fans and his team. Where I come from, we call that a "poor choice". He is still making them.

I would caution him, however. He has yet to "come back" from anything. If things take a turn for the worst, he could very well be applying for a job from one of those "Mad at their job, angry at their life" people.

Dr. Cheese · #8 09-09-2011, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funky Ghost

I think the real consensus is that he should have kept it to himself. Right or wrong, some of those things ( the derisive comments towards fans in particular ) should have been kept to himself. What did he think it would accomplish? Certainly it didn't make anyone go "Oh, hey, he's right. I'm his biggest fan now!"

It could only hurt him and his standing with the league, fans and his team. Where I come from, we call that a "poor choice". He is still making them.

I would caution him, however. He has yet to "come back" from anything. If things take a turn for the worst, he could very well be applying for a job from one of those "Mad at their job, angry at their life" people.

I'd rather he got things off his chest through an interview than hanging out in a club. As for his career, who knows?

Funky Ghost · #9 09-09-2011, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I'd rather he got things off his chest through an interview than hanging out in a club. As for his career, who knows?

They make better places for that than a club or an article. They're called "Therapists". And, according to him, he can easily afford one.

Dr. Cheese · #10 09-09-2011, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funky Ghost

They make better places for that than a club or an article. They're called "Therapists". And, according to him, he can easily afford one.

True, but I don't subscribe to the notion that an athlete has to always hold his tongue to keep fans happy. Respect and decency goes both ways.IMO, sending a letter to someone already in jail is a cheap stunt, and I don't blame Burress got letting his feelings be known.

Funky Ghost · #11 09-09-2011, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

True, but I don't subscribe to the notion that an athlete has to always hold his tongue to keep fans happy. Respect and decency goes both ways.IMO, sending a letter to someone already in jail is a cheap stunt, and I don't blame Burress got letting his feelings be known.

We agree, in principle with respect.

Respect also applies to the laws. He broke them and thankfully didn't hurt anyone but himself. You say he can "let his feelings be known" yet you don't accord the same ideology to the fans? There is a disconnect. If he didn't put himself in the situation in the first place, the letters wouldn't have come.

What about ripping the coach because he didn't react how Burress wanted him to? Coach didn't even say anything negative, he just gave a neutral response to a player he had trouble coaching. He made a wise choice in keeping his thoughts to himself. There is a lesson in there some where.

Dr. Cheese · #12 09-09-2011, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Funky Ghost

We agree, in principle with respect.

Respect also applies to the laws. He broke them and thankfully didn't hurt anyone but himself. You say he can "let his feelings be known" yet you don't accord the same ideology to the fans? There is a disconnect. If he didn't put himself in the situation in the first place, the letters wouldn't have come.

What about ripping the coach because he didn't react how Burress wanted him to? Coach didn't even say anything negative, he just gave a neutral response to a player he had trouble coaching. He made a wise choice in keeping his thoughts to himself. There is a lesson in there some where.

After reading the interview, I think Plaxico Burress has done a lot of thinking, and has seen where he was wrong. That does not mean that he will make the choices you would have made or I would have made. I don't see why he has to act like the other people you mention. Just as he talked about injuries he had that the coach seemed not to understand, I respect the man enough to assume that he knows he situation better than I do. It seems you are determined to see him as a knucklehead. If that is the case, cool, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

Funky Ghost · #13 09-09-2011, 11:04 AM

I was just exploring your ideas on the subject. My opinion of him is really one of indifference. I don't think of him. I'm much more interested in why people think the way they do. Call it, clinical interest.

MJ5150 · #14 09-09-2011, 11:08 AM

I think he's a knucklehead.

-Mike

Dr. Cheese · #15 09-09-2011, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

I think he's a knucklehead.

-Mike

**Eric Perry** · #16 09-09-2011, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Burress doesn't have to be nice to anyone, but if he had half a brain, he would have not lashed out at the folks who make it possible for him to make his millions.

Did Ben Roethlisberger come out and bash all the people making fun of him? Use some of you millions to buy a clue Plax and shut your mouth.

-Mike

This.

steamthief · #17 09-09-2011, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

I think he's a knucklehead.

-Mike

+1. He's 34, has a one-year contract, and the clock is ticking. I hope, for his sake, that he invests well to support his family after his playing days are over. A rap sheet and excellent ball-catching ability aren't exactly marketable skills in this economy.

aborgman · #18 09-09-2011, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Plaxico Burress rips New York Giants, reflects on prison lesson - ESPN New York

Food for thought.

Quote:

And then I sat in his office, and he pushed back his chair and goes, 'I'm glad you didn't kill anybody!' Man, we're paid too much to be treated like kids. He doesn't realize that we're grown men and actually have kids of our own."

If stupidly shoot yourself in the leg, with your loaded gun that is in your pants (no holster) - and your gun is illegal... you deserve to be treated like a kid.

When you act like a moronic teenager with less sense than the average teenager - don't expect folks to treat you like an adult.

aborgman · #19 09-09-2011, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Change should not mean that he has to spend the rest of his life kissing the rears of people who look down on him.

You're right.

It should mean he understands the legitimacy of the opinion of those folks who look down on him for his actions, which deserve the ridicule and scorn of the public, though.

aborgman · #20 09-09-2011, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

It seems you are determined to see him as a knucklehead. If that is the case, cool, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.

I'm not determined to see him as a knucklehead - I just see him as the knucklehead his own REPEATED actions have shown him to be.

What I think is irrelevant - the evidence he has compiled on the other hand isn't.