The comeback is the pinnacle of sports moments.
Of all people, Plaxico Burress should know what a comeback feels like. A year and a half ago, he caught a 13-yard touchdown pass to pull the New York Giants ahead of the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl XLII.
Now, he’s facing the lowest point of sports moments: incarceration. The next chance Burress will have at a comeback will be just after his 20th month in prison for attempted weapons possession. Last November, Burress carried a handgun with an expired Floridian carry license into a New York nightclub and accidentally shot himself in leg.
Some, including New York Times NFL blogger Tom Monkovic, raise questions of fairness, especially after Cleveland Browns receiver Donte Stallworth spent only 24 days in prison for killing a man whilst drunk driving.
Would his time be better spent in a cell or playing football, making money to pay off a large fine? Or out teaching kids why it’s important to study and follow gun laws?
Burress took the plea deal partly to avoid trial, where he could face a mandatory sentence of three-and-a-half years if found guilty.
What are the benefits of Burress going to prison? It may satisfy some need to see the guilty suffer. It will put faith into the minds of some citizens that laws will be enforced without mercy. Neither is the purpose of incarceration.
Ideally, prison exists for two reasons: to separate the general public from individuals that endanger them and to rehabilitate those individuals for reentry into society.
Although it may seem light, Stallworth’s punishment fit his crime. He received a lifetime driver’s license ban and 1000 hours of community service. He is under house arrest for two years and on probation for eight.
Stallworth is not likely to be a dangerous individual without a license to drive. Imprisoning a drunk driver for killing someone while under the influence only serves to make the victim’s family feel better.
Incarceration costs too much taxpayer money to be used as revenge.
Michael Vick did not go to prison to satisfy PETA’s need to make him suffer. If he did, then the federal government may as well have let them stone him.
But Vick’s prison sentence was warranted. He committed many violent crimes and was a detriment to animal welfare and his community.
Besides the incident at the club, Burress has not demonstrated that he is dangerous.
The effects of Burress’s stay in prison will prevent him from caring for his wife and their second child, due in November. It will pave the way for politicians to exploit high-profile athletes and ESPN to promote stricter gun laws.
But it’s doubtful that it will make anyone safer.
Talk about happier football stories with Chris at cogino@asu.edu.
