Will Plaxico Burress Ever Play for the Giants Again?

By JOSH ALPER

Updated 9:30 AM EST, Mon, Dec 1, 2008

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Long before Plaxico Burress used himself for target practice it was clear that the New York Giants didn't need him to win football games this season. They reaffirmed that in Washington Sunday. And as more information about Friday night come to light, it's also becoming clear that Burress won't ever play for the Giants again.

It's not the fact that he carries a gun with him on evenings out and that said gun ended up wounding him. After all, who among us hasn't shot ourselves in the leg while entering a nightclub? Okay, so none of us have done that, but what makes things much worse for Plax is the way that he chose to handle the situation.

According to the New York Post, Burress spent 90 minutes after the shooting trying to find a way to get the wound healed without it becoming public knowledge. Obviously self-preservation isn't foremost in his mind, but it's ironic that a man who will plead not guilty to a crime acted like the guiltiest man in Gotham when the incident occurred. His attempts at deception continued once he gave in and actually went to the hospital.

Burress gave his name as Harris Smith and said that he'd been shot at an Applebee's restaurant. Were it true, Applebee's entire neighborhood eatery advertising campaign would have taken a serious hit but Burress, being a rather famous 6-foot-5 member of the Super Bowl Champions, fooled less people than a play fake with an empty backfield. His attempted cover-up was about half as cunning as the reason for his predicament, which, when you think about it, is really saying something.

If you thought that his employers were impressed with his slapstick attempts at evading responsibility, think again. It was the Giants who reportedly reached out to police about the shooting in the first place, which should tell you something about how much they care about having him back with the team. However, the authorities and the league deal with Burress, he won't be the Giants' problem much longer.