Locked up for 20 months for illegally carrying and firing a gun at a Manhattan nightclub, Plaxico Burress is ready to walk out of prison and face another grim reality: a lockout that could jeopardize the resumption of his NFL career.
The former New York Giants wide receiver, who caught the game-winning pass in Super Bowl XLII, is set to leave the Oneida Correctional Facility in upstate New York on Monday. Burress, who turns 34 in August, plans to return to his Florida home to spend time with his wife, son and a daughter born while he was in jail.
His high school coach and friend, Cadillac Harris, is confident the 33-year-old won't have trouble finding work and a fresh start.
"I think he's going to be a much different guy coming out, a much more mature person," Harris told *The Virginian-Pilot.* "His decision-making on and off the field, and his relationship with his family should be much better. I enjoyed seeing his spiritual development, his awareness of what's taken place and what's valuable to him."
Unlike Michael Vick, released in 2009 from a federal term for dogfighting, Burress doesn't have a league waiting to bid on his services.
But "he will play in the NFL this year," Drew Rosenhaus, Burress' agent, said in an email to The Associated Press. "Many teams want him. He will be a top free agent. He is healthy and ready to go. He will be signed shortly after the lockout ends."
Harris visited Burress in prison in April and told The Virginian-Pilot that the receiver has "at least eight NFL teams" showing interest in talking to him once the lockout ends.
Burress' release caps a more than three-year saga in which another athlete was put behind bars, separated from family and friends and losing the riches and lifestyle about which most only dream.
"You go from being the absolute hero to finding yourself in jail for a mistake in judgment," Peter M. Frankel, Burress' attorney, told The AP in an interview. "It's really a tragic story."
Burress was at the pinnacle of his career when everything went south.
The lanky 6-foot-5 receiver seemingly had a career-defining moment in February 2008, when he caught a 13-yard pass from Eli Manning with 35 seconds left to give the Giants a stunning 17-14 victory over the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
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Nine months later, Burress' world unraveled.
Burress, with a handgun tucked in his sweatpants, hit a New York nightclub with then-Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce. Burress' weapon slipped from his waistband and discharged as he attempted to grab it, shooting him in the thigh. The bullet narrowly missed a security guard, prosecutors said.
Burress' wound wasn't serious. The fallout was disastrous.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg called for Burress to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and was irate that officials at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center treated the receiver and failed to report the shooting, as required by law. A doctor who treated Burress later was suspended.
Burress was sentenced to two years in prison in September 2009 after pleading guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. The gun wasn't licensed in New York or in New Jersey, where Burress lived. His license to carry a concealed weapon in Florida had expired in May 2008.
Burress' attorney has said the receiver carried the gun because he feared for his safety after the slayings of NFL players Sean Taylor and Darrent Williams the previous year.
Said Frankel: "I don't think that he will ever believe that the punishment fit the crime," but prison has given Burress "a new appreciation" for his family and good fortune.
Mateen Cleaves, a former NBA player and a friend of Burress from their days at Michigan State, said he visited the receiver in prison earlier this year.
"It was hard to see him in that situation, but he made it easier on me because he was upbeat and in good spirits" Cleaves said. "Some people can turn a negative into a positive, and he's one of those people."
Some believe Burress has taken the lesson of his experience seriously, including the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a prominent advocacy group that pressed for him to go to prison but supported his unsuccessful bid to get work release last year.
Held in protective custody because of his celebrity status, Burress didn't have a cellmate but was able to socialize with others in his unit, including "Sopranos" actor Lillo Brancato Jr., who's serving 10 years on an attempted burglary conviction.
Burress worked as a grounds maintenance laborer, completed an 100-hour anger-management course and tutored other inmates in reading, writing and math. His wife, who's a lawyer, frequently visited with his young children, Frankel said.
At Oneida Correctional Facility, Burress had some brushes with prison discipline, too.
At various points, prison officers said Burress lied to use the phone at a time when calls weren't usually allowed, gave another inmate a pair of sneakers (considered an "unauthorized exchange") and had three dozen cassette tapes and an extra, state-issued pillow in a "filthy" cell strewn with bags of food, dirty clothes, books and mail, prison records obtained by the AP show. The infractions -- considered minor -- cost him recreation, phone and other privileges at times, and he was told to clean up his room.
Still, Burress "really bent over backward to try and learn what the rules and regulations were, to try to comply," Frankel said. Burress is being released 3 months and 16 days early for good behavior.
"I didn't sense bitterness in him," Harris told The Virginian-Pilot. "He knows he made a bad decision. He knows he's a victim of the circumstances he put himself in."
As part of his sentence, Burress will be on probation for the next 2 years. According to parole authorities in New York and Florida, Burress will reside in Lighthouse Point, Fla., and must report to his assigned parole officer within 24 hours after he arrives in South Florida. Once he has arrived in Florida, Burress will be subject to a nightly curfew. If he wants to travel anywhere for an NFL tryout or a vacation, he must obtain permission.
"We are grateful that Plaxico will be reunited with his family," Giants co-owner John Mara said Thursday. "His release from prison is long overdue."
Burress won't face further disciplinary action by the NFL. His league suspension was concurrent with his jail term.
"No, he ain't coming to the Giants," Jacobs said Thursday, according to *The Star-Ledger*. "That's out of the question. He's got options, and it's good he can weigh his options. I would love him to be a part of the Giants, but I don't think that's even on his plate."
Jacobs' comments about Burress mirror those of Giants left tackle David Diehl, who told NFL.com last month that he'd like the receiver to return but doesn't see it happening.
"If I were Plaxico, I don't think I would want to ...," Diehl said. "If I were in that position, in order to move on and start fresh, you have to get back to square one. That's getting back to playing football. That's getting back to yourself, and not only enjoying your family, but enjoying your life and being happy again. For him, I think that's somewhere else."
Former Giants teammate Osi Umenyiora said the lockout might work in Burress' favor because he'll have time to train and prepare for the season.
"He will be great when he comes out and play very well like he always has, I'm sure," said Umenyiora, who added that he visited Burress in prison. "I know many teams will give him a chance because he has rare talent and ability. Overall, I'm sad for what he went through but glad that that time period is over."
Vick, who served a 23-month federal sentence for running a dogfighting ring, has shown it's possible to successfully return to the league.
After missing two full seasons and playing sparingly in 2010, the 30-year-old quarterback set career highs in passing yards (3,018), passing touchdowns (21), rushing touchdowns (9), completion percentage (62.6) and passer rating (100.2) this past season in leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFC East title, earning The Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year award.
Vick said in a radio interview with WIP-AM in Philadelphia that Burress would be a great fit with the Eagles.
"I think certainly Plaxico is going to come out with a chip on his shoulder the same way I did, and he'll go out and help this football team to whatever capacity he can," Vick said. "I think the guys would be willing to embrace him and bring him in. If that happens? Who knows? We talking about 'what ifs' now? It would certainly be a good thing."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
