Giants Release Plaxico Burress

Amid bonus disputes, illegal gun charges, and various reports of displeasure with Giants management, Plaxico Burress was finally cut by the New York Giants. As I wrote in one of my previous blog entries, Burress is a liability to the team, and apparently, general manager Jerry Reese agrees with me.

Burress was welcomed back to the team by head coach Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese at the end of the 2008 season. Reese stated publicly his intention of standing by Burress. The Giants did so by renegotiating his contract, when they could have just cut him outright immediately following the shooting. So, although there was a signing dispute in progress over 1 million dollars the Giants were trying to recoup, the Giants offered a new incentive laden contract to Burress that his lawyers had advised Burress to sign. ESPN reported earlier tonight that Burress rejected the Giants' offer even after his lawyers had advised him otherwise.

This was the last straw. Burress not only helped wreck the Giants' season last year, but he also had become a disenfranchised problem to the organization. The fact that Burress' legal issues would not be resolved by the time the draft would roll around did not help. Had Burress plead guilty earlier this week, the Giants would have at least known what hand they had been dealt with Burress. The delay of the hearing until June just meant that this would drag on and on for the Giants. In the end, this, along with his rejection of the contract was the reason why Burress was cut.

Was cutting Burress the right thing to do? Yes and no. By cutting Burress the Giants lose their number one receiver (one of the few elite in the league), and a popular locker room figure and leader. The tandem of wide receivers currently on the roster don't exactly elicit fear from today's elite cornerbacks. None of them currently demand double coverage. This leaves the Giants with a gaping hole on offense.

Adversely, the Giants just dumped a major headache. I'm sure Coughlin and Reese are happy to be rid of this distraction. The Draft is coming up, and they have to focus their energy on finding a suitable number 1 replacement. Also, by cutting Burress, the amount of money that that was supposed to go to Burress can now be used towards his replacement. Names that have been rumored are disgruntled Arizona Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin, Cleveland Browns WR Braylon Edwards, and St. Louis Rams WR Tory Holt. Of the three, Boldin and Edwards would make the best fit. Unfortunately, Boldin wants elite money, and it is unclear at this point how much cap room Burress' release frees up. Will the Giants have enough cash and considerations to land Boldin? No one knows for sure at this point.

Edwards is another interesting fit, but unfortunately his counterpart, Dante Stallworth was just charged with manslaughter charges stemming from an accident in Miami Beach where he struck and killed a 59 year old man on the MacArthur Causeway at 7am on a Saturday. Toxicology reports issued by the Miami-Dade Police Department stated that Stallworth's blood alcohol level was .12, or for a 200lb man, the equivalent of driving after drinking 6 beers. With Stallworth's legal issues and career up in the air, the Browns would be left with no legitimate number 1 receiver to throw to. This greatly diminished the likeliness of his trade. But, if anyone can make a trade happen, I believe Jerry Reese can. As we say over on the Daily News Blog: " ...In Jerry We Trust."

Plaxico Burress to Plead Guilty to a Lesser Charge

The NY Times reported today that Plaxico Burress' attorney is trying to work out a deal that would allow Burress to plead guilty to a lesser crime. This sounds like good news at first, given that the mandatory minimum for the crime that he is charged with carries a mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years in prison, but in actuality it's still not good news for the NY Giants. By pleading guilty to a lesser charge, Burress is admitting his guilt and will have to face some form of punnishment.

The NY Times is reporting that most people charged with the same crime who have plead guilty to a lesser crime have done some form of jail time. It's possible that Burress could likely face 1/2 of the mandatory minimum of 3 1/2 years. Should Burress get off the hook with only 1 3/4 years in prison, that would make him eligible to be released sometime in the 2010/2011 season; around the time when he turns 33 years old and is considered a "veteran." This means that Burress, who is now 31, could possibly miss the entire 2009 and half of the 2010 season if the judge decides to make him serve only half of the mandatory 3 1/2 year minimum. For a man who is 31, that would NOT be good news.

Former Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced to exactly 23 months in jail for orchestrating a dog fighting ring in Atlanta. He will get out a little bit early for serving time in jail during his trial. Its hard to compare Burress' situation to Vick's. It's like comparing apples to oranges, but if you consider how little time Vick was sentenced to for the horrible, premeditated animal cruelty charges, it seems to me that it is plausible that Burress may likely walk away with even less than half of the 3 1/2 minimum that his crime carries. My bet is that Burress will get sentenced to 12 months in jail, less time off for good behavior. He'll miss the entire 2009 season, and is back in time for 2010.

Oregon State University Lineman Andy Levitre Recounts the 2009 NFL Combine and his Encounter with the NY Giants

Ever wonder what the NFL Combine is really like? I stumbled accross an AMAZING recollection from this year's NFL Combine by OSU lineman Andy Levitre. 260 questions from the NY Giants??? Wow, they must REALLY be interested in him.

Here is the excerpt taken from Blog.Oregon.live.com. Happy reading :-)

Here is former OSU lineman Andy Levitre's thoughts after going through the NFL Combine ... thanks to Andy and to his agent, Leo Goeas, for the dispatches from the Senior Bowl and the Combine.
Levitre, unplugged:

"Well, this week has been pretty busy for me.
Waking up around 5:30 am for the last three days and going to sleep around midnight really takes a toll on your body which I am sure most people participating in the Combine found out after day one.
The hotel we stayed at was on lock down 24/7 and you needed a special pass in order to get past the security points.
This was one of the most hectic weeks that I have ever had.
The first day of the Combine consisted of a Cybex test which tests the strengths in your hamstrings and quads for each leg to make sure that you don't have any issues from past injuries. .. the day also consisted of going to the local hospital and getting some things done, like: urinalysis, blood tests, injury history's, X-Rays and heart scans which took about two hours for it all.
We also had some informal meetings with some coaches and scouts.
That was the easiest part of the entire four days.
On Day 2 we had 5 a.m. drug testing which was the beginning of a long day.
After drug testing we had breakfast and headed across the street to Lucas Oil Stadium where we were going to do our official height and weight.
I ended up taking a detour to that because I had to get an MRI on my knee that was only supposed to take 40 minutes but ended up taking me about two hours to complete because the doctor felt he needed photos to cover more of my knee.
I ended up missing my weigh-ins and tagging along with the Tight Ends and then getting a late start on my orthopedic exams. Everyone was carrying a large manila envelope with their X-Rays in them to show the doctors.
There were six stations set up with about 5-6 team doctors/trainers at each station to examine each player. First we started out with a general medical check up by team doctors and also had a vision test. The general doctor saw that I had a resting heart rate of 40 beats per minute which is very low for a guy my size who measured in at 6-2½, 305 lbs. so they sent me to get a stress echo which is an ultrasound of your heart.
They hooked up a bunch of wires to my chest and had me run on a treadmill for ten minutes then I hopped on a table and they did the ultrasound to make sure my heart was pumping correctly which it was.
Then we met with the orthopedic doctors. This was the weirdest thing for me to go through. There is a circle of doctors surrounding a table and each player takes a turn hopping up on the table then they put your X-rays up on the lights and pull up any other material like MRI's.
Then, these doctors start to come up and look at your medical history and start tugging on your arms and legs like you are a piece of meat and then they turn away with their voice recorders and remind themselves of any notes that they had about you.
After doing this about six times it was about three o'clock in the afternoon.
I went back up to my room to take a nap for about an hour before dinner.
I ate dinner and then went back across the street for some more formal interview where I met with half of the NFL teams whether it was an offensive line coach or another position coach or even some scouts just so that they could collect some background information on me.
One of the big things coaches do is try and quiz you by having you draw up a play you ran or have you remember a play they draw up and the flipping it and seeing if you can remember.
Day 3 was our first chance to compete.We had to wake up at 6 a.m. this morning because we had to eat breakfast and then take our Wonderlic Test. I felt like the test went well for me since I answered 42 of the 50 possible questions in the allotted time of twelve minutes.
I feel like I at least answered 30 of the questions correct and the average for lineman is usually around 25.
After this test we went over to meet with the Players Association (NFLPA) to talk about things like the collective bargaining agreement and inform us about how they were created to help fight back for players and give them a voice to the NFL's General Managers and such.
It was a very interesting meeting and I also had a similar meeting in Mobile at the Senior Bowl.
When we finished the meeting we headed to the psychological testing area.
The tests are basically to find out what kind of person you are on the inside and make sure you aren't crazy or going to cause trouble.
The one test that got on my nerves a little was the test given by the New York Giants which consisted of 260, yes that is TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY questions plus another packet of 70 short answer questions after you finished that.
When I finished this I had the chance to speak with the offensive line coaches from both the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys for a little bit and talk about some football and draw up some more plays and explain the rules of the plays.
My next stop was to the bench press which was our first chance to put up some numbers for the coaches and show our strength. I usually don't get nervous before big events but for some reason I just couldn't hold it back. I was pretty pumped to get up there on stage and bench press in from of offensive line coaches, head coaches and GM's.
I ended up putting up 225 pounds 23 times which isn't necessarily bad but it isn't a great number.
While I was benching I was so focused on my workout that the strength coach yelling at me and the players screaming from the side were muted out of my hearing.
After this I met with my agent and my trainer and warmed-up lightly for Saturday's big event which consists of a lot of running.
This was my only day of scheduled formal interviews. I had twelve interviews. The teams that I met with were: Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, Miami Dolphins, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, New York Jets, New York Giants, and the Oakland Raiders.
Most of these meetings were conducted in a similar manner. They asked about my family background and personal information then got into some football related questions and also either had me draw up some plays or even put some film on the television and had me critique myself or explain in detail what the play is that we were running.
Also during some of the interviews I had the chance to put in a good word for some of my old teammates. I spoke with Andy Reid from the Eagles and Mike Tomlin from the Steelers about the Rodgers brothers and they were asking me what it was like blocking for those guys and about how great college careers they have been having thus far.
I told some teams about Stephen Paea and how great of a player he is and how under-rated he has been so far. The meetings were great and went very smooth.
Well today was Day 4 and it was time to show off my athleticism.
It was a culmination of all of the hard work that I have had since I was a freshman in high school. All those drills that we worked on were now finally going to be tested at the highest level in the world.
We started off with some mobility and flexibility tests to show off our athleticism.
Next was our 40-yard dash. My first attempt, I tried to start to early so I was called back for a retry. My first run went alright but I felt like my start was a little slow but my second run ended up being better and recorded as 5.24 seconds.
Next we moved over to position drills where I felt very good being able to show off my versatility by taking pass sets and pulling from a left and right handed stance.
My best position drill I felt was the mirror drill which I feel I did a good job keeping my feet moving and had my eyes on my target the entire time.
Next was the vertical jump, this ended up being one of my best events on the day. I ended up jumping 30" on my first jump and got another half an inch on my second jump to make it 30.5".
I ended up being tied for 8th or 9th place overall for offensive lineman in this drill.
The next one was the broad jump which I thought I could have done better on but ended up not doing too bad. I ended up with my best jump being 8'7". Next I went over to do the 5-10-5 shuttle. The shuttle wasn't great for me because it took me about 7 tries to complete the drill.
On one of mine where I just barely missed the line I was told by someone in the stands timing me that they had me at a 4.38 seconds which would have put me at the second best for lineman in the drill but I ended up recording a time of 4.54 which was still the fifth overall best for lineman.
By the time I finished this drill I had to take off to catch my plane which left at 4 p.m. because it was already 2:30 so I decided that I would run my 3-cone drill at pro day in Corvallis.
I cut it so close to make my flight that I didn't even have time to shower before I hopped on the plane to come back to Denver.
I ended up making my flight on time and now I am back in Denver for another week before I head back to Corvallis to finish my training for Pro Day.
Thank you for taking the time to learn about the experiences that I am having.
It has been a great to have the chance to be doing these things to prepare for the NFL since there are only a select few people every year that get the chance to do this.
I hope you all enjoyed reading my blogs as much as I have enjoyed writing them.''
- Andy Levitre

Should the Giants Take Plaxico Burress Back?

Since Plaxico Burress signed with the NY Giants back in 2005, he has been fined for a multitude of team infractions. Last year marked the biggest infraction of them all when he accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unregistered handgun in a posh NYC nightclub. While Plaxico's wounds were not serious, he checked into a hospital under the alias "Harris Smith" to receive treatment. When Mayor Michael Blumberg found out about the incident, the Mayor called to make an example of Plaxico. Should the Giants follow suit?

There is no question that the distraction of Plaxico's legal troubles was a major factor towards all of the losses in last year's season. The Giants were 12-4 at the end of the season, but I believe that they could have been 14-2 or even 15-1 had Plaxico not shot himself.

Tom Coughlin has not said outwardly that he would welcome Burress back to the NY Giants in 2009 provided he gets away from the legal system with merely a slap on the wrist. Five years probation and a stiff fine would be a huge sigh of relief for the troubled reciever. But in a league in which NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell is starting to impose more and more strict rules, there is no reason Burress will even get to that point. Should Burress get by the legal system, he still has to then face Roger Goddell and any punishment he dolls out. Only then, does Tom Coughlin really have to make a decision - that is unless Giants GM Jerry Reese trades Burress away for another wide receiver or draft picks.

Tom Coughlin is a "Team First, Talk Is Cheap" kind of guy, but I do believe that he is big into the "family man" mentality. Judging from the outspoken proclamations by fellow teammates Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, and Brandon Jacobs; Burress is a wanted part of the Giants family. Will Coughlin listen? Or, will he be swayed by forces out of his control? Who knows. I do know that whatever punishment the state of NY decides to bestow upon Burress will be with or with Coughlin's consent.

I, for one, am a little torn between keeping him and welcoming him back. It's a tuff decision because he is a very talented reciever. But I do lean one way more that the other. I am very disappointed at Burress for his antics that sank last season. I have had it with the countless run-ins with the law and various problems with Coughlin's team rules. He has not showed respect to Coughlin, yet he was given a huge salary. Why should the Giants support him now after the way he let down his teammates last season and disobeyed Coughlin's rules time and time again? However, on the other hand Burress was a warrior the year before. Playing through a hurt leg injury the entire season, and leading the WR corps as the #1 reciever that demanded single and double coverage. He was, and can be, that guy that defenses have to game plan against. This double coverage has opened the windows of opportunity for secondary and slot receivers such as Toomer, Smith, or Boss to get open in the middle of the field.

In my experience, having coached in the pee-wees, middle , and high school levels, I have always tried to coach my kids to do the right thing - cheating is bad, play fair, work hard, respect your coaches, etc... So to me, the fact that Burress receives all that money and still snubs his teammates and coaches, really gets under my skin!

Burress is a professional who doesn't act like one.

The Giants won the Superbowl 2 years ago, and Burress was a major part of that amazing run. I will never forget it. But he let the team down, he let the coaches down, and he let the fans down when he broke the law doing something that may very well get him labeled an idiot for the rest of his life.

The Giants are a class act team. The only way I would accept Burress returning to the Giants is if the Judge were to do something out of the ordinary. Just for giggles, imagine if the judge were to force Plax to admit his idiocy in court, and then order him to donate 2/3 of his annual salary to inner city schools for the entire 3.5 years (the mandatory minimum time that should be spent in jail for violating the law that Burress broke in NYC) that he otherwise would have spent in jail, or else he were to actually GO to jail. Then, I would welcome Burress the idiot millionaire back to the Giants with a large, all-is-forgiven grin on my face. But unless something out of the ordinary like that occurs, I fear that Burress will never learn, and I don't want an ungrateful dope representing the team that I have loved ever since I was a child.

NY Giants Recieve an Extra 3rd Round Draft Pick

The Gmen are on a roll! Today it was announced the the Giants will receive another Draft pick - the 100th overall - as compensation from the NFL for losing LB Kawika Mitchell, LB Reggie Torbor, and S Gibril Wilson to free agency last year. Since compensation picks are NOT tradable, this pick cannot be packaged to move up or down in the draft, or to receive another player via trade. The Giants must use it to select a player.

The pick brings the grand total awarded to the Giants to 10. The NFL Draft is April 25th and 26th.

Here is a complete listing of the first round draft order:

1 Detriot Lions
2 St. Louis Rams
3 Kansas City Chiefs
4 Seattle Seahawks
5 Cleveland Browns
6 Cincinnati Bengals
7 Oakland Raiders
8 Jacksonville Jaguars
9 Green Bay Packers
10 San Francisco 49ers
11 Buffalo Bills
12 Denver Broncos
13 Washington Redskins
14 New Orleans Saints
15 Houston Texans
16 San Diego Chargers
17 New York Jets
18 Chicago Bears
19 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
20 Detroit Lions (from Dallas)
21 Philadelphia Eagles
22 Minnesota Vikings
23 New England Patriots
24 Atlanta Falcons
25 Miami Dolphins
26 Baltimore Ravens
27 Indianapolis Colts
28 Philadelphia Eagles (from Carolina)
29 New York Giants
30 Tennessee Titans
31 Arizona Cardinals
32 Pittsburgh Steelers

Early Report - Dante Stallworth Was Drunk

Today's front page article for the Miami Herald reports that Cleveland Browns wide reciever Dante Stallworth was drunk when he was behind the wheel of his Bentley on the MacArthur Causeway in Miami Beach when he struck and killed a 59 year old man. What the man was doing crossing the MacArthur Causeway (practically a highway - but does have a 40mph speed limit) without looking both ways is beyond me. Apparently he was just getting off of work as a crane operator, and was crossing the street to catch a bus ride home. How Dante Stallworth could not see him in time to avoid the crash is also a question. The bottom line is, tragically, a man's life has ended and another one has potentially ruined his promising career. This is the second time a DUI homicide has been committed in the last year here in south Florida by a professional athlete. Jim Leyritz, former professional Baseball player for the New York Yankees struck and killed a young woman in Fort Lauderdale less than a year ago.

NY Giants Mull Possible Draft Picks

NY Giant's General Manager Jerry Reese is in a great position. Well, not exactly. The number 29th pick in the 2009 NFL draft is not exactly every GM's dream spot, but, I'm pretty sure he'd trade that any day of the week for the 12-4 season that he just experienced. There have been a lot of discussions about who NY should pick at #29. There are a few glaring weaknesses: WR, OL, ILB, and RB have been mentioned. In my opinion, the Gmen should go for the gold with their first pick by trading up for WR Percy Harvin or Jeremy Maclin and here's why: the Gmen are built for winning NOW. Steve Smith (2nd Round), Sinorice Moss (2nd Round), and Mario Manningham (3rd Round) took a few years to develop and none of them have shown that flash of being a #1 receiver. They each needed a few years to develop into above average receivers; and Dominik Hixon and David Tyree are still unproven (yes, Tyree is still unproven as a WR despite his superbowl heroics - he has mainly been a special teams guy).

With Burress's return up in the air, the Giants need an immediate impact WR. Jeremy Maclin and Percy Harvin are not that tall, but they are proven receivers who succeeded in quality pro offenses. I'm not betting that Crabtree will be available in the mid round (although he would be a slam dunk pick no matter where - and would be my first choice if I had my way), which is where I am expecting them to trade up to. Trading up into the top 6 will be too big a price for Reese, I just don't see him doing that.

Another option would be to pick the best OT available as insurance. This year's tandem of linemen, both offensively and defensively is better than those players competing for skill position spots. So with that being said, how about picking Herman Johnson (G) from LSU. This man is 6'8, 382 lbs, and at the senior bowl coaches were trying him at tackle. If he's versatile, he could replace the aging Grey Reugamer as the 2nd string OL backup. I'm pretty sure he could easily be the biggest man in the NFL at 382 lbs.

Talk about giving new meaning to the nickname "Big Blue Wrecking Crew!"

So, let's say we do grab Herman Johnson. What would I do with my #45 selection? I would then shoot for best athlete available, or possibly WR Brian Robiskie, Ohio State or maybe WR Kenny Britt at 6'4" from Rutgers. If they are not available? Draft the best possible running back left on the board to fill Derrick Ward's shoes. We need to find a replacement for "Wind," and remember, the Gmen had the best running game in the NFL last year. How about local product Donald Brown from Uconn? He ran a 4:51 40yd Dash at the combine, and ranked second amongst all Running backs at the broad jump. He could be available by the time the Giants have their second pick, and I believe he could be a great pick up to fill a position of need.

If it ain't broke...

Finally, I think the Giants need to address the aging Antonio Pierce at inside Linebacker. I love Antonio, and I applaud his leadership on the field, however, he is entering his 9th season and is 30 years old. Jonathan Goff, last years 5th round pick is hardly proven, and at at #29, many journalists have speculated that James Laurinitis from Ohio State could still be available. Another thing about him is that his father was a professional wrester - "The Road Warrior."

The Road Warriors - wasn't that the nickname of the Gmen back in their magical 2007 Superbowl winnig season? Who knows, maybe it's fate that the Road Warrior's son should be playing for the 2007 Road Warriors of Football?

The 2009 NFL Draft takes place at Madison Square Garden on April 25-26th.

Spags snares another ex-Giant

Who Cares? Craig Dahl was a non factor anyway. Yawn!!!