Monthly Archives: March 2009
The AP reports that the gun possession case against Plaxico Burress has been adjourned until June 15.
A person with knowledge of the case says Burress and prosecutors have been discussing a deal but no terms have been reached.
Burress is charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a felony carrying a minimum prison sentence of 3 1/2 years upon conviction.
I had a chance to spend a minute with Eli Manning at the Phoenix Rising Award Dinner which was held at the Plaza Hotel in New York City tonight.
The audio is a bit tough to hear, so I transcribed our interview below:
Anthony De Rosa: Are you concerned at all about the wide receiver situation, and are you worried that Plaxico may not be coming back?
Eli Manning: Well, we’ll see what happens with Plaxico. We might get some information tomorrow. I think it will work itself out. We have the draft, and we’ll see what happens with the Plaxico situation and hope for the best and take it from there.
Anthony De Rosa: Are you doing anything different in the offseason or are you pretty much business as usual?
Eli Manning: Every year you try and work on some different thing and have different goals so right now i’m just trying to get back into shape and training with the team and work on becoming a better team for next year.
Anthony De Rosa: What do you think is the one thing you need to do to get over the hump of what you guys fell into last year and get back to becoming a Super Bowl team?
Eli Manning: Well, you keep working. You gotta get through the playoffs and hopefully play your best football at the end of the season, learn how to finish, stay strong through the whole season. We had a good team, we got a lot of guys who are coming back, its just a matter of keeping them working hard and hopefully we’ll have another good run.
As per Rotoworld.com, ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio is reporting that both sides in the Plaxico Burress pre-trial hearing could ask the judge for an extension in order to work out a plea deal.
“Sal Paol points out that any plea bargain would almost certainly result in jail time. Plax’s defense attorneys want to make sure their client doesn’t go to prison. However, any delay will push back a decision on Burress’ likely NFL suspension. Plax will be in court on Tuesday morning.”
The ESPN article points out that Burress has a good chance of getting a reduced charge, but that he may not avoid jail time.
“Statistics show that more than eight out of 10 people arrested in New York City in 2008 for the same charge Burress faces received a reduced charge, though some plea deals included jail time.”
“At the moment, according to sources familiar with the case, a deal is not imminent despite months of negotiations between Brafman and the Manhattan District Attorney.”
“Several people close to Burress believe a plea deal is inevitable, and the reason one hasn’t been struck yet is believed to be the receiver’s desire to avoid prison. He’s facing two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a loaded and unlicensed weapon. Both charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 ½ years in prison and a maximum of 15 years.”
The NFL has released the 2009 pre-season schedule. The Giants’ match-ups are as follows:
Week 1: Carolina Panthers (August 17)
Week 2: @ Chicago Bears
Week 3: New York Jets
Week 4: @ New England Patriots
Ralph Vacchiano on his blog for the Daily News reports that Rutgers wide receiver Kenny Britt will be invited by the Giants for a private workout. The Giants are allowed to have private workouts with an unlimited number of “local” players — players who lived or played college in their designated area. They’re also allowed to bring in 30 non-locals for pre-draft visits (but not workouts).
Draft analysts are predicting that Britt could go between No. 25 and 40 overall. The Giants pick 29th.
The Giants are also set to meet with UConn DE Julius Willams on Monday. He ran a 4.69 in the 40, a 41-inch vertical leap and 36 reps on the bench press (of 225 pounds).
Vacchiano reports that the Giants sent a scout to watch Nevada LB Joshua Mauga He did not participate in the combine because he was recovering from surgery on a torn pec.
Penn State guard Rich Ohrnberger is set to visit the Giants on April 9th.
Northern Illinois DE Larry English and Iowa DE Everette Pedescleaux will workout for the Giants sometime in April.
The Giants recently attended a workout for Georgia CB Asher Allen and were reported to be impressed with what they saw.
Vacchiano reports that RB Danny Ware‘s deal has finally been filed with the NFLPA and reported on the union’s website. It’s a one-year, $460,000 contract.
Added by Rich Resch…
Rich Ohrenberger is a local product (East Meadow High School on Long Island, which is incidentally where I went to school as well…). He is a great character guy who was a member of the All-Big Ten team and a Third-Team All-American. He would be a good late-round pickup for those reasons, and because his signature in my yearbook would then become the autograph of a Giants player (this is a practice known as pre-name dropping; implying a connection with someone in the hopes that they will one day become famous…).
According to ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio Plaxico Burress‘s attorney is working on a plea to keep his client out of jail. While no plea has been entered a source close to the case said “stay tuned.”
According to the Newark Star Ledger, Plaxico has a good chance of avoiding jail time. If Plaxico is able to play in 09 he will then be subject to suspension from the league. After that, the Giants get their shot.
According to league sources Tom Coughlin and the Giants front office want to meet with Burress to determine his level of remorse and commitment to returning as a productive and responsible member of the team.
This is Plaxicos first criminal charge so I don’t think Goodell would be to harsh in his penalty. It would seem like a meeting with the Giants FO would be a slam dunk for any other player. All it would take is the right words from Plax, and that may happen, but seeing Burress’s behavior for the last few years it could easily be more like a half court shot. Just look at the mess in Denver, which also seems like it could be resolved with a couple of words.
Added by Anthony De Rosa…
Plaxico is no ordinary citizen, and as we all know there seems to be justice for those who have money and those who do not. Plaxico might fare better than if you or I happened to be in the same circumstances but as Ernie Palladino points out at Giants Journal, 80% of those who plea to third-degree possession have received jail time.
The question shouldn’t be if Plaxico will do jail time, it should be how much.
With five picks in the first 100 (one first rounder, two second rounders, two third rounders), the Giants will certainly have a lot of options come draft day. The ten overall picks are likely more than they can afford/ fit on the roster.
We have had some spirited debates in the comments section regarding how the Giants should go about the NFL draft; what position they should target, whether or not they should trade up, etc. Now it is time for the fans to vote on what players they would like to see the Giants target.
The following polls contain players that have a legitimate chance of being on the board for the Giants’ 29th pick (based on an assortment of mock drafts), as well as players that could be obtained in a realistic trade-up scenario.
Scouting reports for many of these players can be found here:
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment. Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
In his blog for the Newark Star Ledger, Mike Garafolo reports that many Giants players are optimistic that Plaxico Burress will avoid jail time.
“Umenyiora went so far as to say Burress will avoid jail time and get five years of probation because he doesn’t have any gun priors. Umenyiora said that’s what the law-enforcement people he knows have been telling him. I’m no legal expert — and neither is Umenyiora — but that’s what I’ve been hearing, too.”
This seems like more speculation than actual news, but it would certainly be beneficial for Plaxico to use his “get out of jail free” card. Well, from a Giants standpoint. From a public health standpoint…
In addition, Garafolo discusses the health of Osi Umenyiora, who calls himself “99% healthy.” Taye Biddle, who was shot in the hand during the off-season, is also recovering nicely.
Garafolo also reports that the Giants have re-signed corner back Kevin Dockery to a 1-year restricted free agent tender worth $1.545 million.
Update: 1:00 PM, March 25
Garafolo now admits that there was some miscommunication between himself and Dockery. Dockery’s agent Drew Rosenhaus cleared up the issue with Garafolo, saying that what Dockery signed was actually an “injury protection agreement,” which protects him in case he is injured while working out with the team. That is certainly different than re-signing. We’ll keep an eye on this, although he is almost certain to re-sign at some point.
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