So, you know the old euphemism “he shot himself in the foot”? As in, “the Cleveland Browns are really shooting themselves in the foot by their complete inability to tackle this year”?
Well, in the sports world, it’s usually used as just a figurative expression to express dismay at a person or team who is making self-defeating mistake after mistake. It’s not usually used literally.
Until now.
New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress has accidentally shot himself in the leg, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports. Here is an excerpt from the Glazer story:
The New York Giants wide receiver accidentally shot himself in the leg on Friday night, FOXSports.com has learned, not long after being ruled out of Sunday’s game against the Redskins with a hamstring injury
He spent the night in the hospital and the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The team is still trying to gather further information on the incident.
Needless to say, Plaxico Burress will miss this weekend’s game against the Washington Redskins. As stated by Glazer, Burress was already expected to miss the game so hopefully you made the proper adjustments to your fantasy football rosters.
My first inclination is to wonder why in the hell Plaxico Burress was walking around with a loaded gun. I have never understood the multitude of stories revolving around athletes, and football players in particular, getting in trouble with guns.
A post written last week about the beating of Donald Driver’s father by our very own Mark Laughlin made me rethink that a bit.
As a relatively spoiled kid who grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest and never once felt anything even resembling legitimate fear for my life or being, I have no frame of reference through which I can sympathize with someone who feels like they need to carry a gun. Mark’s article, as well as the ESPN stories he links to, is a real eye-opener regarding the reality that guys like Plaxico Burress live in — or at least think that they live in.
After college, I taught at an alternative school in Miami for about a half a year. That was another eye opener. These were all kids that were 16 years old or younger, and yet had been kicked out school for repeated offenses of grand theft auto, cocaine possession and use, and who repeatedly talked about guns and violence. Logically, I expected it going in — but it was still a shock once I got there.
What I learned is that a kid who grows up in a “normal” neighborhood in Bloomington, Indiana and a kid who grows up in Liberty City
have drastically different views of reality and of what is “normal.”
I guess my point is that while Plaxico Burress has quite a checkered past, and can be judged harshly for a lot of his past words and actions, perhaps we should try to empathize in this case before casting negative aspersions on Burress for carrying a gun. I know the demographics of the people who read Midwest Sports Fans, and my general guess is that very few of you feel the need to carry a gun. I think we all wish that guys like Plaxico Burress did not feel the need to do so themselves, but I also can’t step into his shoes to know what it is like to feel like a target when you step out of your house — or in the tragic case of Sean Taylor, when you are in your house.
So no jokes and no disparaging comments from me on this one. Hopefully Plaxico Burress gets well soon, and hopefully there will come a day when athletes and celebrities like Plaxico Burress no longer feel the need to walk around with loaded guns.
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