Disgraced former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress attended a news conference yesterday in New York to announce he would work as a spokesman for a gun control organization.
Burress, 33, was released from a NY prison on June 6 after serving 21 months on a weapons conviction. Plaxico accidentally shot himself in the thigh with a concealed handgun inside a packed nightclub on November 28, 2008. He was subsequently convicted of criminal possession of a handgun and given a 2 year sentence.
Plaxico announced yesterday he will work together with the National Urban League and Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Plaxico’s wife, Tiffany Burress, accompanied him to the press conference at the National Urban League in NY.
Burress said he will be mentored by NBA great Magic Johnson and retired NFL football coach Tony Dungy, who also attended the press conference yesterday.
He said the door is closed on a possible return to the NY Giants organization, which suspended him without pay following the shooting in 2008. Burress filed a grievance with the NFL union to get his $1 million signing bonus that the Giants withheld from him.
“To think that a player could carry a loaded gun into a nightclub, shoot himself and miss the rest of the season but get to keep his entire signing bonus illustrates one of the serious flaws in the current system,” said Giants co-owner John Mara after Burress won the grievance.
“I’m eager and excited about the next step, not knowing where it will be,” said Burress. “I’m dedicated to change and just being a better person.”
Photos by Joe Corrigan/Getty Images North America
