A little while back Roman suggested that our readers start sending in questions they’d like to see covered on the site…countless emails later (ok ok more like “counted on one hand” but work with me here) we’ve arrived at Volume 1 of You Got Questions, We Got Answers.
Today’s question is brought to you by Christopher DiVietro, who wonders what the odds are the the Eagles would sign Plaxico Burress. <<Insert self-inflicted gunshot to the thigh joke here.>>
Plax’s talent is absolutely undeniable, as any Eagle fan can attest to after seeing the guy torch us week in and week out over the past few years. Could you imagine Burress in midnight green leaping over the corners of the NFC East hauling in touchdown after touchdown from Donovan? The Eagles would have their big red zone target, and Plax would have a shot at redemption as a key cog in an elite offense.
Aaaaaaand here’s your wakeup call…none of that will ever happen. Not as long as Andy Reid and Tom Heckert are in charge.
The problem is Plaxico is a headcase; not a T.O. egomaniac-type of headcase, but the “so stupid he shot himself in the thigh” type of headcase. With Plax on your roster you wouldn’t run nearly as high of a risk of destroying your team’s chemistry as you would of destroying your team’s average IQ.
Allow me to more directly answer your question though, Chris. The Eagles’ chances of signing Plaxico might have hovered around .05%, and that was prior to his recent run-ins with the law. Not only do these incidents show Burress has learned nothing since the gunshot drama, but it also shows a general disregard for authority. I’m sorry, but answering a police officer’s questions with “F— you” over and over doesn’t reflect too well on a guy’s character. Ryan Moats may have been justified doing that, but not Burress.
This all has the potential to be a mute point too if he ends up going to prision for carrying a gun out in public.
For the sake of this blog post though say Plaxico avoids prison and is cleared to play next season: I still say the Eagles would never, EVER take a chance on him. That’s a move a joke franchise like the Raiders would make, not the cutthroat, O’Reilly-caliber conservative Eagles front office. Reid, Heckert, Lurie and Co. have always placed a high emphasis on character in the team’s personnel decisions (hence why we haven’t had a dominant receiver since T.O.) They wouldn’t bring in Burress unless they were completely sure that all his problems would be in the past, and the fact is Burress just can’t stay out of trouble. Call it arrogance, stupidity, or just a few slip ups…the Birds don’t care (seriously, just ask Dan Leone.)
So I’m sorry I had to burst your bubble Chris, but there is a much better chance Plax will be donning black and white prison stripes rather than midnight green. And in this particular case, I think that might just be best for both parties.
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