Plaxico Burress

Over this past weekend, New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg. By today, the NFL, and the U.S. legal system had struck. Burress has been suspended four games by the NFL, and is now facing charges of illegal arms possession, as his gun was unregistered in the state of New York. Forget the fact that Plaxico Burress was suspended for four games, or that he is a major distraction to the New York Giants (even though, for obvious reasons, none of the Giants players want to admit that he is), or even the fact that Burress was carrying an unregistered gun, and could face time in jail. What shocks me, and what I believe we should all be focusing on, is how idiotic Burress must be. By no means am I an expert on guns, but, to me, it seems like it would be pretty difficult to "accidentally" shoot yourself. If you are handling a gun, wouldn't you be extremely careful with it? Make sure the safety is on? Not play with it, fiddle with it, or do whatever Burress was doing with it? In these hypothetical questions, I am referring to a general you, not Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants star receiver, a key piece to the Giants puzzle of success. If you were Plaxico Burress, wouldn't you double the efforts to ensure that your $25 million-self aren't injured in an accidental, self-committed, shooting? Plaxico Burress is just one example of many who have failed miserably in the realm of responsibility. Adam "Pacman" Jones, Michael Vick, half of the Bengals active roster, and to an extent, Ricky Williams all fall under this same category. They, with no regard to their importance to their respective teams, value to their owners, or second job as a role model, act stupidly and irresponsibly for no legitimate reason. Fine, suspend, and punish players who deliver "unnecessary" hits in football games, but it is the irresponsible few who are the ones damaging the NFL. It is these players which make many people to look at the NFL and deem the players to be "thugs", "morons", or whatever other other word they find appropriate. And all of this because a few players couldn't stay away from a strip club, not indulge themselves in dog-fighting, or shoot them self in the leg.