This is not likely to a popular opinion in these parts.

I have no great love for the New York Giants, nor for their former star wide receiver, Plaxico Burress. But is it just me, or does anyone else think former Burress is getting a raw deal.

Plaxico yesterday pleaded guilty to a weapons charge involving an incident in which he was illegally carrying a gun in a nightclub.

It didn’t help that the gun went off. Plaxico shot himself in the leg.
In effect, he also shot himself in the foot, scuttling his NFL career.

No one else was injured.

As part of the plea he entered yesterday, Burress will do two years in prison.

You read that right. Two years.

We constandtly hear complaints when athletes and other high-profile celebrities run afoul of the law that they get every benefit of the doubt, and their fame works in their favor. This might be a case where an athlete’s fame actually worked against him. It appears authorities in New York decided to make an example out of Burress, using him to send a message that they are serious about the war on illegal guns.

Burress shot himself in the leg and got two years. Michael Vick did 18 months for running a dog-fighting ring and admitting to help kill some animals. Former Eagles receiver Donte Stallworth did 30 days for running over and killing a man while driving drunk.

Something does not add up here.