When Plaxico Burress shot himself in the leg in 2008, Michael Vick was halfway through his 21-month prison term. Now that Burress is a couple months away from being released from his own incarceration, Vick wants to reach out to him.
Vick told Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News that he plans to pay Burress a visit when Burress is back home, and that he hopes to offer him some words of wisdom about how to get his career back on track.
“I hope I can pay him a visit,” Vick said. “I just want to reach out to him, talk to him. We have a good relationship . . . just congratulate him on getting through such a tough time, even though it’s not the ideal situation, let him know there’s plenty of optimism out there for him.”
Vick, who returned to the field in 2009 after missing two full seasons and became the league’s comeback player of the year in 2010, said he sees no reason why Burress can’t get back on the field and compete at a high level.
“I don’t think his career’s over by far,” Vick said. “You look at Terrell Owens, he’s 37, and playing like he’s in his late 20s.”
Vick is right that Burress is three and a half years younger than Owens, although Owens, who has always kept himself in phenomenal shape, is an extreme outlier in his ability to continue to play wide receiver in the NFL into his late 30s. Burress, who looked like he was slowing down even before the fateful night when he tucked an unregistered handgun into his sweatpants, may not be able to play as late in life as Owens.
But if there’s anyone who can inspire Burress to get his career back on track after a lengthy prison sentence, it’s the only active player who has already done just that.