Plaxico Burress

Infobox NFLactive


caption=Plaxico Burress at the Giants Super Bowl champions parade in NYC.
width=163
currentteam=New York Giants
currentnumber=17
currentposition=Wide receiver
birthdate=birth date and age|1977|8|12
birthplace=Norfolk, Virginia
heightft=6
heightin=5
weight=232
debutyear=2000
debutteam=Pittsburgh Steelers
highlights=
* 2x All-Big Ten (1998 & 1999)
* Super Bowl XLII champion
college=Michigan State
draftyear=2000
draftround=1
draftpick=8
pastteams=
* Pittsburgh Steelers (2000-2004)
* New York Giants (2005-present)
status=Active
statweek=5
statseason=2008
statlabel1=Receptions
statvalue1=488
statlabel2=Receiving Yards
statvalue2=7,650
statlabel3=Receiving TDs
statvalue3=52
nfl=BUR595691

Plaxico Burress (pronEng|Plax-ico) (born August 12, 1977 in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American football wide receiver for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers eighth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan State University.

Burress earned a Super Bowl ring with the Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

Early life

Plaxico was named after his uncle. [ [http://sports.aol.com/voices/hollander/_a/burress-ready-to-discover-old-world/20071025133809990001 AOL Sports interview] ] He graduated from Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1996. He spent one football season, McKeesport prep school year, at Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia, in 1996, where he caught 33 passes for 807 yards (24.5 avg.) and 12 touchdowns.

College

Burress set a Big Ten Conference single-season record by catching 65 passes in his first season at Michigan State, and also excelled on the special-teams coverage units, using his outstanding leaping ability as a kick blocker. He ranks second in career touchdown catches (20), third in receptions (131), and fourth in receiving yards (2,155) in just two seasons at Michigan State University. He was an All-American second-team selection by SportsPage.com and an All-Big Ten Conference first-team pick in 1999. Burress broke his own school season-record that he set in 1998 (65 catches) with 66 receptions for 1,142 yards (17.3 avg) and 12 touchdowns. He established Spartans' single-season-record 12 touchdown receptions, eclipsing the previous record of eight that Burress shared (1998) with Andre Rison (1988) and Bob Carey (1949). He forced two fumbles, recovered one fumble, and registered 7 tackles (5 solos) on special teams. Burress then set a school record with 255 yards receiving on 10 catches against the University of Michigan. He finally closed out his career with a school-record 13 receptions for 185 yards and three touchdowns against the University of Florida in the 2000 Citrus Bowl. He also broke the single-game record of 12 receptions set by tight end Mitch Lyons in 1992. Burress was an All–Big Ten Conference first-team selection in 1998 by The Sports Network, and he earned second-team accolades from the league's media. He shared Spartan Outstanding Underclass Back Award honors with tailback Sedrick Irvin and wide receiver Gari Scott. Also, he started All Year at split end and established a school season-record with 65 receptions, topping the previous mark of 60 catches by Courtney Hawkins in 1989. He had more than 100 yards receiving in four games and is ranked third in the conference with an average of 84.4 yards per game and fifth in the conference with an average of 5.4 catches per game. He recorded six solo tackles and forced a fumble on special teams.

Pro career

Pittsburgh Steelers (2000–2004)

After being drafted eighth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, Burress went on to play five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, amassing 261 receptions for 4,164 yards, 22 touchdowns, and only six fumbles over the span of 71 games. He first broke the 1,000-yard mark in his second season, gaining 1,008 yards on 66 receptions. Burress's best season with the Steelers came in 2002, when he set his career highs for receptions (78) and yards (1,325), to go along with seven touchdowns. Also in 2002, Burress played in his first career playoff game, accumulating six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. In three subsequent playoff games with the Steelers, Burress totaled only seven receptions, 123 yards, and one touchdown.

Burress's 1,008-yard season in 2001, combined with Hines Ward's 1,003 receiving yards, gave the Steelers their first pair of 1,000-yard receivers.cite news| url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/steelers/2002-11-12-burress_x.htm | title=Burress reaches for potential | publisher="USA Today" | last=Pedulla | first=Tom | date=2002-11-12 | accessdate=2008-09-24] The two would combine to accomplish the same feat in 2002. [cite web| url=http://www.nfl.com/players/hinesward/careerstats?id=WAR179227 | title=Hines Ward: Career Stats | publisher=National Football League | accessdate=2008-09-24] On November 10, 2002, Burress took advantage of an extra 15 minutes of play to set a Steelers franchise record with 253 receiving yards in a 34–34 tie against the Atlanta Falcons. He caught nine passes and scored two touchdowns in the game.

New York Giants

2005

On January 23, 2005, after a playoff defeat, Burress announced his intentions to leave the Steelers. On March 17, he signed a six-year, $25 million contract with the New York Giants.

In his first season playing for New York, Burress caught 76 passes for 1,214 yards, helping the team earn an 11-5 record, good enough for first place in the NFC East as well as the NFC's fourth seed. However, they were shutout 23-0 by the Carolina Panthers in the opening round of the 2005-06 NFL playoffs.

2006

In the 2006 season, Burress managed a career high in touchdowns with 10 but fell short of the 1,000-yard mark, appearing in only 15 games and struggling with a groin injury for much of the year. The Giants dropped 6 of their last 8 games and fell in the NFC Wild Card playoffs to the NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles 23-20. Burress had a touchdown catch on the opening drive and finished the game with 5 receptions for 89 yards and 2 TDs.

2007

In 2007, Burress was the Giants' top receiver with 70 receptions for 1,025 yards, despite not practicing all season because of his ailing ankle. He also set a franchise playoff record in the NFC title game in Green Bay with 11 receptions for 154 yards as the Giants advanced to Super Bowl XLII.

uper Bowl XLII

In Super Bowl XLII, he caught the game-winning pass that made the score 17-14 in the Giants favor. He gained some measure of "Super Bowl legend" by predicting a Giants win, and by further saying that the Patriots would be beaten by the score 23-17; to this, the Patriots quarterback Tom Brady scoffed at the idea that the Patriots would score "only" 17 points. As it turned out, they actually scored "less".cite news |url=http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ussports/story/0,,2252075,00.html |last=Ashdown | first=John |title=New England Patriots 14-17 New York Giants |date=2008-02-04 |accessdate=2008-02-27 |publisher="The Guardian"] Also, Burress was suffering from a serious leg injury and had very limited work in pregame practice so he was able to get treatment and play in the Super Bowl. Ironically, Burress' limited work benefited the Giants in the Super Bowl because David Tyree received more repetitions in practice as Burress was recovering, and Tyree went on to make the "Helmet Catch" and a TD reception in the Super Bowl.

2008

Prior to the start of Giants mini-camp in May, Burress and his fellow teammates were invited by President Bush to the White House to honor their victory in Super Bowl XLII.cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/04/20080430-6.html|title=President Bush Welcomes Super Bowl XLII Champion New York Giants to White House|author=Office of the Press Secretary|publisher=The White House|accessdate=2008-04-30|date=April 30, 2008] Burress had said that he would not be at the team's mandatory minicamp because he was upset with his contract. He will receive $3.25 million in his 2008 salary, and will risk being fined over $8,600 daily. He even indicated the holdout might go as far as training camp. [ [http://blog.nj.com/ledgergiants/2008/06/burress_holding_out_in_contrac.html Burress sitting out in contract dispute] ] As of 11 June 2008, Burress was present for the Giants' minicamp but refused to participate on the practice field because his contract had not been renegotiated. Burress is represented by agent Drew Rosenhaus. But he later told a sports radio show hosted by Ike Reese, a fellow Michigan State Spartan, that he doesn't expect his holdout to go as far as him missing time in training camp. [ [http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2008/06/plax_thinks_hell_get_his_contr.html Plax thinks he'll get his contract soon] ]

On September 24, 2008, the team announced that Burress would be suspended for the game on October 5 for a violation of team rules. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_giants_burress_suspended;_ylt=AmTASy5hTglvLl1iQ0RPPHqs0NUE] He did not show up for work on a Monday and could not be reached by phone for two days. This is not the first time that Burress has been temporarily suspended by an NFL team—in May 2004, he was suspended by the Pittsburgh Steelers for failing to show up for a Monday team practice.

Personal

Burress is the son of the late Vicki Burress and has two brothers, Ricardo and Carlos. He married Tiffany Glenn in July 2005. They have one child, a son, Elijah, who was born January 13, 2007. He now resides in Totowa, New Jersey.

Burress is represented by agent Drew Rosenhaus.

References

External links

* [http://www.nfl.com/players/plaxicoburress/careerstats?id=BUR595691 NFL.com - Plaxico Burress: Career Stats]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5037 ESPN.com: Plaxico Burress]
* [http://giants.com/news/eisen/story.asp?story_id=6058 Giants Sign WR Plaxico Burress]