| Burress still thinks he can play the game at a high level. |
You could be forgiven if you thought we’ve hit a ton of “Plaxico Burress wants to play (insert name of your city here)” news, because, well, we have.
For one, depending on which radio station he’s speaking, he’s been pumped about the possibility of joining the Giants, the Eagles, the Panthers, etc, etc. So, that’s a hilarious storyline that keeps on giving.
For two, he actually had a solid season last year for the Jets, after missing two years while in prison, and he finished the campaign with 45 catches, 612 yards and eight touchdowns.
Naturally, he’s surprised and frustrated that he’s not currently employed -- I mean, Terrell Owens has an NFL job for god’s sake. But that doesn’t mean his confidence has been shaken. Burress still thinks he can dominate.
“For myself, for me to go out and do some of the things I was able to do last year, being away from the game for two years, I kind of thought that was enough to set myself up leading up to this year, to have an even better year,” Burress told KILT in Houston (via sportsradiointerviews.com). “The crazy thing about it is nobody’s even see me or seen the kind of shape that I’m in. I just want to get out on the football field and get back to dominating my position and everybody’s just going to go, ‘Wow.’”
That was precisely the reaction I had when I read that Burress supposedly owes $59,241 in back taxes to the state of New York and that he’d be willing to sign for the veteran’s minimum. One thing about that TMZ report, though. Burress said it’s not true.
“I don’t know how that story or where it came from,” Burress said. “They say it was in ’07, but I was in New York playing in ’08 and we went back last year and we have no idea how something like that could happen or if somebody is just trying to kick me a little bit more. … We’ve been trying to see how these things come up and where they’re coming from. … I’m doing just fine. I’m getting along.”
But here’s another reason not many -- maybe only the Cowboys -- teams are currently interested in Burress. As my colleague Ryan Wilson writes, “Burress' problems could stem from both reality and perception; the former: he's 34 years old and struggles to create separation in his pass routes. The latter: off-field issues likely haven't helped his employment status.”
Maybe so, but if confidence was a prerequisite to signing a contract for 2012, Burress would already be in somebody’s training camp.
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