Plaxico Burress

A gifted wide receiver for Michigan State, Plaxico Burress enjoyed a brief but impressive stint in the National Football League (NFL), including a Super Bowl win in 2008, but personal woes and injuries combined to cut short a promising career in 2014. Born Plaxico Antonio Burress in Norfolk, Virginia he displayed a talent for football while a student at Green Run High Schooi in Virginia Beach, and set Big Ten Conference records for most passes caught in a single season during his first year at Michigan State University. After leading his team to victory at the 2000 Citrus Bowl, where he scored three touchdowns and 13 receptions for 185 yards, Burress was picked eighth in the NFL draft. He joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2000, where he earned 22 touchdowns and 261 receptions for 4, 164 yards, including a franchise record of nine caught passes, 253 receiving yards, and two touchdowns in a single game in 2002. However, these high points were sorely tempered by Burress's penchant for missing practices, most notably in 2004, when he was suspended for failing to show up for a Monday team practice. Following the Steelers' defeat in the 2005 playoffs, Burress left the franchise and signed with the New York Giants; there, he made an impressive debut with seven touchdowns and 76 receptions for 1,214 yards in his first year, and remained the team's top receiver through 2007, despite a variety of injuries. Burress capped his run with the Giants at Super Bowl XLII in 2008, catching the game-winning touchdown from Eli Manning. But again, Burress' successes were undone by his recalcitrant streak; he refused to attend a mandatory camp in 2008, claiming that his five-year, $35-million contract extension was lower than other star receivers. More troubling was a 2008 incident in which Burress suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound from a concealed weapon that resulted in charges of criminal possession. The legal case and contract woes led the Giants to suspend Burress for the remainder of the 2008 season, after which he was cut from the team in 2009. He spent 20 months in a correctional facility until his release in 2011, after which he signed with the New York Jets for a single, largely unspectacular season. The following year, Burress re-signed with the Steelers, where he showed initial promise until suffering a torn rotator cuff in 2013. The franchise placed him on the injured reserve list, which effectively ended his professional playing career. He transitioned to the commentator's booth the following year, serving as an analyst with SportsNet New York, but his personal woes continued unabated when the State of New Jersey charged him with failure to pay $48,000 in income taxes in 2015.