Giants Suspend Burress, End His Season

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Wide receiver Plaxico Burress won't play for the New York Giants again this season.

The Giants have announced that they've fined Burress, suspended him for four games for conduct detrimental to the team and placed him on the non-football injury list, making him ineligible to play for the club again this season and postseason.

Burress was charged Monday with criminal possession of a weapon after suffering a thigh wound in an accidental shooting early Saturday. Burress reportedly shot himself in the leg with a gun he'd taken to a New York nightclub.

Burress rejoined the team today and, according to the Giants, underwent treatment for a previous hamstring injury and his gunshot wound. According to the Giants, Burress went to Manhattan to undergo an MRI exam by one of the team's physicians. When he returned to Giants Stadium, he was informed by General Manager Jerry Reese of the team's actions.

The physician, Scott Rodeo, believed that Burress would need 4-6 weeks to recover sufficiently from his gunshot would to be ready to play, according to the Giants. A report over the weekend had indicated that Burress might be ready to play within a couple weeks.

"The decision we made today regarding Plaxico's roster status was based on the examination of Plaxico by our team physician," Reese said, according to the team's website. "Dr. Rodeo believes Plaxico would be out at least four to six weeks with the gunshot wound. I had two conversations with Plaxico today, and it was obvious that he understood the magnitude of this situation. He knows that we are here to support him and help him get healthy."

Burress also had separate meetings today with Giants co-owner John Mara and Coach Tom Coughlin, according to the team.

"As we have said since Saturday morning, our concern is for Plaxico's health and well-being," Mara said, according to the team's website. "This is an important time for him to take care of his body and heal up and also deal with the very serious legal consequences and other issues in his life. When I spoke with Plaxico he expressed great remorse for letting down his teammates."

According to the website, Steve Tisch, the franchise's other co-owner, said: "Our concern all along has been for Plaxico the person, not Plaxico the player. We are here to support him and his family as he recovers from his wound and deals with some serious issues."

The Giants did not announce the amount of Burress's fine. His four-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team would cost him $823,529 of his $3.5 million salary for this season if it's without pay, as it presumably is.

Under the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players' union, a franchise can suspend a player for up to four games without pay for conduct detrimental to the team. The Giants suspended Burress for one game without pay earlier this season after he missed a team meeting. Coughlin also benched him for a little more than a quarter of another game, saying that Burress had missed a treatment session the previous day.

The NFL Players Association can, if it chooses, file a grievance on Burress's behalf to appeal the suspension by the team. The union and the Giants worked out a settlement to reduce Burress's lost pay when the team suspended him earlier this season.

Placing Burress, 31, on the non-football injury list potentially could enable the team to attempt to force him to repay a portion of the bonus money in his five-year, $35 million contract completed hours before this season's opening game.

It's not clear if the Giants' actions will preclude discipline by the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy. That policy empowers NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to act even if a player has not been convicted of a crime. League officials had said the NFL was investigating the incident.

The NFL's gun policy warns players that possession of unlicensed firearms makes them subject to possible disciplinary action by the league. According to reports by New York newspapers, Burress was not properly licensed to carry a gun in New York.

Any penalty imposed by Goodell under the league's personal conduct policy could be appealed only to Goodell or a person designated by him, an arrangement that the union has indicated it will seek to change in the next set of labor talks.

Neither Burress nor his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was immediately available to comment. Rosenhaus had said during a televised interview Monday night that he'd spoken to Giants officials but the conversations had focused on Burress's health, not his playing status or contract situation. The agent had said he was hopeful that Burress would play for the Giants again.

"I'm an optimist," Rosenhaus said at halftime of ESPN's "Monday Night Football" telecast.

Burress made a court appearance Monday after turning himself in to police. He's free after posting $100,000 bail and is scheduled to be back in court on March 31.

Burress, who caught the winning touchdown pass in last season's Super Bowl, finishes this season with 35 catches for 454 yards and four touchdowns. The Giants, with Domenik Hixon starting in place of Burress, beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday at FedEx Field without Burress to improve their record to 11-1. Burress had been ruled out of that game Friday because of his previous hamstring injury. The Giants reportedly will add a player Wednesday to fill Burress's roster spot.

"When you lose a player of Plaxico's ability, it is incumbent that everybody step up and fill the void," Coughlin said, according to the Giants' website. "In the last two seasons, this team has done an outstanding job of that. We made it clear to Plax today that we are here to support him in any way possible."