NFL star shoots himself in foot

HOW THE mighty have fallen. New York Giants star Plaxico Burress, who caught the winning touchdown pass in last year’s Superbowl, will not play for the Giants for the rest of the season, having shot himself in the foot.

Literally.

He has been suspended without pay, fined and placed on the reserve list for a nonfootball injury, the Giants declared. His injury, a self-inflicted gunshot wound, occurred early Saturday morning at a nightclub in Manhattan.

It’s the latest blow in Burrell’s downward spiral: previously this season, he was suspended for one game and for two weeks of practice after missing a mandatory team meeting. He was held out of the first quarter of another game as punishment for missing a required medical treatment.

The shooting incident at the Latin Quarter nightclub involved Burress’s 40-calibre semi-automatic Glock discharging accidentally as he made his way to the VIP section of the club. It slipped from the waistband of his sweatpants and went off as he tried to grab it.

Burress may lose $27 million (€21m) of his $35 million (€28m) contract if he is not reinstated by the Giants and he already faces two separate charges. Released on $100,000 bail, Burress did not have a permit to carry a gun in New York. He is scheduled to return to Manhattan Criminal Court on March 31. If convicted, Burress could face up to 15 years in state prison.

Burress has frequently been fined by the team and has refused to participate in minicamps during the off-season.

Police have been called to Burress’s home in Totowa, New Jersey, for domestic disturbances in the past, although no charges resulted. He said last month: “I’m my own worst enemy. The things that have happened to me, I have no one to blame but myself.

“That’s what makes Plaxico Burress Plaxico Burress.”