New York Giants Notes: Welcome Back to the World, Mr. Burress

Good morning, fellow Giants fans.  Today is an interesting day in NFL media circles and in Plaxico Burress's life.  The man has paid his debt to society for carrying a concealed weapon and having it go off in a nightclub, shooting himself in the leg while hanging with former teammate and former Giants' linebacker Antonio Pierce.  So today is the first day of the rest of Plaxico's life, and here's hoping he makes the best of it the way Michael Vick has--but not for the Eagles, of course.  Here are some thoughts about Burress's release and situation:

Plaxico Burress' final hours in prison dwindling, ex-Giant will turn attention to finding NFL job
During his time behind bars, Burress worked as a porter, mopping linoleum floors and hardening his 6-foot-5, 230-pound physique with regular workouts, but in the coming months he will attempt a return to the National Football League. Terms of his parole demand that he seek and maintain employment. He should have no problem doing so.

Wow, it sure had to be sobering for Burress not just to be in prison, but to be relegated to mopping floors. 

Plaxico Burress is ready to reclaim his life | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
"I'm not just going to come back and play," Virginia Beach's Burress said. "I'm going to come back and play at a high level." Maybe he will, maybe he won't. But there should be numerous prospective employers willing to pay to find out when the league's labor strife resolves.

Gleason's Sporting World: Giants should steer clear of Burress | recordonline.com
This is why players don't make personnel decisions. Tuck and Jacobs — and other Giants — remember Burress for dropping Pats cornerback Ellis Hobbs on a SluGo route and softly catching Eli Manning's TD pass with 35 seconds left in Super Bowl XLII. It's about as big a moment as there has ever been in Giants history. But 3 1/2 years later, it's only a snapshot in a much larger and fuzzier picture of Plaxico Burress.

I can't really argue with that last statement.  And I am rooting for Plaxico to reclaim his life and to stay on the straight and narrow.

Speaking of Burress, here is an interesting list of ex-con athletes, but it's mostly made up of recent or current players.  And here is some information about Hobbs, who is all too familiar with Burress.  Hobbs was injured in a game against the Giants and missed the remainder of the 2010 season. 

For Osi Umenyiora, name on NFL labor suit has big meaning - USATODAY.com
Umenyiora, though, had a distinctly symbolic reason to be there. His name is on the lawsuit, Brady et al., vs. NFL, as one of 15 plaintiffs. "You can't be a main plaintiff and put your name out there, and then go hide under a rock somewhere," Umenyiora, 29, told USA TODAY after the hearing, which lasted about 90 minutes. "It's important that the players know that the guys who put their names out there are definitely behind this, and we're going to see what happens."

Does anyone else view this as a backhanded slap in the face of the three big names on the plaintiff side: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees?  Manning and Brees sent their agent, Tom Condon, while Brady was playing in a charity golf event.  Sounds to me like the three of them were "hiding under a rock."

Andy Robustelli Was a Catalyst for the Giants’ Defense - NYTimes.com
If the Giants were to create a Mount Rushmore of their most important players, Andy Robustelli’s chiseled face would be at its right end, befitting his position on the defensive unit that popularized pro football in the New York metropolitan area half a century ago.

I love this article, and I love even more the fact that even over fifty years ago, a player like Robustelli could stand up to an NFL head coach and tell him he would be late to training camp because of family issues.