Burress' punishment seems a crime

The NFL turns out to be the wrong place if you're looking for justice, and we're not talking about Winston Justice.

Plaxico Burress is facing two years in prison for shooting himself in the leg. You can bet there is a pretty long list of people who have served considerably less time for shooting someone else.

Earlier this year, another NFL wide receiver, Donté Stallworth, served 24 days in jail for striking and killing a man while driving under the influence. That's one day for every month Burress is facing.

Throw in Michael Vick - the Eagles' new quarterback and spiritual reclamation project - and you can cause serious synaptic damage trying to get it all to make sense: Stallworth's 24 days compared with Vick's 18 months in prison compared with the term Burress is facing.

There are practical answers, of course, starting with jurisdiction. Stallworth's accident occurred in Florida. The victim ran directly in front of his car while rushing to make a bus. The victim's family accepted a sum of money from Stallworth and signed off on the plea deal.

Vick's was a federal case, as much about the organized illegal gambling operation as it was about cruelty to animals.

Burress' biggest mistake wasn't carrying an illegal and loaded Glock into a crowded nightclub. It was carrying that gun in Manhattan, which has tough laws that include mandatory minimum sentences. The two-year sentence is actually the result of a plea bargain. Burress took the two years rather than risk 31/2 years or more if convicted by a jury.

And what of Antonio Pierce? The Giants linebacker was with Burress on the night of the shooting. He admitted taking the gun home with him and then dropping it off at Burress' house. Somehow, that wasn't possession of a firearm according to the New York District Attorney's Office. Pierce wasn't charged with a crime. Pierce faces no consequences from NFL commissioner and hanging judge Roger Goodell.

So we're making no apologies for Burress. What he did was stupid and thoughtless. The bullet that struck his thigh almost hit a security guard at the club. It could easily have killed any one of the patrons nearby. He deserves some kind of punishment - even though a bullet through the leg seems worse than a slap on the wrist.

But two years? Something feels wrong here.