Friday, July 22, 2011

Plaxico Burress Has His Eyes on the St. Louis Rams

Wide receiver Plaxico Burress was released from prison earlier this year after serving a two year sentence for weapons charges, and he is now looking to continue his career.

Given that Burress is a resident of the New York area, rumors were suggesting that he preferred to play for an East Coast team, such as the Philadelphia Eagles, or the New York Jets.

However, recent chatter indicates that he has his eyes on the Midwest as well, particularly the St. Louis Rams.
"I mean, it's very appealing." said Burress, referring to the possibility of playing for the Rams.

Then he complimented the teams quarterback situation.

"(Sam Bradford) has all the tools to be the next elite quarterback in this league.  I know how difficult that position is to play, and I know how many high draft picks come into that position and fail. But it seems like he is on the right track."

Burress then discussed his admiration for Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, and he briefly discussed their relationship together under the New York Giants, where Spagnuolo was the defensive coordinator before accepting the Rams head coaching job.

"I have a lot of respect for coach Spagnulolo. We had a great relationship. When he was in New York, and I was playing on offense, and he was calling the plays, and I was always asking coach: 'What do you got for me today?,' just always trying to pick his brain and to see his defenses. He is a great football mind, he has surrounded himself with a great staff and he is getting all the right guys around that situation."

The interview was conducted on "Sirius Blitz", a show hosted by Adam Schein. The summary of the interview was posted by Fox Sports.

Reaction

Should the Rams buy into Plaxico's willingness to play for the team?

Spagnuolo, as well as General Manager Billy Devaney, have been building the team with high character guys who stay out of trouble, which does not exactly describe Plaxico (or at least the Plaxico we knew before he went to prison).

On top of the accidental gun discharge that resulted in prison time, Burress was also notorious for being late for, or flat out skipping team meetings.

But then again, it's hard to imagine that two years in prison wouldn't change a man's attitude.

Also, prior the draft last April, wide receiver was considered to be the Rams biggest team need by far, but the team used their third and fourth round picks on Austin Pettis (Boise St.) and Greg Salas (Hawaii).

However, does anyone really expect two mid-round picks to cure the team's need at receiver? Even the return of Mark Clayton, as well as Donnie Avery, does not provide a lot of reassurance, given they are both coming off major knee injuries that they obtained in 2010.

Plaxico is 33 years old, which is not young by any means, but it's not too old either.

Small, speedy receivers (Torry Holt) have short-lived careers, but larger framed receivers (Terrell Owens,Randy Moss), like the 6'5" 232 pounds Burress, have longer careers and can stay productive well into their mid-30's.

It's doubtful that the Rams front office will bite, but if they do, then the reward could certainly be great. 

No comments:

Post a Comment