I've always disliked Plaxico Burress. Not just because he was a privileged bonehead but ever since he was drafted by the Steelers in 2000, the same year they drafted Danny Farmer in the fourth round.
As I recall, Burress was .01 faster in the 40 than Farmer. Farmer was an All-American volleyball player at UCLA and could, as they say, jump through the roof. Burress on the other hand, as Bill Walton once said of Steve Nash, would have a hard time jumping over a piece of paper.
During training camp in 2000, Farmer initially was getting good press. Then one day I opened the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's sports section and saw a huge picture of Steelers CB Chad Scott throwing a punch at Farmer. And just like that the entire narrative around Farmer instantly changed; now he was supposedly "struggling" and might not even make the team. Besides his leaping ability, Farmer had been a record setting receiver at UCLA, graduating with a gaudy 19.2 yards per catch average, including leading the country in 1998 with a 22.2 average. Like Burress he wasn't lightning fast but in every other category, Farmer was a productive, explosive receiver who was a steal when taken early in the fourth round.
The negative publicity around Farmer continued, supported by both the local bootlicking "journalists" and the great Bill Cowher himself, with Cowher cutting Farmer at the end of training camp. Farmer was the highest drafted player to be waived that year by any team. As for Chad Scott, during a meaningless exhibition game that same summer of 2000 against Carolina, he hit Patrick Jeffers in the knee, essentially ending Jeffers' career. Scott was a racist punk, fully supported by the spittle-spewing punk Cowher.
Jeffers was coming off a phenomenal season after serving the obligatory prolonged racial apprenticeship. During the second half of 1999 he was unstoppable. Read the first post of this thread if you want to learn more about just how dominant he was:
https://castefootball.us/threads/patrick-jeffers-88-yard-td-catch.15063/ Also check out post #6 in the same thread, his long TD catch and run from Troy Aikman during a nationally televised Thanksgiving game. Even at 6' 3" his great speed is obvious as he outran the Vikings' backfield.
So Scott, Cowher, and the Pittsburgh sports media contributed to ending the careers of two White receivers that summer, one who had been brilliant the previous year, the other a potentially brilliant receiver whose opportunity was nipped in the bud.
Burress was terrible his rookie year but eventually came on and had a good career, finishing with 553 catches. Along the way he managed to shoot himself in the leg with a loaded gun and was an all-around bonehead, while Farmer was the one denied an opportunity, not just with the Steelers but the rest of the league. He ended up being cut by the Steelers, Bengals, Bucs (while they were coached by Jon Gruden), and Dolphins. Only the Bengals gave him some playing time, and he responded with 43/611/1 during parts of the '00, '01 and '02 seasons.
So it brings back unpleasant memories every time I think of Burress. If you've been wondering what ol' Plaxico has been up to, he's followed the same path so many other pampered Black millionaires have:
The Super Bowl XLII won by New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress has been put up for auction.
www.outkick.com
nfltraderumors.co
