Plaxico Burress is having trouble finding a team who will welcome him with open arms, and that’s a big problem for a guy who owes thousands in back taxes.
Burress is the latest in a long line of football players with legal troubles; his began a while back, however, when he failed to pay all of his taxes for the 2007 season he played with the Giants. To compound the issue, he got into some trouble on a gun charge the next year and was unable to play for the next two seasons. Now, the state of New York has filed a tax lien against him to the tune of $59,241.
Burress may have fallen off his game a bit, but it’s possible there’s a team out there willing to overlook that in favor of signing a free agent who caught 70 passes during the 2007 season and completed a career-topping 12 touchdowns, as well as helping lead the Giants to the Super Bowl. However, writer Michael David Smith thinks this could be the beginning of the end for Burress.
“Receiving NFL paychecks again this year would help Burress pay off that tax bill, but so far Burress has been surprised to find out that no one wants him,” Smith writes. “Unless the Seahawks decide they want to keep collecting aging receivers, Burress may remain unemployed.”
Ouch. That last bit was a jab at Terrell Owens, who had a workout yesterday for Seattle after a long and trying two years as the free agent no team would touch with a ten-foot pole. Looks like Burress has his work cut out for him.