Plaxico Burress Talks About What Might Have Happened If He Hadn't Shot Himself in the Leg and Gone to Prison (Video)

Plaxico Burress thinks he could have been one of the best wide receivers in NFL history if he hadn't gone to jail.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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By now, everyone has heard the story about Plaxico Burress accidentally shooting himself in the leg inside of a New York City nightclub one night back in late 2008 and then going to jail as a result of it. It's one of the craziest cautionary tales in NFL history. But because Burress is kind of a quiet guy, he hasn't talked about it much in recent years.

VICE Sports caught up with him this summer, though, and got him to talk at length about what his life was like after he shot himself, what he went through when he went away to prison, and what he thinks his NFL career would have been like if he hadn't hurt himself on that fateful night. And while the things he says about prison aren't all that surprising—Spoiler alert: Prison sucks!—it's pretty crazy (and kind of heartbreaking) to hear him talk about what might have been if he hadn't shot himself. He thinks he and Eli Manning would have done some special things, set some records, and gone down as one of the best quarterback/wide receiver duos of all time.

The entire interview that VICE Sports did with Plax is worth a watch. But pay close attention to the last couple of minutes. The regret that you can hear in his voice is evident and, if you're a football fan, it'll have you thinking about what this guy might have accomplished if he'd decided to do anything other than go to that nightclub on November 28, 2008.

[via VICE Sports]

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