MySports Today

It’s a match made in heaven.  Quarterback Eli Manning signed a new 6-year extension with the Giants which will pay him an average salary of $15.3 million over the next 6 years.  The 6-year deal is worth $97 million, including an estimated $35 million in guaranteed money.  After dealing with all the turmoil surrounding former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress’ indictments and current Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce’s involvement with Burress’ gun possession charges, the Giants  welcomed a positive announcement about the team’s future.

The deal with make Manning the highest paid player in the NFL (Manning’s older brother Peyton makes an average salary of $14.17 million).  Manning was in the last year of the deal he signed as a rookie back in 2004 – he would have made $9.4 million this year.  Manning indicated that he wanted to remain a Giant forever, and the 2 sides have been negotiating the contract for months now.  Manning led the Giants to the upset Super Bowl over the undefeated New England Patriots in 2008 – he was named the Super Bowl MVP that year.  Manning made his first Pro Bowl in 2009, throwing for 3,238 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions (10 less interceptions than he threw in 2008).  Manning has started 71 consecutive games as the Giants quarterback, which put him among the top 3 active quarterbacks at the end of last season.  Manning also became the 1st Giants quarterback to throw for at least 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns in 4 straight NFL seasons.

The stats don’t lie.  Manning has lived up to the high expectations when the Giants swapped Phillip Rivers for Manning back in 2004.  Manning has shone under the bright lights of Broadway and delivered a Super Bowl Championship for the New York Giants franchise.  Manning works hard, stays out of trouble and delivers on the field both physically and as a team leader.  The bold move paid off for the Giants brass, and it was smart for both sides to get a deal done before the season started to avoid any distractions.  Is it too good to be true?  Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

A grand jury indicted Plaxico Burress on 2 counts of criminal possession of a weapon and 1 count of reckless endangerment.  The indictments stem from a night club incident in which Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg last November.  Burress pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this year and is out on $100,000 bail.  If convicted, Burress could spend a minimum of 3 1/2 years in jail according to federal sentencing guidelines.  Burress testified at the grand jury hearing last week in order to try to convince the jurors to decline to indict him, but his efforts failed.

Current Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce was with Burress that night, and was also charged by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.  Pierce testified in front of the same grand jury for 2 days and the grand jury recently decided not to indict Pierce.  Pierce was relieved, but expressed no regrets for his actions on the night of the incident (Pierce escorted Burress out of the night club and took the bloodied wide receiver to a nearby hospital for treatment.  He then took Burress unlicensed gun to his own home in New Jersey and later returned the gun to Burress).  Pierce had this to say about the ordeal:  “I am not sorry for how I acted that night.  I am not sorry for how I responded… I am sorry for putting myself in position that I had to respond the way I had to respond.  There are a lot of reasons I learned from this.  I take them to heart and I take them seriously, obviously.  It has been a lot of ups and downs.”  Enough said, but it will be interesting to see if NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will take any action against Pierce for his involvement.

These guys are morons, especially Burress.  It’s 36 hours before a big game against the division-rival Washington Redskins and the two are out late at a night club with a loaded weapon.  Real smart, huh?  Now maybe Pierce didn’t know that Burress was packing heat, and if he did know, he probably figured that Burress wouldn’t be dumb enough to shoot himself in the leg.  But then again it is Burress.  It’s not the 1st time that Burress has had to deal with controversy, and it likely will not be his last.  At least the grand jury did not fall for Burress’s attempts to schmooze them towards not indicting him.  I would love to see Burress spend some time in jail for his actions that could have ended up causing some serious damage to some unsuspecting clubgoer…