This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.
I love football players. When they're not entertaining me with their athletic prowess, they can usually be found doing something reckless or saying something ridiculous. Plus, several of them have ushered me to a Super Bowl victory in the 2008 Schaeffer's fantasy football league (Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans, if you're reading this: you complete me). As such, Plaxico Burress is the best of all possible worlds -- a gifted wide receiver with absolutely no common sense.
As you've probably heard by now, the New York Giants suspended Burress without pay in early December after he accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed firearm. The Super Bowl-winning wideout arrived at a club in Manhattan with the loaded weapon concealed in his pants, but the .40-caliber Glock unexpectedly discharged outside the VIP area.
In other words, Burress's suspension was mostly a formality; it's hard to run those out routes with a bullet wound in your thigh, and he was already battling a hamstring injury. The withheld salary was hardly symbolic, though.
While the law slapped Burress with two counts of illegal weapons possession, the Giants hit him with a fine -- and not his first of the season, either. Earlier this year, the wide receiver was charged $45,000 by the NFL for abusing officials and indulging in an uncouth touchdown celebration. Of course, let's not forget the team meeting Burress missed, which cost him a one-game suspension to the tune of $117,500. (The athlete defended his absence, arguing that a family situation had demanded his attention.)
And there's also the small matter of the $100,000 in bail Burress shelled out for, not to mention the high price of a quality legal team. The wide receiver is no doubt missing the roughly $470,000 he would have earned in the last four games of the regular season.
Luckily for Burress, he's talented enough that the Giants will no doubt give him a second chance at that six-figure-a-week salary in 2009 -- provided he's not in jail, of course. And if New York decides that Burress is too great a liability, well ... there's always the Cincinnati Bengals.
Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.
Be sure to check out more Money Losers of 2008.
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
Retailers can't wait for Black Friday, open Thursday
Tiffany's serves up solid quarterly earnings
