newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ALICIA CRUZ

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A confident prediction earlier this year by Drew Rosenhaus, agent for former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress, that his client would return to the gridiron in 2011, was backed recently by ESPN's Adam Schefter's suggestion that it would make sense for two teams, in need of a good wide receiver, to consider Burress.

Schefter's comment was merely as suggestion and not an official word from team officials, but Rosehaus told SBNation.com earlier this year that a few teams remained in touch with Burress during his incarceration, so it's possible we may see the former Pittsburgh Steeler back on the field provided he is physically capable and the NFL lockout ends.

Burress, a native of Norfolk, Virginia, will be released from medium-security Correctional Facility Oneida in Rome, N.Y. on June 6. According to the New York Post, Burress is housed in a single cell at the prison's "V Wing," a protective custody unit for high profile inmates like former "Sopranos" star, Lilo Brancato.

Now known as prisoner number 09R3260, Burress is only seen by other inmates during visitation, and works as a porter within the prison. He reads the Bible faithfully, and spends his recreation time lifting weights and doing 300-yard sprints in 50-yard increments four days a week, the New York Daily News reported according to deadspin.com.

At 34-years-old he may be considered old for a receiver, but a workout schedule like that should leave little doubt about whether the 6'5, now 224 pound offensive player will have the physical ability to return to the playing field. The next question is, what teams would be interested in signing him?

According to sbsnation.com, In Schefter's opinion, the Rams could pair Burress with quarterback Sam Bradford and the fact that head coach Steve Spagnuolo worked with Burress and the Giants might solidify his chances of being signed. Another team option would be the Jets, said Schefter. Since the future of troubled wide receivers and pending free agents, Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes appear uncertain with the team, due to pending and prior legal troubles, they could use a good wide receiver.

Giants running back Brandon Jacobs, who said he grown close to the Burress children while their father has been imprisoned, said in his opinion, there “no question” that Burress would be welcomed back to the Giants, NBC reported. No word on whether team officials share Jacob’s feelings.

According to ESPN, Edwards’ trial on a DWI arrest in September 2010 was postponed Monday until July after a flight delay caused him to miss court, his lawyer Peter Frankel told a Manhattan judge. The Michigan native reportedly blew 0.16, twice the legal limit in New York when his Range Rover was initially stopped for excessively tinted windows.

A conviction on the DWI charge, may force Edwards to return to Ohio and face charges that he violated parole stemming from a 2009 aggravated disorderly conduct charge where he punched a party promoter and later plead no contest. Edwards was given a suspended 180-day jail sentence, a $1,000 fine and inactive probation. The NFL did not suspend Edwards behind the incident.

Edwards told the Star-Ledger he spoke to Jets coach Rex Ryan and G.M. Mike Tannenbaum and the team is interested in him returning. “We've just got to put it together and see what happens,” AOL Sporting News reported.

Traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers last year, Holmes, an admitted former drug dealer in his hometown of Belle Glade, Florida told Facebook fans, “Sorry Jets fans, that not enough Jets stuff is here, but trust me, as soon as I sign back with the Jets, everything will be taken care of,” AOL Sports said.

Holmes' legal troubles go back as far as 2006 when he was arrested in Miami Beach on a disorderly conduct, reported ESPN. Charges from a June 2006 domestic violence and assault charge in Columbus, Ohio involving the mother of his child, Lashae Boone, were later dropped.

In 2008, he was arrested in Pittsburgh for possession of marijuana according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Then in 2010, Fox Sports reported that a woman filed a lawsuit against the Super Bowl XLIII MVP saying she acquired a cut above her eye after Holmes threw a glass at her in an Orlando nightclub. Most recently, he was forced to leave a Colgan Air Flight after an airline attendant claimed he refused to turn off his iPod. He spoke with police, who advised him to follow airline policy, but was not charged.