FanHouse Donte Stallworth

NEW YORK -- Beyond their occupation and celebrity lifestyles and physical similarities, Plaxico Burress and Donte' Stallworth really don't belong in the same sentence. They committed different crimes in different states, and if both men are lucky enough to ever again play in the NFL, it will be interesting to see how the league skirts the pesky issue of convicted felons associating with other felons.

Until then, enough with the clueless comparisons between Stallworth's light sentence in Florida for committing vehicular manslaughter while drunk and Burress' heavy plea agreement for criminal possession of a weapon in New York. Just because Florida officials allow wads of cash to buy leniency, that's no reason other states can't legislate their own version of justice.

Plaxico Burress pleaded guilty to felony weapons charges and accepted a two-year jail sentence on Thursday, leading to a strong reaction from NFL Twitter nation -- both regarding the sentencing and regarding Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision not to suspend Burress beyond his prison term.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, for our NFL Twitter mailbag are below.

"They're trying to make an example out of him," several NFL players have said today, about Plaxico Burress. And while that smacks of trite hogwash -- unthinking solidarity for solidarity's sake -- all I can think is that if "they" really are trying to make an example of Burress, let's hope they succeed.

Let's hope that every one of these NFL stupidity/thuggery cases works as an example. Let's hope that the next time one of these jokers decides to put a gun in his pocket for a night out at the club that the image of Burress in a prison cell flashes through his mind, and that he puts the damn thing back in the drawer. Let's hope that the next time one of these self-styled superheroes decides he doesn't need to call a cab when he's drunk, he thinks about Donte' Stallworth sitting out this whole season, and he gives somebody else his keys. Let's hope anybody who's into anything as stupid and pointless and disgusting as dogfighting remembers the past two years of Michael Vick's life, and not the past two weeks.

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The odds of Plaxico Burress signing with an NFL team for the 2009 season seem to be getting longer by the day. Beyond the legal issues, potential chemistry disruption and questions about what playing shape Plax is in, the threat of a lengthy NFL suspension looms for any franchise even considering Burress as an option.

Roger Goodell's season-long ban of Donte' Stallworth has set the bar for any future suspension -- Burress injured himself, of course, as opposed to killing someone while driving drunk, so it would make sense if his penalty was less severe than Stallworth's.

According to a report by Gary Myers of the New York Daily News, Burress would still be forced to miss substantial time, though.

The problem is you can't win on this one, nobody can. You think Roger Goodell came down too hard on Donte' Stallworth, suspending him for the whole season without pay for pleading guilty to DUI/Manslaughter? You think that punishment is too harsh? Yeah, well, the other guy died.

That's what Stallworth has to live with for the rest of his life. Because of an incomprehensibly selfish, irresponsible, avoidable, inexcusable crime he committed, an innocent man named Mario Reyes died. And for that reason, every single rotten thing that happens to Stallworth for the rest of his life is going to feel totally just -- to him as well as to those watching from the outside. That is Stallworth's curse, one he brought on himself, and so the letter he got from Goodell this morning informing him of his punishment can't be a surprise and can't possibly feel unfair.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth has been suspended without pay for the entire 2009 season as a result of his guilty plea to DUI manslaughter. The NFL announced the punishment Thursday, one day shy of four months after Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian named Mario Reyes while driving drunk.

Stallworth will be reinstated after the Super Bowl of 2010. He may not participate in any league or team activities until then.

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There isn't a doubt that Michael Vick has paid his debt to society. And, yes, he deserves another chance. And, yes, if some NFL folks want him on their roster, he should be allowed to play again.

But can we talk? Most of those who belong to the Latter Day Church of Michael Dwayne Vick keep exposing themselves as frauds.

The most hated man in sports isn't defending himself these days, so I called the second-most hated man to see if he would do the job.

Andrew Shannon wasn't really No. 2 on a survey released last week. But he was organizing an event for No. 1.

The "Michael Vick Community Celebration" was scheduled for Saturday in Vick's hometown of Newport News, Va. Regrettably, it's been postponed due to a supposed scheduling conflict.

I say regrettably because I wanted to enjoy the backlash. I wanted to show up and see what kind of fool would celebrate Vick.

We're only on the second day of freedom in the Michael Vick melodrama and it's clear that figurative lines are being drawn on the turf. Following his release from federal custody, many fans and journalists have expressed their strong feelings in opposition of Vick's potential return to the NFL.

But there is another side, one which includes some prominent former and current NFL stars, that believes Vick is worthy of a second chance.

Donte' Stallworth, in terms of how he will be treated by the American justice system, has moved past his crimes. He settled his DUI manslaughter case with the Reyes family -- and news that leaked out late last night might provide a pretty good reason as to why he settled so quickly.

Turns out that Stallworth, in addition to having imbibed in some alcohol before hitting Reyes with his car, also allegedly had marijuana in his system.