FanHouse DonteStallworth

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.

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.

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.

Donte' Stallworth has his life -- something that can't be said about Mario Reyes, the man he accidentally hit and killed with his car in March -- but it barely resembles the one he once knew just a few months ago.

Even though Stallworth only received 30 days in jail (followed by a year of house arrest and eight years probation, not to mention a financial settlement with Reyes' family), he was suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Worse: ha has to live with the burden of killing a man with a family as he came home from work.

The case is closed and Stallworth's fate has been determined, but yesterday the 911 call was released to the public, shedding light on how events unfolded as they happened. Via NBC Miami:

Braylon Edwards would probably like to get his hands on a time machine and go back 12 months. And as long as we're defying the laws of physics, Derek Anderson would like to hitch a ride, too. A year ago, both players were coming off Pro Bowl seasons.

Today, they're still with the team, but have endured myriad trade rumors, inconsistent play, and for Anderson, a midseason benching.

Yet, training camp is five weeks off and both remain on the roster. New head coach Eric Mangini hasn't named his starting quarterback, although the word on the street is that it's Brady Quinn's job to lose. And Edwards, the club's 2005 first-round pick, is not only off the trading block, but should be an integral part of the Browns' offense.

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

Stephanie Stradley has been with FanHouse since its inception, and Thursday night might have been the lowlight of her internet career: she joined Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson on HouseCast.

Actually, Stephanie's a lawyer in real life so we decided to have her on to talk about two of her recent posts: Tweeting with T.O., and Donte Stallworth's plea deal. And while the Stallworth news has obvious legal implications, so does T.O. TweeterGate.

Stephanie also talks about the Twitter phenomenon -- especially among athletes -- the differences between the Stallworth and Vick cases, the prospects for the Texans in 2009, and, of course, Brett Favre. (Seriously.)

Fun starts after the jump.

In a perfect world, Cleveland would break its first offensive huddle next season, send Braylon Edwards to one side of the field, Donte Stallworth to the other, and both would catch everything thrown in his direction. But, as Browns fans can heartily attest, 'tis not a perfect world.

Bray Bray might get traded because he's got the dropsies, Stallworth is facing DUI manslaughter charges and the Browns' other returning receivers (led by Joshua Cribbs) are role players at best. So new head coach Eric Mangini is doing his best to fill the gaps -- the latest coming with the signing of former Lion Mike Furrey.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

One year removed from a 10-win season, and on the heels of a four-win effort, owner Randy Lerner decided change was in order. He fired head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage and brought in Eric Mangini and George Kokonis.

If the first draft under the new leadership is any indication, the Browns will use the last weekend in April to restock the roster, and eschew high-priced, quick-fix free agents. The previous regime had a healthy mix of the two: Gary Baxter, Eric Steinbach, LeCharles Bentley and Donte' Stallworth were signed as free agents; Kamerion Wimbley, Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn were all high-round draft picks.

Nearly a month ago, the National Football Post's Michael Lombardi hinted that Brady Quinn might not be accurate enough to make it as an NFL starter. He added, "As Cleveland makes changes to its roster, don't count out making a move at quarterback."

During the five weeks of McJaygate, Quinn was often mentioned as Jay Cutler's possible replacement in Denver. (The thinking: Josh McDaniels and Charlie Weis worked together in New England, and Weis would later coach Quinn at Notre Dame.)

One was a young man who'd just crossed the threshold of his life's dream. The other was an older man who long ago escaped his life's nightmare.

Both had just left their places of employment after an honest day's work; the young man from his gig with a Southern California baseball team, and the older man from his job unloading cargo containers at the Port of Miami. The young man was riding in a car with friends, and the older man, who couldn't afford a car, was walking to a bus stop.

It was then when each met the same fate twisted in tragic coincidence.