Getting To Know Plaxico Burress.

alen1 · Jul 19, 2008

SI: You've been known to miss a practice or two in your career, but I guess you started this pattern even before you got into the NFL. You talk about oversleeping and missing a pre-draft workout with Bill Cowher after he had flown out to see you. How did you convince him to still draft you?

Burress: He's the coolest coach I've ever had. I can just sit down and be flat-out honest with him. There were a few times I'd come in to work late and he'd ask me, "What happened?" and I'm like, "To tell you the truth, coach, I just overslept. I'm tired." So he would just say, "OK, kid, you owe me a good practice." That was the type of person that he was. He was always supportive in everything that I did. He was more of a friend than a teacher or a coach, but he was all those things at the same time. I was always able to sit down with him and look him face-to-face and be honest with him. We ended up with a relationship I still hold today. It was hard to leave him and the Steelers but I had to do what was best for me and my career. He's a great friend and he was one of the first people that called me after the NFC championship game and told me to enjoy the next two weeks -- and he called me the day after the Super Bowl and congratulated me. That really shows you the type of guy he is.
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SI: You mentioned a story where Eli picked up your playbook one day and was shocked to see that it had notes all over it and was highlighted. Most people hear about you being injured or showing up late to meetings and figure you're not trying as hard as you should. Is it simply a case of being misunderstood?

Burress: It doesn't matter to me if people don't understand me. I know how important the game is to me. There's probably nobody other than the quarterback and offensive coordinator that knows more about the offense than I do. I understand the concept of the offense and everything we do on every play. I can play any position out there. When you have a concept of the whole offense, even if you're not the primary receiver on each route, you can help other guys out. When you've been playing for eight years, you become a student of the game, so to speak. I really understand the game -- not just how to play the game -- but how to execute, and understanding the concept of defenses and what they're doing. I know what they'll let me do and what they won't let me do, so when you study and you're passionate about your work, it makes your play on the field stand out that much more.
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/arash_markazi/07/18/burress.q.and.a/index.html

A really good interview in my opinion. Burress seems to be one of the most honest people out there. There's a part of the interview when he is asked about the rumors of former teammate Kordell Stewart possibly being gay. He says he doesn't know if its true but he does feel that it impacted Stewart's playing career and possibly stopped him from becoming the player he could have been because of it being hard mentally on him.

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