Burress learned a valuable lesson
Plaxico Burress learned a valuable lesson and it didn’t cost his team a game. That, in a nutshell, was what happened late in the second quarter of a Steelers’ blowout win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Here’s to hoping Burress learned his lesson well. The Steelers can ill afford to have one of their best players, perhaps their most explosive offensive weapon, getting himself tossed from games, regardless of what an opponent does to him.
Burress, who already had five catches for 55 yards and two touchdowns, got ejected for having his helmet off during a fracas involving many players from both teams. He apologized to his teammates after the game, but believes the league will intervene and dole out proper punishment to Baltimore’s James Trapp.
It was Trapp, tossed with Burress, who got him out of his game, Burress said.
“I got thrown out for having my helmet off,” Burress said. “It was those guys who took my helmet off of me … and they didn’t even unbuckle it first.
“I was down on the ground when he (Trapp) jumped up and came down with both feet on my head and neck. I know I’m supposed to keep my composure, but that’s pretty tough to do after something like that.”
Many other players were involved in the melee, including Hines Ward, whose defense Burress had jumped to in the first place.
“There were a few guys all over Hines and I went over there to break it up,” Burress said. “Next thing I know, I’m on the ground with my helmet off and a guy is jumping on my head.”
“That, to me, is the worst showing of disrespect ever,” safety Lee Flowers said. “To see one of my teammates out there in that situation was totally uncalled for. The league had better look into this and do something about it. They may fine me for saying so, but that’s what I believe.”
Coach Bill Cowher said he couldn’t comment on the play because he didn’t see the whole thing, but he explained how Burress probably grew up a little bit because of it.
“He stood up in front of the team and told them he was sorry for letting them (the Ravens) take him out of his game,” Cowher said. “He said he allowed them to get into his head, which you can’t do. He realizes that now. There is a lot of frustration out there and he let them get to him. That can’t happen and he promised that it won’t happen again.”
“They don’t like us, we don’t like them,” Burress said. “Everybody says walk away, but sometimes it gets the best of you. The way I handled myself today was unacceptable. It won’t happen again. They did what they wanted to do; they got me out of the game. That’s on me.”
Burress said Trapp came to the Steelers locker room during the third quarter and apologized to him. “But what good does that do after the fact. That doesn’t excuse what he did,” he added. “After he jumps on my head, he says he’s sorry for doing it?”
As it turned out, the Steelers were able to hold off the Ravens without Burress for a 31-18 win, but Burress knows better than to get tossed any more.
“I did something wrong, but it didn’t cost us a game,” he said. “I was lucky in that regard.”
All this incident does in hindsight is add more fuel to what is becoming, if it isn’t already, one of the most intense rivalries in the NFL. The Ravens played without All-Pro linebacker Ray Lewis, but the intensity was still there.
“I love playing against Baltimore,” Burress said. “And I love playing against (cornerback Chris) McAlister. You can let him know that, I don’t care. I can beat him every time.”
And so goes this rivalry. The Steelers proved on the field that they are the better team. They proved, also, that they wouldn’t take any abuse from the Ravens.
But the best lesson of all was the one learned by Burress.”
Coach wasn’t mad at me,” Burress said. “But he helped me realize that I have to keep my head at all times. I was thinking about myself, not about the team and it almost cost us.”
“It’s understandable what he did,” Ward chimed in. “But if we didn’t have that big lead, we would have needed him in the second half. What good would it have been then? I yelled at him for that.”
Then, Ward summed up how everybody felt.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game, but Plex has got to be smarter than that.”
Sports editor Mike Ciarochi may be reached at mciarochi@heraldstandard.com