Dungy trying to help Burress come back

There are no guarantees that Plaxico Burress won't mess it all up again, no assurances that the former Giant won't get in the same kind of mess created by that self-shooting at a New York nightclub Nov. 28, 2008.

But now that Burress has aligned himself with a man well equipped to shepherd him through the difficult transition from inmate to private citizen and soon-to-be NFL player again, you have to like Burress' chances to succeed a lot better.

Former NFL coach Tony Dungy, who has been a mentor for Michael Vick and many other men dealing with life after prison, has agreed to help Burress. No one is better suited.

"It means a lot to have a man like Tony Dungy to support me, a man of great integrity, a man of great faith," Burress said Monday in his first public appearance since being released from prison eight days ago.

Their partnership began last spring, when Dungy visited Burress at Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y. Dungy's presence was requested by Tony Johnson of Playmakers Sports Management, which represents Burress, and the NBC analyst was glad to oblige.

"We got to talk for a long while," Dungy said Monday at the National Urban League, which announced Burress' partnership with it and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "I wanted to be there to support him and show people that you can make a decision that doesn't have the best ramifications, but you can turn that around and impact people in a positive way."

Burress called the meeting a turning point in his life.

"He was one of the few people that came up to visit me and it was one of the most important visits that I did have,'' Burress said, "talking about taking the next steps in life and becoming a champion in life, which is an everyday work in progress."

Eleven years earlier, Burress and Dungy spoke for a long time in the coach's Tampa office. Dungy was considering Burress, a star receiver at Michigan State, as a first-round draft pick. He ended up going to the Steelers.

"We had a long conversation about what he wanted to do with his career, what his talents were, what he could bring to the NFL," Dungy said. "Eleven years later, we're having a similar conversation about what he wanted to do, what his talents were and what he could do to help. That's what he wanted to do, and that's what impressed me and excited me."

Dungy has been reaching out to inmates since 1996, when he started working with Abe Brown Prison Ministries in Tampa. He would visit correctional facilities and offer advice and guidance. But it wasn't until Dungy worked with Vick, who served 19 months in federal prison on dogfighting charges, that Dungy's work received much notice. Now that Vick appears to have turned his life around, personally and athletically, Dungy's already stellar reputation has been enhanced.

There is no better resource for Burress than Dungy, and he needs to take advantage of it the way Vick did.

"You don't always know , but being in prison does have an impact on people," Dungy said. "You hate to say it was a good experience, but it think it was a fruitful experience for [Burress].''

Only Burress can determine that, but Monday he sounded like a man intent on turning his life around. "It can be taken away from you so quick, literally in the blink of an eye," he said. "Every decision you make poses a consequence. You have to make the right choice."

At least one of his most recent choices -- working with Dungy -- is the right one. The hope here is that the next chapter of Burress' life is more positive than the last.