Ward would like Plaxico back with Steelers
ARLINGTON, Texas - Plaxico Burress is scheduled to be released from prison June 6 after serving nearly two years for possession of an illegal weapon. If wide receiver Hines Ward has his way, Burress would be reunited with the Steelers.
"How great would that be?" Ward said Tuesday at Super Bowl XLV Media Day at Cowboys Stadium. "For Plax to come back with the Steelers and help us win another Super Bowl, that would be a great story."
Ward and Burress were teammates for five seasons, and the two became extremely close before Burress left the Steelers as a free agent and joined the Giants after the 2004 season.
Ward won Super Bowl MVP honors the year after Burress left, then saw his good friend make the winning catch for the Giants in the Super Bowl after the 2007 season.
But on the night of Nov. 28, 2008, Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg at a New York nightclub, and he hasn't played since. He requested a work release from prison in January 2010 but was denied.
No one knows where Burress, 33, might wind up playing next, but he is intent on playing, according to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Ward would like nothing better than to be reunited with him.
Ward said he has thought often about Burress, although Ward hasn't visited him in prison.
"I really didn't know how to approach that,'' Ward said. "I know he's getting out pretty soon. For all I know, we'll end up getting Plax on our team. He'll be welcomed with open arms."
Ward called the self-shooting "an unfortunate incident, and I prayed for him a lot. I had some good years with Plax.''
Burress was the Steelers' first-round pick in 2000 after being strongly considered by the Jets. He signed with the Giants as a free agent in 2005, and in his third season with them helped upset the 18-0 Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
Ward said he couldn't be certain how Burress would reacclimate to the NFL, but he believes Burress is in shape. In an interview last year, Burress told former Steelers coach Bill Cowher, now an NFL analyst for CBS, that he worked out about four times per week. Ward said he would "love to see [Burress] back on the field, regardless of whatever team."
The Giants have not closed the door on a potential return for Burress, although it's uncertain if they would sign him again. Although quarterback Eli Manning recently said, "I think the Giants will look hard into that,'' the team is well stocked at receiver, and coach Tom Coughlin, who frequently butted heads with Burress, might not be so anxious to have him back.
Pittsburgh, anyone? Ward would love it, although he won't lobby the Steelers on Burress' behalf.
"I'm not going to do that, because I'm not that type of guy,'' Ward said. "Who am I to tell the owner or organization what to go do? If that presented itself and the Pittsburgh Steelers did bring Plaxico back, I'd give him a big hug, and we'd be right out there playing together.''