Yesterday, I mentioned, more or less in passing, the huge mistake of Giants defenseman Jason Pierre-Paul over this past weekend in ultimately getting injured while setting off fireworks for the Fourth of July. Not only did he severely burn one hand, as well as burning the other hand, but the Giants withdrew their $60 million offer from the table. It is not clear whether this was just gamesmanship, or whether they are legitimately concerned about his ability to compete at the elite level that he often showed in the past. Or, maybe, they might have taken this injury as a sign that they need to worry about JPP's conduct off the field.
Well, things are taking a turn for the worst for him now. It seems that not only is he going to lose a tremendous amount of money, but he will not be facing legal issues, as well.
The Coral Springs Police Department in Florida is now looking into the matter, and according to Coral Springs Public Information Officer Capt. Brad McKeon, Pierre-Paul might be facing criminal charges now, including illegal possession of fireworks.
This is beginning to remind me of the Plaxico Burress "injury" back in 2008, which many Giants fans feel very likely deprived them of a serious chance at repeating as Super Bowl champions. At the time, the Giants were 11-1, and had the best record in the NFL. Then Burress shot himself in the leg, and was obviously out for the season. He was a major offensive weapon, and after he was knocked out of the lineup, the Giants finished the regular season with a 1-3 mark in their final four games, and lost their one and only playoff contest to the Philadelphia Eagles, convincingly at that.
Burress himself had to go to jail for illegal firearm possession, and he stayed there for two years. He was taken by the New York Jets some years later, but he was no longer really the same player by that point.
A lot of star athletes have done incredibly stupid and selfish things. Given their high profile, and the vast sums of money that they stand to lose, you might think that they would be more careful, but that does not seem to be the case. You still have situations like with Burress and Pierre-Paul, as well as other idiotic players showing excessive egos. Men such as Ben Roethlisberger, who got in a serious motorcycle accident months after winning his first Super Bowl, and then being charged not once, but twice, with counts of rape, essentially. He settled out of court, but his popularity plummeted. Frankly, I for one think he should have been out of the NFL right there.
Pierre-Paul's mistake seems to be growing in significance with each passing day, as he is dealing not only with a stupid and self-inflicted injury that could jeopardize part of this coming season and, potentially, could even threaten his career, depending on the level of severity. As of now, no details are coming in.
But he seems to have lost his opportunity to make a huge sum of money with the Giants. Now, possibly being charged criminally would add even more problems, adding fuel to the fire. It seems like this dumb injury might be climbing ever higher on the list of all-time dumb injuries that any NFL player has suffered, although it is unlikely to catch the idiocy of that suffered by Plaxico Burress.
Police say Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul could face criminal charges for fireworks by Nick Powell, July 7, 2015:
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