Plaxico Burress Bidding for Prison Furlough

It looks like Plaxico Burress isn't finding prison food to his liking.

Less than two months into his two-year sentence for gun possession, the former Giants wide receiver is petitioning the New York State Department of Corrections for a work furlough that would allow him to spend nights at home with his family instead of behind bars. He could also use the time to begin negotiations with NFL teams, who haven't been too keen on trying to sign a player for a carton of cigarettes and credits at the canteen of the Oneida Correctional Facility.

According to the New York Post, Burress appears "depressed and isolated" in prison which is pretty shocking until you realize he's in prison and not at summer camp. Based on past history, he may have to keep a stiff upper lip a bit longer.

Burress is eligible to apply for a furlough under a loophole in state law that allows people convicted of gun possession to try for early release if they weren't carrying the gun with the intent to use it. As you're doubtlessly aware, Burress's gun fell out of the waistband of his pants which led to him catching a bullet in the leg. Eligibility is one thing, getting the furlough is another.

There were 31,598 applications for furloughs in New York last year and only 1,413 of them were granted. In other words, there's about an equal chance of JaMarcus Russell completing a pass than there is of Burress getting an

"If Mr. Burress is eligible for work release under the Department of Corrections' guidelines, then he should get it," said Benjamin Brafman. "And my hope is that his celebrity status does not prevent him from getting a break that every other inmate with the same facts would be entitled to."

Brafman tried this same "treat him like a civilian" course of action before Plax pleaded guilty and it didn't work. Burress was treated exactly the same as everyone else charged with gun posession, but wanted to get special treatment so he didn't end up sharing a shower room with them.