Plaxico Burress is planning to return to the NFL after serving a two-year prison sentence on a weapons charge.
"When I get out, I'll be 33, not 43," Burress said in an ESPN interview broadcast Tuesday night. "I'll still be able to run and catch. I'll still have the God-given ability to snag footballs; that's what I love to do. Of course, I want to play again."
The former Giants receiver pleaded guilty last week to attempted criminal possession of a weapon after accidentally shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub last November. He accepted a two-year prison term and is to be sentenced Sept. 22.
With prison just weeks away, he acknowledged he's especially anxious about being separated from his family.
"I think that will be the toughest thing for me, you know, being away from my family and my son," said Burress, who broke down in tears talking about his wife and son. "I want to be with my wife. She's pregnant; she's due on Thanksgiving Day. I'm having a baby girl. And I won't even be there for that."
Burress said he wasn't sure what to expect but has spoken about it with Michael Vick, who served 18 months in federal prison for his role in a dogfighting operation.
"He said: 'You'll get through it, I went through it. You'll get through it, there will be better days,' " Burress recalled.
"Who wants to go to prison? Nobody," Burress said. "Like I said, I got myself into a situation and, you know, I got to deal with the consequences for it."
He said his .40-caliber Glock fired after he missed a step walking up stairs at the Latin Quarter Club in Manhattan. The gun began to slide down his pant leg, and Burress said he accidentally pulled the trigger through his pants when he tried to stop the gun from hitting the ground.
"The first thing that went through my mind was I don't want to bleed to death, and I just want to see my family," Burress said. "My situation could have been a lot worse. It [the gun] could have went off and killed somebody or killed myself. I have to wake up every morning and look at my leg, and I have a hole in my leg. I almost killed my own self, and I got to go to prison for almost killing my own self."
He said he did not know New York City law required a mandatory 3Ôªø1
