Shouldn't more teams act like this?

Today, a rarity happened. The New York Giants released one of their star players. To hear the short story about it, click here. I wish more teams had the common sense and the financial wherewithal to do this more often. It just got too difficult to put up with Plaxico Burress. Here is another example of a very gifted athlete who for whatever reason, allowed himself to become a bigger headache than it's worth. And in today's sporting community, that speaks volumes. The Giants site many reasons, including financial, personal and professional concerns. Here are some of the better points I liked:

The New York Giants released Super Bowl hero Plaxico Burress in a stunning move on Friday.

However, the prosecution's reported desire to require Burress serve some jail time as part of any deal seemingly ended his chances of playing for the Giants next season.

The Giants signed Burress to a five-year, $35 million contract extension in September. The team failed to pay a $1 million signing after the shooting. Negotiations between the Giants and Burress on the bonus apparently had been going well, but Burress refused to compromise on the amount he would get back. Burress wanted all of it returned while Rosenhaus, his agent, wanted to compromise. That forced the hearing, another reason the Giants concluded that they were getting nowhere with Burress.

"Plaxico was not dealing in the real world and doesn't want to go halfway on anything."

Burress' status has been uncertain since he shot himself in the thigh on Nov. 29 with an unlicensed gun he'd stuffed into his waistband.

The delay in ending the court case this week also appeared to play a role in the Giants' decision. ( The delay was requested by Burris).

It wasn't to be, so now we have to move on.

Maybe New York teams just are tougher than the rest. The NBA Knicks vowed not to play their troubled player all year. And they did just that. As it turned out, most of the way through the season, they traded him to another team. In the big picture, they won. It would have been great to see the Knicks just let him sit the entire season, but they did well. Let's hope more teams see t he pattern and respond in the same manor. Sports can only benefit from it.