Dec 2nd 2008 6:28PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Giants
The defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants have sent a powerful message about what kind of football team they are today, banishing their most talented wide receiver, Plaxico Burress, and saying they’ll try to repeat as Super Bowl champions without him.

In announcing that Burress will be suspended for the rest of the season and placed on the non-football injury list after accidentally shooting himself, Giants coach Tom Coughlin tried to sound a compassionate note:
“When you lose a player of Plaxico’s ability, it is incumbent that everybody step up and fill the void,” Coach Tom Coughlin said. “In the last two seasons, this team has done an outstanding job of that. We made it clear to Plax today that we are here to support him in any way possible.”But the reality is that the Giants are fed up with Burress, and they won’t tolerate any individual player who detracts from the team as a whole. This is Tom Coughlin’s team, and anyone who can’t get with Tom Coughlin’s program will be sent packing.