Don’t be so quick to dismiss Plaxico Burress, Rams fans

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With no established receivers on the roster, the Rams seemingly can’t avoid being written into speculative internet headlines with every semi-available name-brand WR out there. Even one who is 34 years old and just spent the last two years in prison. So pardon us if we’re getting a little weary of it.  

A quick summary of why the Rams and Burress continue to be linked by every media outlet out there: (a) he has more career touchdown catches than all the other Rams combined; (b) Coach Spagnuolo may have fond memories from their days together in New York.

But for every mass-media story on Burress, there is a rebuttal from a Rams columnist.

A quick summary of our points of contention: (a) he’s 34 years old; (b) he spent the last two seasons in prison after shooting himself in the leg.

Additionally, Burress’ skillset is pretty much limited to lining up as the X receiver — the same spot occupied by Danario Alexaner, Donnie Avery, and potentially Mark Clayton, all players the Rams have reasonable hopes for in 2011. He isn’t going to magically transform into a possession receiver, and even if he did the Rams have plenty of those already.

However, Burress’ pedigree as a first round pick, and the phenomenal comeback by the Eagles’ Michael Vick from his own prison sentence, give us two reasons to look deeper. Playing Devil’s Advocate, I did just that and found a Hall-of-Fame comparable that opened my eyes. 

Using Pro-Football-Reference’s database, I looked up the list of modern-day receivers who were selected in the first round, and were productive at age 34 and beyond. The list is a pretty short one:

Player	From	To	G	Rec	Yds	TD
Jerry Rice*	1996	2001	82	422	5263	39
Irving Fryar	1996	2000	78	289	3869	26
Tim Brown	2000	2004	79	324	3990	25
Joey Galloway	2005	2010	69	234	3736	23
Marvin Harrison	2006	2008	36	175	2249	18
James Lofton*	1990	1993	57	157	2753	18
Art Monk*	1991	1995	67	210	2786	16
Frank Lewis	1981	1983	35	134	2173	9
Stanley Morgan	1989	1990	26	51	850	8
Paul Warfield*	1976	1977	26	56	864	8
Charley Taylor*	1975	1977	26	67	902	6
Haven Moses	1980	1981	31	53	920	5
Keyshawn Johnson	2006	2006	16	70	815	4
Isaac Curtis	1984	1984	16	12	135	0
Eddie Kennison	2007	2008	11	13	101	0
Johnnie Morton	2005	2005	13	21	288	0
Eric Moulds	2007	2007	16	32	342	0

Of these players, only one came back from an extended absence to reclaim early glory — Hall of Famer James Lofton, who started only two games of his age 33 season, his first with Buffalo. Digging deeper into Lofton’s story, there are some eerie parallels that might give more weight to the argument for signing Plex.

Early career: Premier physical specimen quickly becomes a star.

Lofton, like Burress, is a big-bodied receiver standing well over six feet tall. (Most of the receivers on this list are six foot or under; draw your own conclusions about the durability of various body types.)

And Lofton, like Burress, was a top-ten pick who became an instant big-play threat lining up as the X-receiver. Lofton’s career started with the Packers, and after nine seasons — six in the Pro Bowl — had skyrocked toward stardom.

Mid career: Embarassing trouble in a club leads to sudden release.

Burress went from the most recognized weapon on the New York Giants to becoming the most famous example of Mayor Bloomberg’s “get-tough” stance on handguns. After his arrest and conviction, the Giants officially severed ties.

Lofton’s ties to the famously loyal and insular Green Bay community were similarly strained to the breaking point after an embarassing incident in a club.

Lofton was later acquitted of the charge, but by then, he had been traded to the Raiders for next to nothing: a third-round draft pick in 1987 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 1988.

Make or break point: Facing life after football at age 32

Spending two years in Oakland may not be quite like spending two years in prison, but the time wasn’t kind to Lofton. The Raiders released him, and suddenly few teams in the NFL felt like picking up the phone when he called.

However, Lofton leaned on former coaching connections to find a friendly situation to stage a rebirth, landing as the most-feared vertical threat in Marv Levy and Ted Marchibroda’s innovative vertical-oriented “K-Gun” offense.

Success didn’t come right away — his first season with Buffalo was plagued by injuries, and he caught only 8 balls in 12 games. But his stats from his age 34 to age 36 seasons were as good as any in his career:

Year	Age	G	Rec	Yd	TD
1990	34	16	35	712	4
1991*	35	15	57	1072	8
1992	36	16	51	786	6

Lofton paired with Andre Reed, one of the all-time great “hands” receivers, and Thurman Thomas’ dual-threat running and receiving game to transform the Bills from a good team into a perennial threat to win it all.

The Rams have already restocked the “hands” part of their receiving corps. If there is reason to hope that Plaxico Burress could give Sam Bradford a coverage-changing big play threat, and be more than a one-year stopgap, that hope is embodied in James Lofton’s story.

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