Former NFL wide receiver Plaxico Burress began his two-year prison sentence after surrendering himself to New York authorities this morning.

Defense lawyer Benjamin Brafton said, “This is a very real tragic case in many, many ways.” He called Burress “a fundamentally decent man.”

Burress, who caught the winning touchdown for the Giants over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in the final minute of the 2008 Super Bowl, and former teammate Antonio Pierce were at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Manhattan last November when a gun tucked into Burress’ waistband slipped down his leg and fired, wounding him.via.

I really don’t understand where all the sympathy for Burress is coming from: he carried a concealed weapon into New York City limits and carelessly discharged it. His defense team fruitlessly procrastinated in hopes of getting a deal that everyone knew wasn’t coming. Yeah, it’s sad–and possibly pointless–that Burress will be taking up a space in jail that could be better served for some rapist or murderer or whatever other criminal caricature meets your fancy. But he did the crime. And he’ll be paying a price to the state that only seems extraordinary because he had so much to lose.