Talk about shooting yourself in the foot: Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants had just one of those days (nights?) post-Thanksgiving, when he walked into the Latin Quarter club and promptly shot himself in the leg…by accident, one assumes, unless he was trying to get out of next season's training, or had some sort of beef with his hamstring.

And while a football player packing heat is a story in and of itself, it's what Burress did after the self-inflicted shooting that's truly amazing and shows you just how far celebrity status will take you in this city.

First, employees at Latin Quarter didn't report the incident to police, and rushed Burress out of the club without even cleaning up the mess he left behind…after which he went to New York–Cornell Hospital and checked in under a false name, even though hospital workers recognized him. Burress told administrators in the emergency room that his name was Harris Smith and that he was shot at Applebee's, which was apparently believable enough for them to decide not to report the gunshot wound as required by law.

So wait…even though the hospital workers recognized the Giants' wide reciever, they still released him from the hospital after buying his story about "being shot" at Applebees, as if the location, and not the fact that Burress was carrying an illegally concealed weapon, was the issue.

Plus…Applebees? Really?