Tannenbaum tells of how New York Jets got Plaxico Burress

Good article this morning in the New York Post by Brian Costello on how the New York Jets got Plaxico Burress:

Courtesy of the New York Post

Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum stared at the fax machine waiting for it to ring.

It was now late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, depending on your  perspective. Tannenbaum and his staff had been working around the clock with  little sleep for days, yet no one needed a caffeine boost at this moment.

They were waiting for Plaxico Burress’ signature to appear, a fax that could  change the course of the 2011 season for the Jets. After laying the groundwork  in a meeting two years earlier and a frantic final few hours, all they could do  was wait.

afternoon.  He then took a flight from Pittsburgh to San Francisco, with a layover in Los  Angeles late that night.

That layover in Los Angeles could change Jets history.

The Jets had been eyeing Burress for a while. Owner Woody Johnson first remembers seeing Burress at the  team’s old offices in Hofstra before the 2000 Draft on his way to meet with  then-general manager Bill Parcells. The 6-foot-5 Burress left a lasting  impression on Johnson.

“Amazing guy,” he said.

Burress went eighth in that draft, four picks before the Jets were on the  clock. They watched his career unfold with the Steelers and Giants and then saw  him go to prison in 2009 after accidentally shooting himself in the leg in a  Manhattan nightclub.

Before Burress went to prison, the Jets paid him a visit. Tannenbaum and  Johnson were at the Ritz-Carlton in Fort Lauderdale, Fla on May 18-20, 2009 for  the NFL meetings. Burress lived nearby, so Tannenbaum and Johnson took a ride to  his house. At the time it was uncertain if Burress would go to prison or what  his NFL status would be.

Johnson told Burress that he was a big fan and that everyone makes mistakes.  He added that after he was free, maybe he could be a Jet.

Of the 32 NFL teams, the Jets were the only ones to do that.

“I don’t know why,” Tannenbaum said. “He’s a good player. He’s a free agent.  Why not? I feel like that’s my job.”

As the Jets prepared for free agency this year, they reviewed tapes of  Burress from 2008 before the shooting and were awed. When the lockout ended and  free agency began two weeks ago, the Jets made preliminary inquiries to Drew  Rosenhaus, Burress’ agent.

By Saturday night, Tannenbaum believed the Giants, Steelers, 49ers, Eagles  and Bears were interested. A day earlier, the Jets had lost out on cornerback  Nnamdi Asomugha to the Eagles. As soon as that happened, Tannenbaum turned his  attention to re-signing corner Antonio Cromartie and director of football  administration Ari Nissim began negotiating with Rosenhaus on Burress

Sometime after midnight, Nissim slipped a piece of paper across Tannenbaum’s  desk. Tannenbaum was talking to Ben Dogra, the agent for Cromartie at the time.

He looked at the paper and saw: “Plax SF 1 hour we have to improve the  offer.”

The paper also included details of what another team offered that would  result in a higher salary if Burress reached incentives.

Rosenhaus had told Nissim that Burress was currently in the air but would  have a one-hour layover in Los Angeles. If the Jets would commit to $3 million  at that moment, Rosenhaus would recommend the deal to Burress when he landed at  LAX before he changed planes.

As Nissim went to Tannenbaum, Rosenhaus called Burress’ wife to let her know  what was happening.

Tannenbaum had let Nissim handle the negotiations to this point, but now as  general manager he felt he needed some verbal confirmation from Rosenhaus  himself.

“Drew if we commit to $3 million, he’s a Jet?” Tannenbaum said.

“Yeah, I’ll recommend it’s a deal,” Rosenhaus replied.

“Look, I can’t do $3 million, but I can do $3,017,000,” Tannenbaum said,  adding the extra money as a nod to Burress’ jersey number.

Rosenhaus told Tannenbaum they had a deal.

“I still think to this day if there was a direct flight from Pittsburgh to  San Francisco he’d either be a 49er or an Eagle,” Tannenbaum said. “I really  believe that.”

At this point, many teams were in pursuit of Burress. Tannenbaum knew he  couldn’t just rely on a verbal contract, so he told Rosenhaus they wanted  Burress to fax the team his signature to agree to the deal.

Burress received the news when he reached LAX and instead of boarding the  flight to San Francisco, began looking for a hotel around the airport where he  could stay and also fax the Jets. The problem was every hotel around the airport  was sold out.

Burress ended up driving 30 minutes from the airport to find a hotel.

Back in New Jersey, Tannenbaum, Nissim, assistant GM Scott Cohen, director  of pro personnel Brendan Prophett and manager of football administration Jackie  Davidson were staring at each other waiting.

Finally the fax rang. False alarm.

Then, Tannenbaum noticed the machine was out of paper.

He turned to Davidson, who helps Nissim with the Jets’ contracts, and said,  “Jackie, you have a law degree, but you’re only job right now is to make sure  that fax machine has enough paper.”

At 2:45 a.m., the fax arrived. Burress was a Jet.

Tannenbaum texted coach Rex Ryan, who immediately called back and the two  celebrated.The wait was over.