In advance of a tough football game with major implications for the playoffs, you don’t want to do anything to shoot yourself in the leg — for example, like shooting yourself in the leg.

Today Foxsports.com broke the news that New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg. The New York Times confirms the story but observes that there were no police reports of such a shooting in New York City; Totowa, N.J. (where Burress lives); and nightclub-ridden Hoboken, N.J.

Burress was not expected to play tomorrow, so the shooting incident has little effect in real terms on the game against the Redskins. But the psychological impact on the Giants could be a factor in tomorrow’s outcome. In any case, this year’s football player leg shooting makes for a new unwelcome Thanksgiving tradition. But so long as Pacman Jones is playing in the NFC East it’s not so unreasonable that NFC East stars leave the house packing.

UPDATE: The ESPN news ticker says that Burress shot himself in a nightclub in Manhattan.

Photo used with permission under a Creative Commons license with Flickr user tedkerwin.