Plaxico Burress formed a partnership with the National Urban League to volunteer his time to empowering at-risk youths across the country

Embarking on a new chapter in his life, the former NFL wide receiver showed up, albeit some two hours late, on Thursday July 21, at the Arthur Ashe Middle School in Fort Lauderdale to give his sixth talk to kids about his rags to riches story and his ultimate downfall. About half of the nearly 200 children in attendance had already left when Burress arrived.

"In 2008, I carried a loaded gun into a nightclub and the gun accidentally discharged and I nded up shooting myself, my own self, in the leg," Burress told them. "I was playing professional football at the time. I had just won the Super Bowl. I had just had a son. I had just received a brand-new contract. I had just signed a shoe deal with Nike. The choice that I made, basically, it took everything away that I worked so hard for."

Burress, 33, served 20 months in prison after pleading guilty in August 2009 for bringing an unlicensed gun into a Manhattan nightclub in 2008 where he accidentally shot himself and failed to report it to the police. He was released last June.

“We believe in second chances and he’s a great person to communicate that,” said Joe Toliver, the Urban League of Broward County’s division director of programs.

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