Video: The History of Athlete Comeback Attempts After Prison

This week, former Giant and Super Bowl champion Plaxico Burress was released after serving 20 months on a gun charge. Now that wide receiver has served nearly two years for shooting himself in the foot (literally), the big questions are: How has prison affected him mentally and physically? What team will take a chance on him? Will he able muster a Michael Vick-esque comeback? And forget the gun, who the f*&k wears sweatpants to the club?

Of course Burress isn't the first—and undoubtedly won't be the last—athlete to do hard time. To get an idea of what to expect, we've taken a look at sports stars who missed a season or more due to jail time and how they fared in their comeback attempts. So, from Mike Tyson to Marion Jones, here is the History of Athlete Comeback Attempts After Prison...

Tony Ayala Jr.

YEAR: 1983
CRIME: Rape
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 35 years / 16 years
COMPLEX SAYS: Prior to being convicted, Ayala had a pro record of 22-0 with 19 knockouts. Then on New Year's 1983, the 19-year-old boxer broke into the home of his neighbor and raped her. Due to prior incidents of violence towards women, he was sentenced 35 years. Upon his release in 1999, Ayala returned to the ring winning six fights all by knockout. His legal problems outside the ring would continue though, as he was sentenced to a decade in 2004 for violating his probation after being caught driving without a license and in possession of drug paraphernalia. Boxers already know: The worst blows to the dome (II) are often self-knockouts.

Craig MacTavish

YEAR: 1984
CRIME: Vehicular Homicide
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 1 year / 9 months
COMPLEX SAYS: After only two full seasons with the Bruins, MacTavish killed a 26-year-old woman on January 25 in Peabody, Massachusetts while driving under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded guilty and was released later that year. He joined the Edmonton Oilers for the 1985-86 season and would spend another 12 seasons in the league. MacTavish would later become a head coach and led the Edmonton Oilers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006. Oh yeah, and he was the last helmetless player in the NHL. Hell of a life. Word to Yeezy.

Bob Probert

YEAR: 1989
CRIME: Smuggling cocaine across U.S.-Canada border
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 3 months / 3 months
COMPLEX SAYS: At 24-years-old, Probert was caught with 14 grams of cocaine while crossing the Detroit-Windsor border. The Red Wings enforcer was suspended indefinitely by the league in 1989 but reinstated after completing his prison sentence. Soon after Probert would rejoin the Red Wings and treat NHL fans to 11 more seasons of epic fights such as this bout with Tie Domi. Dude was badass and moved more white than your favorite rapper ever dreamed of, before dying in 2010, a probable result of the numerous concussions he suffered as a player. R.I.P.

Reggie Rogers

YEAR: 1990
CRIME: Negligent Homicide
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 16 months / 12 months
COMPLEX SAYS: As the 7th overall pick by the Detroit Lions in the 1987 NFL Draft, Reggie Rogers is one of the biggest busts in NFL history. Five games into his second season, he killed three teenagers while drunk driving. After being released in 1991, he joined the Buffalo Bills for a season and later the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before falling out of the league all together in 1992. Rogers was convicted of his sixth DUI last year. SMH, the Lions are known for failing but this dude takes it to a whole new level.

Mike Tyson

YEAR: 1992
CRIME: Rape
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 6 years / 3 years
COMPLEX SAYS: Iron Mike held a record of 41-1 when he was convicted of raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington in an Indianapolis hotel room. The former Miss Black Rhode Island claims the boxer forced himself on her early on the morning of July 19, 1991. Tyson was released from prison in March 1995 and would take the WBA Heavyweight title in 1996. Tyson would later lose his title to Evander Holyfield and become known for the infamous "Bite Fight." Now homie dances and makes Hangover cameos for a living. Hate him or love him, dude is one of the most fascinating personalities in sports history.

Charles Smith

YEAR: 1992
CRIME: Vehicular Homicide
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 4 years / 28 months
COMPLEX SAYS: In his third season with the Boston Celtics, Charles Smith was arrested for a hit-and-run accident which killed two Boston University students on March 22, 1991. Upon his release in 1992, Smith played in the CBA for a few years before joining the Minnesota Timberwolves for a short stint in 1995. In October of last year, Smith was shot in Maryland and police found "a large quantity of cocaine" at his home the day after the shooting. Damn, drive slow, homie.

Mike Danton

YEAR: 2004
CRIME: Conspiracy to commit murder
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 7 years / 5 years
COMPLEX SAYS: Just days after the St. Louis was eliminated from the playoffs, Blues centre Mike Danton was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit the murder of his agent David Frost. As explained in this ESPN E:60 clip, speculation behind the motive for the murder plot includes everything from Frost's exploitation of Danton to a possible sexual relationship between the two. After being released in September of 2009, Danton began enrollment at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and played his first game with the varsity men's hockey team on January 27, 2010. We know most agents are douchebags (word to Drew Rosenhaus), but plotting to kill one? #coldasice

Michael Vick

YEAR: 2007
CRIME: Dog Fighting
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 23 months / 18 months
COMPLEX SAYS: Once the most electrifying player in the NFL (you peeped dude's ridiculousness in Madden 2004), Michael Vick made the Atlanta Falcons into a competitor before being arrested for dog fighting in April 2007. His involvement in the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting ring led to a prison sentence and an estimated $135 million in lost revenue. After he was released in May 2009, Vick joined the Philadelphia Eagles as a back-up for Donovan McNabb. In 2010, he would lead Philly to a Wild Card playoff berth and win the Comeback Player of the Year award. It's safe to say he took 50's advice.

Marion Jones

YEAR: 2008
CRIME: Perjury
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 6 months / 6 months
COMPLEX SAYS: Seven years after her five medal-performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Marion Jones admitted that she lied to federal agents and juries when she denied her steroid use. As she prepared to enter prison, Jones was stripped of her Olympic medals and her home was put into foreclosure. After serving her time, a 35-year-old Jones joined the WNBA's Tulsa Shock and made $35,000 in her first season. Jones had last played sanctioned basketball while at the University of North Carolina over a decade earlier. We're not mad at Jones, go ahead and switch the style up...

Marlon King

YEAR: 2009
CRIME: Sexual Assault
SENTENCE / TIME SERVED: 18 months / 9 months
COMPLEX SAYS: No stranger to off-the-field incidents, Wigan Athletic striker Marlon King made headlines again when he was convicted of groping and breaking the nose of a 20-year-old woman who turned down his advances in a London nightclub. After being released the following summer, King signed a one-year contract with Coventry City F.C. and scored his first goal for the club in December 2010. Even when it comes to crimes, soccer dudes remain some of the most bitchmade athletes around. Stay classy, footballers.