The Plaxico Burress who has emerged in the public eye as a gun-toting, gang-banging athlete headed for jail after accidentally shooting himself in the leg last year isn’t like that at all, according to a former roommate.”He’s very misunderstood,” says Brian Smith, formerly of Lynn and now of Sumter, S.C. “He sometimes comes across as having a gangster mentality, but what people don’t realize is that the NFL is a rough and tough world.”Smith and Burress roomed together at Fork Union Military Academy, before Burress went into Michigan State.”At FUMA, he was never disrespectful or disobedient,” Smith said. “He was a normal, average guy from a very tough neighborhood in Virginia Beach ? no different that me being from Marian Gardens in Lynn.”Burress, a wide receiver, has played in the NFL for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. He is perhaps known most in New England as the player who caught the touchdown pass with 35 seconds left that gave the Giants a shocking 2008 Super Bowl victory over the Patriots.Last November, Burress was in a nightclub in Manhattan when he accidentally shot himself in the thigh. He had tucked his Glock pistol inside the waistband of his sweatpants, and when it started sliding down his leg, he went to retrieve it and accidentally depressed the trigger.He was arrested for criminal possession of a firearm, and pleaded guilty earlier this week. He is expected to be sentenced two years in jail at a hearing next month, with two year’s probation to follow.Smith a standout player for Lynn Classical and Fork Union, feels his former roommate is getting a bad rap.”I just dont like that they are portraying him as some gangster,” Smith said. “He is the farthest thing from that. He just did not think that night, and other nights I’m sure, about the consequences of carrying a gun.”Smith obviously doesn’t know the particulars of why Burress might have felt the need to carry a gun, but “I would bet he felt threatened by someone.”However, Smith also feels that Burress perhaps could have avoided trouble, either by hiring a security person to go out with him ? or simply by staying home and avoiding the possible confrontation.”I’m not defending him,” Smith said. “I know he made a huge mistake, and that he could have hurt someone. But knowing Plex, I also know that was not his intention at all. His intent was (most likely) to protect himself.”Smith knows quite a few of NFL players, he said, and he acknowledged that there is a culture of toughness and ego among them.”And,” he said, “as most of us know, all NFL players have to have some extent of huge ego. They feel like the lights on their parade could be turned out at any moment, (so) they feel like they have to attend these parties just to keep their name in the limelight.”But, he said, “when you put yourself in situations like that you are at the mercy of people who do not walk in your shoes.”Plex is a really good person who just needs a little guidance,” said Smith, “no different than the rest of us.”