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Twitter mocks football star who burnt flesh off hand in fireworks accident

A HUGE football star suffered major damage to his hand in a horrible fireworks accident but that didn’t stop Twitter users going after him.

PAUL SCHWARTZ
2 min read
July 6, 2015 - 1:15PM

THIS time of year in America, there are always warnings about the risks and hazards involved with shooting off fireworks. Many listen. Some do not. Jason Pierre-Paul did not, and it cost him, dearly.

Pierre-Paul, the New York Giants’ 26-year-old star defensive end, suffered a serious but apparently not career-threatening hand injury Saturday night setting off Fourth of July fireworks at his South Florida home.

While the full extent of damage is not yet known, it is believed the flesh on Pierre-Paul’s injured hand was burned off his palm and fingertips but his fingers are intact, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. He was admitted to North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach, Florida, for treatment.

It was not known Sunday night whether the condition of Pierre-Paul’s hand will affect his availability for the start of the season. Early (and apparently erroneous) reports stated he lost several fingers in the accident, reports that were “overblown’’ according to a Giants source.

But that didn’t stop Twitter users from making light of the situation.

It seems as though it was no secret JPP was preparing for a massive Fourth of July display, as people claiming to be his neighbours took to Twitter to post pictures of a U-Haul supposedly rented by Pierre-Paul filled with boxes of fireworks. One of those neighbours tweeted “I’m currently scared for my houses safety.’’

The timing could not be worse for Pierre-Paul, who has yet to convince the Giants to commit to him with another long-term contract. He has not yet signed the one-year franchise tag tender that will pay him $14.8 million for the 2015 season, a situation that kept him away from the team for almost the entire off-season. Pierre-Paul was hoping for a multi-year extension that would guarantee him more than $30 million — the going rate for top-tier defensive ends is upwards of $12 million per year — but this accident is certainly not going to help sway the Giants to invest in him for the long-term.

The Giants could have second thoughts and revoke the unsigned tender, but that would be a drastic and perhaps rash move, as such a move would make Pierre-Paul an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team. After his transcendent 2011 season (career-high 16.5 sacks), Pierre-Paul’s ascension was slowed by injuries but he rebounded in 2014, using a late surge to finish with 12.5 sacks, positioning himself nicely as the Giants placed the franchise tag on him.

Time will be needed to heal JPP’s mangled hand and he has less than a month before the July 30 reporting date for Giants training camp, with the first practice scheduled for July 31. Pierre-Paul had boasted on social media that he had lost weight and was in prime shape, but this accident will put a crimp in his ability to hit the ground running as he enters his sixth year with the Giants. Pierre-Paul and his fiancee have an infant son, Josiah, born in January.

This is not the first time a prominent Giants player was involved in a serious and controversial accident around a holiday. During the 2008 season, receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub two days after Thanksgiving.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/american-sports/twitter-mocks-football-star-who-burnt-flesh-off-hand-in-fireworks-accident/news-story/26e44770dd0ad3d74e395367686cc026