This is the thread about Michael Vick.

The way Vick plays letting people hit him and trying to make too much of every run, one day his body will go one way and his knee the other in a hit and the game will be over. I'm not looking forward to it, but the guy has been somewhat fragile and I think by odds it will eventually happen.

-- Earl Nash (stereo99_9...), November 3rd, 2005.

Just moving my main gripe about Vick to this thread.

I think part of the problem is that the Falcons should have picked up a vet possession reciever with good hands that knows how to work back to the QB and get open on scrambles. If they had a Kenon McCardell or Rod Smith kind of guy to go with Crumpler, I think that would really help.

This is where Blount come & corrects me.

That the Falcons are so good @ running the ball despite their kinda lame passing attack amazes me (tho I'm of a mind that Dunn's 5.4 YPC is the result of way too many "50 yard run followed by 19 rushes for 50 yards total" games.

I am starting to wonder if blount's point was less about Vick being some kind of super genius and more about how the problems he has aren't entirely due to his physical capabilities or decision making processes--ie the rest of the team is, err, not Vick.

But I explained this on the "please give us a board" thread!

1. Their YPG rushing stats include Vick's scrambles, so there's a bit of an inverse relationship between OMG Falcons rushing stats and cover-you-eyes Falcons passing stats.

2. Warrick Dunn is the perfect complement to Vick. Opposing defenses have to respect the threat of Vick's feet, often in the form of committing an LB as a "spy" but at the very least in requiring LBs and safeties to stay home even when the play's going the other way. That stretches the defense sideline-to-sideline (rather than vertically) and makes the holes just a little wider, and keeps them open just a little longer. Nothing a battering ram like Duckett can use, but just the sort of thing a speedy little fella like Dunn can squirt through for a quick ten.

But yes, The threat of the forward pass is pretty nice too though, in theory.
-- rogermexico (tenthreaso...), November 3rd, 2005 2:38 PM.

Duante, I think, can come back...even if he doesn't ever gain back the mobility, I think he's got enough tools as a QB to make a transistion into more of a standup passer....

Vick's water bottle raises suspicion at Miami airport
By GEORGE HENRY, Associated Press Writer
January 18, 2007

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) -- For the third time in nine months, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Vick reluctantly surrendered a water bottle to security at Miami International Airport that smelled like marijuana and contained a substance in a hidden compartment. He was not arrested and was allowed to board an AirTran flight that landed in Atlanta before noon Wednesday.

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Miami police said Thursday it could be weeks before a decision is made on whether to file charges against the three-time Pro Bowler, who this season became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards.

Under Florida law, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine. First offenders rarely do any jail time.

"We'll do an analysis and see what it is. There's no sense of urgency to it," Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said Thursday.

The NFL's substance abuse policy states any team can decide that a player's "behavior, including but not limited to an arrest," can warrant a physical exam from its appointed medical director. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said no decision had been made in Vick's case.

"We have a process that provides guidelines for every situation," Aiello said. "Our doctors conduct a lengthy evaluation, if necessary, and then decide if enrollment in a treatment program is necessary."

Vick did not return a phone call Thursday. The Falcons said they would have no further comment until they discussed the matter with Vick, who finds himself mired in another embarrassing situation.

Last April, Vick settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who claimed the player knowingly gave her herpes. In November, Vick made an obscene gesture toward Atlanta fans who heckled the team as it came off the field after a 31-13 loss to New Orleans. Vick apologized profusely, paid a $10,000 team fine and donated another $10,000 to charity.

On Wednesday, two Transportation Security Administration screeners recognized the 6-foot, 215-pound Vick when he was reluctant to turn over his 20-ounce bottle.

The bottle was found to have a compartment that contained "a small amount of dark particulate and a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana," a Miami police report said. The compartment was hidden by the bottle's label so that it appeared to be a full bottle of water when held upright, police said.

also, this is awesome.

if you choose to go ahead, pick page 63

if you fuck tara reid, pick page 47

-chris landry (best futbol analyst in the world btw) let it out that ray buchanan told him point blank that vick was heavily into the dog fightin' thang
-anonymous guy on "Outside the Lines" snitches about vick's involvement in dogfighting world
-A former South Carolina prosecutor told the AJC on Friday that he saw evidence that Vick kept dogs in that state while he was prosecuting a major dogfighting case in 2004.

"I had actually heard, as part of our investigation, that Vick had some dogs here in South Carolina," said William Frick, the lead prosecutor in the David Ray Tant dogfighting case.

Frick said he did not know what kind of dogs Vick had in South Carolina but that he assumed they were "fighting dogs." Asked for specifics, Frick said Vick had a "dog yard" and it was not something that would bring charges.
-one of the local sports talk radio hacks casually mentioned a month ago that actual players on the falcons had told her str8 up that vick was into this, and i kinda believed her cuz she's not a regular host or anything and just does the entertainment news, this has seen zero mention anywhere else tho
-nfl security is doing its own investigation, so even if he can't be indicted or is found innocent, if they turn up enough dirt the nfl will prob have zero compunction about suspending him or worse
-see http://profootballtalk.com/VickInvestigation.htm for more bulletins of dubious journalistic merit

on the plus side, he finally got a haircut! i luv cornrows most of the time but they made him look so slimy and creepy imo. otoh he promised he wouldn't cut his hair until the falcons won a superbowl, so i guess this is an admission that they suck (whoa stop the presses)

INDICTED! LOL!

Michael Vick has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the dogfighting probe of his house in Virginia.

The Falcons quarterback was indicted for conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in animal fighting venture in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Richmond, Va. Three others -- Purnell Peace, Quanis Phillips and Tony Taylor -- also were indicted by the grand jury on the same charges.

LOL!

As a dog lover, this pleases me to no end (even if it means Crumpler might catch fewer passes this year).

http://www.cnnsi.com/football/news/2001/12/16/jaguars_browns_ap/lg_dawgpound_ap-01.jpg

That Tomlinson/Vick trade just looks better and better every year!

lolol :'(

:'(((((((

Holy god:

In or about April 2007, PEACE, PHILIPS, and VICK executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in "testing" sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road, by various methods including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground.

∑(O_O；)

This is awful.

ok if the executions thing is true i feel v v sick indeed

i got a little nonviolent pit on the floor right now that would've been killed for being a sweetheart.
If they conclusively prove any connection, I hope this guy does serious jail time and goes out for good as the all-time "coulda-been" qb.

what if ryan leaf and max cady were put together: the michael vick story

yeah this is probably gonna be what catapaults him from "mild bust" to "greatest bust in history of organized sports". then again kobe got away with raping so i guess anything is possible

THIS FUCKIN GUY!

-- the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Thursday, May 10, 2007 3:44 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark Link

otm~

from atlantafalcons.com:

The Atlanta Falcons issued the following statement regarding the U.S. District Court indictment of Falcons QB Michael Vick Tuesday evening:

"This situation has been troubling to many people, including our fans, during the last few months. With today’s news, our club and team will continue to be tested as Michael works through the legal process toward a conclusion.

We are disappointed that one of our players – and therefore the Falcons – is being presented to the public in a negative way, and we apologize to our fans and the community for that.

Obviously, we are disturbed by today’s news from Virginia. However, we are prepared to deal with it, and we will do the right thing for our club as the legal process plays out. We have a season to prepare for and training camp opens next week. Our plan is to continue to do everything we can to support our players and coaches."

---------------------------------------------------

Way to take absolutely no position at all, really.

i wonder if RICO charges are gonna come into this at any point? if so he would be superduperfucked, bcz at that point they can start seizing assets and shit~

Most of the talking horse's asses on ESPN say that Goodell won't ban Vick until the legal process is completed, but since dog fighting is always connected to illegal gambling couldn't the commish bounce Vick under the gambling clause? Not to mention gambling often implies some organized crime connections. This will get very ugly.

well yeah I mean the gov'men isn't coming after him becuz of those poor lil doggies, it's the untaxed changing hands of money. as always. so yeah, it's a gambling thing. so, he still deserves his day, but I don't know "the gambling clause" -- what does that mean? Does the collective bargaining agreement allow Goodell to can him, in that case? Kind of like the Bears axed Tank, even though he ended up under the legal limit?

anyway Vick will do some decent time, most likely. unfortunately for Mike I don't think shithead chimp occupant will commute him.

god what a sad story.

yeah the feds dont give a shit about any fagdogs, though i'm sure state charges re: animal cruelty are gonna be tacked on at some point too.

my understanding is pretty rocky, but i've heard a few different things - like he cant plea, cuz any kind of admission of guilt in a federal case means perma-ban from nfl??? that sounds like i am misremembering it. if he does any time his career is over tho~

yeah this is probably gonna be what catapaults him from "mild bust" to "greatest bust in history of organized sports".

I don't think he's a bust at all. He's one of the fifteen or so best quarterbacks in the NFL. He isn't otherworldly, but he's above average.

He also is a huge asshole who should spend 5 years in jail, but he isn't a bust.

I mean even from the team perspective, he got them to the NFC title game, and to the playoffs. Even if he gets banned from the league for this, it's hard to say he flamed out harder than Todd Marinovich or Ryan Leaf or Akili Smith or Brian Bosworth or etc.

I think Mike Vick would have to be the biggest sports star flame out since coke ruined Strawberry and Gooden or maybe Conseco completely falling apart. Vick is a bigger star than any of those guys and their careers were much further along when they fell apart. The only thing that I think is comparible is Mike Tyson, but that is a whole other league of crazy.

At least with Smith or Bosworth, their careers got ended by injury on the field not by setting up an illegal dogfighting ring in their own back yard. Vick has to be a total moron to get in such a situation.

oh: re bust - i meant in terms of money/time invested. if he goes to jail right now his career is over, period, and the falcons will be completely fucked for devoting years and hundreds of millions to the guy.

I don't think his career would be over, but I guess we'll see. I still think Vick is just living his life as he normally would, not spiraling out of control like a Dare Strawberry/Doc Gooden/Pac Jones type. The problem being of course that his normal life is fucking retarded and evil.

i'm pretty sure the NFL could ban him for life if they wanted, should he be convicted, and anyway if he does serve time and come back - look what happened to jamal lewis. dude hasnt been the same since jail, and he only did 4 months!

yeah, see, that's what weirdest to me. up until this last calendar year, the guy's lived a seemingly clean and straight life. never any legal trouble, never arrested, the only spot on his record was the herpes thing (which actually made me like him MORE). so maybe it actually is a spiraling-out-of-control thing! everything seems to indicate that he hangs out with a really, really bad crowd, and also that he surrounds himself with yes-men, etc etc. he would be a lot better off if he just hung out with other rich people. and also if he wasn't a sociopath.

The whole dog fighting thing is just so bizarre. If it would have been Vick getting involved with dealing dope like Jamal Lewis or Leon Lett, then it would be bad, but most people can understand or comprehend wanting to get high or being greedy.

The only other similarly bizarro celebrity story that I can even compare to this one is that whole thing with that guy from Montgomery Gentry killing that tame bear.

the only spot on his record was the herpes thing (which actually made me like him MORE)

great punnage there.

that whole thing with that guy from Montgomery Gentry killing that tame bear.

ahahahaHAHA WAIT WHAT!!! i havent heard about that, wtf

also, and this only got reported in atlanta, falcons defensive tackle jonathan babineaux is facing felony animal cruelty charges for killing his gf's dog (a pitbull, lol) back in february. iirc he smashed its head in or something. except there's at least an explanation for why he did it in that case

what's the explanation?

he was pissed at his gf lmbo. obvs he's still psycho~

oh, i thought you meant an actual, rational explanation.

If it would have been Vick getting involved with dealing dope like Jamal Lewis or Leon Lett, then it would be bad, but most people can understand or comprehend wanting to get high or being greedy.

last couple days, they had a poll on ESPN.com about "what is more offensive to you" or "what is more shocking to you" or something like that, and the choices were Vick and the NBA ref cheater duder, and the responses were like 55% - 45% in favor of NBA ref dude, and I'm like wtf who are these people.

greed is a fact of life, whatevs. but fighting some dogs for pleasure? man that is some fucked-up perverted mess. so mad that I ever liked the guy.

I don't think his career would be over, but I guess we'll see.

Hmm, or maybe his career is over? Things are not looking good for Ron Mexico.

We'll always have herpes, tho.

Vick should hire his receivers as his representation, they'd get the charges dropped.

HAHAHA!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/847741623_3f4a7a0c18.jpg

At this point, short of a "didn't fit you must acquit" legal miracle, my guess is that he's gonna be lucky to ever play the game again. Maybe a 60% chance he's suspended before the season starts, does some jail time after the trial and comes back as a backup in Oakland to pay the mortgage for a year or two then slips away as a footnote?

He's totally gonna be the hoodrat qb of choice for Madden this year; I'm sure stats will be insane as per usual.
I used to watch a guy play Vick in Madden and he would start every snap by running backwards 20 yards and then gaining forty or fifty on the ground.

haha, foolproof madden strat: vick in shotgun, call a hail mary (or just have them all run streaks), wait until all receivers are abt 20 yards downfield, run for touchdown

he might play in arena or the CFL someday, but that's it :[ i have to admit i was really hoping for one last hurrah from him but i guess it is the harrington experience for us this year

also, omg lk. if i were to fellate one dude in the world, it would be you~

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/919/vickdogdodgodggnc0.jpg

That picture made my day.

ron mexico alias generator

Rod Djibouti

a timely bump, since one of the four guys plead guilty 2day. could MV be any more fucked~

not really! i don't see how he's going to get out of the rap if all of his cohorts are plea dealing and turning on him. it seems kind of guaranteed that he's going to get nailed.

meanwhile, the saints QB is doing all his training camp sprints IN FULL PADS

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/sports.aol.com/fanhouse/media/2007/07/drew-brees-outworkseveryone.jpg

i remember a few years ago blount wz expressing his disgust w/ppl who said the falcons would be better off w/brees and LT or even just brees, lmbo :[

dude i love blount but every goddamned post he made about michael vick basically boiled down to how he thought everyone else in the world was a racist is the thing here, there wasn't a lot of rationality in those posts.

lol yeah well i pretty much agreed with him at the time :[ being a falcons fan makes you desperate that way, the only notable achievements of this franchise are 1) vicktroversy 2) dude getting caught with a hooker the night before superbowl 3) depriving the world of what would've been the greatest super bowl ever (min v den)

Connecticut's own EUGENE ROBINSON w/ the good look on the hook-up!

cankles the only pro footbal game i ever attended in my life was Buddy Ryan (Cardinals) vs the Falcons in Atlanta. ;_;

btw that sentence is an anagram for "chris chandler has suffered another concussion"

oh, and the 77 or 78 falcons team (the "Gritz Blitz") actually holds the record for fewest points allowed in a single season, but it was still the 12-game schedule back then so idk how it measures up today~

lk i've never been to one at all! and uh, i'm probably not gonna choose this year to start.

wait, was it 12 or 14 games? whatever, it was less than now

The only NFL game I ever went to was the Jets/Chargers game where Chrebet got his last concussion and played his last quarter.
While he was unconscious on the ground, the guy in charge of the loudspeaker played a loop of James Brown yelling "GET UP!" from Sex Machine. I never understood that.

I think I've been to a total of three games in my entire life. Maybe four.

I always found football a lot more boring in person.

I've only been to high school and Division II college games. And yeah, when I'm at a live game, I sorely miss the commentary.

last nfl game i went to was darrel green's last home game. it was against the cowboys, the skins won and the crowd went bananas. i hate fedex field so much, though, it would take a lot to make me go back.

the year the pats went to the superbowl and lost to the packers i think i wound up going to every home game that year. me and my buddy jon didn't have season tickets but by drafting his younger brother and his brother in law (who didn't really care about football) we were able to get around the "8 total tickets per person" rule and still get enough for our winnebago game. every year we'd pick one game and rent a winnebago and driver for the trek down to foxboro, that year it was either miami on monday night or dallas on a sunday night. i think the dallas game was the next year.

anyway, my point was i love being at the game, you see a lot more than you can on tv.

I didn't like watching the players just stand on the field, motionless, during TV timeouts.

for me there are plenty of other things to do during tv timeouts and they're more than offset by being able to watch want i want to see in a play rather than what the networks want to show me.

yeah i was about to say, being able to see all the coverages and whatnot must be pretty cool. i hate the fact that there isn't an all-22 camera view sometimes

Completely otm cankles. Having to watch the gazillionith sack dance/qb finger pointing exercise etc when I could be watching what the teams are bringing in for packages makes my blood boil.

less Sergio Leone closeups is all I'm saying I guess

haha yeah, they really love that when it's a game involving brady or peyton too. look at those maestros at work, like modern day machiavellis!!!!!!!!

i only love those close ups when some douche bag qb is playing and he starts bitching at a teammate. i think this should be called "giving him the george" in honor of jeff george who never, to his knowledge, committed a mistake on the football field.

my all-time favorite NFL films moment is still probably this clip from 2005 of kyle orton in the middle of a bears game calling out signals at the line of scrimmage and he thinks he spies a blitz and tries to change the protection, so olin kreutz is basically saying "dont worry about it man" but orton keeps warbling so kreutz turns around and yells at him "THEY'RE NOT BLITZING" like he was about to annihilate him, i bet he was holding that in all season long

ahahaha awesome! god, kyle orton.

horseshoe!

did you hear about Michael Vick?

yay horseshoez! i need not embed "Goodbye Horses" in every thread now~

i should clarify that i love going to nfl football games, but i just hate FedEx field. i was definitely spoiled going to rfk as a little guy.

that's great about giving a guy the george.

at live games i am always watching the wrong guy in any kind of play-action pass :(

i usually do the same w/televised games anyway ¯\(°_o)/¯

the same goes for the camera man (esp. during Fox broadcasts)

whoa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vLGVvD7A0Y

"indicted by SPRANG"
That guy needs to do 45 second videos on every major news story.

http://www.vickdogchewtoy.com

Mike Vick has no (0) friends.

uh what
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293268,00.html

yeah, there's a thread on ILE about it. He's suing the pants off of everybody in the world. And when he's done he'll probably end up suing their pants.

Vick just accepted a plea agreement, more to come!!!

Minimum of 1 yr in prison, apparently.

man i am not excited at all for the start of the season. #7 was literally the reason i started watchin football and i cant really even imagine the falcons w/o him. he fucked over the city, the fans and the franchise (little dramatic but that shit ripples), you have no idea how HONGRY ppl here were. he could've been bigger than 'nique or real deal or deion or murphy, worshipped here for the rest of his life, and after football he would've been guaranteed a king's ransom in local endorsements FOREVER!

brett favre's still playing tho

#7 was literally the reason i started watchin football

when keepin' it real goes wrong!

-- horseshoe (horseshoe), Thursday, January 18, 2007 9:05 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark Link

otm

something i loved to point out a coupla years ago in my vickpologist days was that he'd never been arrested once in his life and still he gets branded a THUGGGG by certain pps. oh how little we knew :[ i was still convinced through a lot of this that he was still a fundamentally good person (mb he is) and even though he was always kind of a dbag, that his heart was in the right place. he's always been charitable and nice to retarded kids, which never had anything to do with why i was a fan (the herpes thing made me like him more!) but i guess it would be nice if your fav athlete isn't a sociopath.

also i still dont know exactly how to 'read' the entire situation. i am crappy at a lot of stuff but i think i'm pretty good at understanding how ppl work and the way this unfurled was so bizarre. guys like pacman invariably had fucked up childhoods, pacman's dad was shot when he was a kid; the main effect of this for little boys is that they don't develop the ability to regulate aggression and they act out a lot. it can manifest itself in a lot of ways (usually in them being a-holes), like i think that's how you get a lot of the type-A personalities who become captains of industry. it's a pattern that's pretty easy to see in pro sports where i guess you have a lot of gifted but maladjusted dudes who never had the guidance they needed.

what's weird is that nobody ever sussed this out in vick. he's always come off as a quiet dude who spends all his time fishing and smokin weed, basically as harmless and unthreatening as a guy can be. now it's common knowledge around atl that he hangs with a shady crowd, has been for a long time, and some of those dudes have been lifelong friends. has he always been doing repugnant shit like this or is this the tale of a moron who got dragged down by his deadbeat friends? mb both? either way, fuck him

http://www.toadking.com/6x9=42/itisamystery.gif

don't give up, chris redman's your #2 now!!!!

sorry 4 the dissertation :[

leee i'm 22! i mean, it's not that i hadnt EVER WATCHED FOOTBALL before 2002. it definately was my least favorite sport when i was a kid but i was still pretty familiar with the famous dudes and followed it a little. i can't really say vick was the only catalyst for my renewed interest, the resurgence of the Pats had a LOT to do with it too (i cant tell awesome stories about my favorite scrappy pats teams from 30 years ago like kevin does but i have more than enuff mmrs of watching games w/my brother and uncle and reiterating our frustration w/bledsoe)

also, lol :[

my brother wore his ancient (10+ years old) bledsoe jersey to the bar during the afc championship this year, but he refuses to say DB's name, insisting that "IT'S A *PATRIOTS* JERSEY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT"

sorry dude. We don't get many falcons games up here but when I saw the Browns play them last year I was pretty amazed. Vick was going to win that game single handedly until he fumbled. story of his life I suppose

It's not lke Vick is trying to make ends meet with this dog fighting shit, I can only guess that he actually enjoys it which is just sick.

aw Ade. I'm sorry, man.

(am I always drunk when I post here? I have no recollection of the "keepin' it real" post.)

I think a lot of athletes dig it in a Gladiator sort of way, thinking that the fight is in the animal's nature, and somehow that there is some sort of contact high from this warrior mentality. How does one unleash the beast? Some guys seem to be able to just flip a switch from nice guy to warrior elite (D Brooks?), but plenty of guys can't seem to separate it. I guess Michael Vick is one of those guys, a pansy quarterback who channels his inner warrior by drowning dogs in a bathtub.

lol@falcons

#7 was literally the reason i started watchin football

This is true for me too fwiw! I guess I am a foreigner though.

Ade that was well said, abt the out of nowhereness of it.

"either way, fuck him" pretty much covers it for me with two exceptions:

1) all the bullshit about how vick is "a troubled young man" and "perhaps he'll come out better having learned something" can fuck right off: at the absolute least he paid considerable money and spent considerable time to arrange for dogs to kill each other for his own kicks so fuck him in the eye. Fuck any apologists.

2) Until sentencing, I really don't want to hear anything else about this; no more ESPN coverage please. Stop churning bloody water you parasites.

otm!

yeah dont get me wrong, he's a turd of a human being (he's not as bad as bobby cox tho) and i am not sheddin any tears for him. i am dead sick of everything related to the dude tbh.

they is gonna kill all his dogs

also not sure why i posted about that on a thread that is advocating the prison rape of vick on a board where ppl have openly stated they think pit bulls are vicious and should be outlawed!! christ.

Vick wants to play, but what team would risk it?

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Sports Columnist

Michael Vick lives in a prison in Kansas, making 12 cents an hour while plotting his return to the NFL. His houses and farms will soon be gone, the two yachts are history, and he’s down to his last couple of Range Rovers.

A race horse he bought for $60,000 died of colic, the Atlanta Falcons are still trying to hit him up for millions they paid him, and the IRS and the state of Georgia want nearly $1 million in back taxes.

In 2006 he made nearly $15 million. Recently he reported total income of $12.89 for an entire month.

That’s $12.89 as in 12 dollars and 89 cents. This from someone who, before things went terribly bad, categorized a $1,000 check to his mother as “chump change.”

The numbers are cold, but they have to warm the heart of any animal lover sickened by what once went on at Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels. To many, seeing Vick stripped of the material things he and his fellow millionaire athletes like to enjoy is almost as good as watching him go to prison in the first place.

Best of all, the dogs who survived the terror of Vick’s dogfighting ring are having the last laugh.

They’re the stars of a recent National Geographic Channel television special. They live in comfort in a Utah ranch, thanks to $928,000 Vick agreed to contribute to finance their care.

And now they have their own wine.

Yes, there’s Meryl, looking anything but ferocious on a bottle of Syrah. And there’s Lewis, peeking out from the front of another Vicktory Dog bottle.

Maybe Vick can pick up a $40 bottle when he gets out of prison next July, assuming things go as planned. If he’s careful about not spending his prison earnings in the commissary, he could be paroled with enough to buy a couple of them.

He shouldn’t drink too much, though. Because he’s still got some football to play.

Buried in the hundreds of pages of paper detailing Vick’s financial woes the other day in federal bankruptcy court was the declaration that not only does Vick expect to be reinstated in the NFL upon his release but also believes he will “be able to earn a substantial living” playing quarterback once again.

Good luck with that.

Just what team he believes will employ him to do so wasn’t mentioned, but the Falcons are surely out. They severed their ties with the quarterback they once were sure would lead them to a Super Bowl and are now being led by a quarterback who has been so good in his rookie season that he just might.

Vick is supposed to be released July 20, so he could be out just in time for the opening of preseason camps. But how many teams are so desperate for a quarterback that they would risk the ire of PETA-types and other animal activists to sign an ex-con who admitted to doing some heinous things?

The other question is how much would they risk for a quarterback who has a career passing rating of 75.7, fumbles the ball once every 10 times he carries it, and hasn’t played a down in two years. Quarterbacks who could run were once the rage in the NFL, but most teams today look for the traditional pocket passer.

If a team did take a chance on Vick, it would likely be for little or no guaranteed money with incentives kicking in only if he produces—something that can never be certain in the NFL, where injuries and age can quickly take their toll. Even then, Vick won’t keep all his salary because under his bankruptcy plan he must pay part of any future earnings to creditors.

Indeed, Vick’s financial mess is as much a cautionary tale to his fellow athletes as his criminal woes are.

He has assets of $16 million but owes creditors $20.3 million. His attorneys had to hire forensic accountants to find out where the money went, $18 million of it over the last two years alone as Vick bounced from one business deal to another and seemed to hire financial advisers he met standing in line at the supermarket.

Flush with bonus money from the Falcons, Vick bought houses by the handful, invested in a rental car franchise in Atlanta and poured money into a liquor store and restaurant. He hired friends, gave away money and cars, and could never say no to his mother, who got $700 for an Easter Egg hunt one year and $317,000 for a new church building the next.

Now he sits in a prison in Kansas after a staggering and quick fall from the top. Once a favorite of fans who couldn’t buy enough of his No. 7 jerseys he’s now vilified and hated by millions who will never forgive the despicable things he and his buddies did to their dogs.

A comeback is still possible, but my guess is that this story will not end well. Upon his release from prison, the odds are Vick will spend more time dodging creditors than defensive linemen.

The dogs are a different story. Those that survived will live in comfort the rest of their lives.

And for that, we should all raise a glass of Lewis red in celebration.

ray lewis red?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/02/vick.bankruptcy/index.html

http://assets.mog.com/amg/pop/cov200/drc300/c304/c30486b7qhp.jpg

THAT'S THE SOUND OF THE MEN, WORKING ON THE CHAIN...GAAAANG.
THAT'S THE SOUND OF THE MEN, WORKING ON THE CHAIN. GANG.
ALL DAY LONG YOU HEAR 'EM SAY

http://3.music.bigpond-images.com/images/AlbumCoverArt/31/XXL/What-Goes-Around-Comes-Around.jpg

i think that would apply if another human bit vick's face off actually

one can dream

man i used to stan hard (with a vengeance) for this dude

and then matty came along

i think that would apply if someone put vick in an enclosed arena to face off in violent combat with another human. oh wait

It bums me out so much that I can't use him in Madden anymore. :/

you can just use an old version of madden you know, it's not the law that you have to upgrade

haha

you can just use an old version of madden you know, it's not the law that you have to upgrade

I got rid of my ps2 though. :(

Thought he had a job...................and, then he didn't.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/101171

The Arena thing was a stunt? Okay then, how about a job with PETA?

http://adage.com/article?article_id=136403

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/sports/football/28vick.html?hp
So do we want to talk about this or maybe just let it play out for awhile?

dan the snyder is on the phone now oh ya you betcha.

I'm mostly on board for giving the guy a second chance, but do not feel entirely good about it.

Think all the talk about him not being able to contribute anymore is complete b.s. Dude is still fast, still has a gun for an arm, and now might actually bother to listen to coaches who try to teach him to play QB.

yeah he served his time, i don't like him as a player or a guy but there are lots of shitty dudes in the nfl, we just don't know the extent to which they are shitty.

comment @ ta-nehisi coates blog:

Is is too much to ask that Cleveland sign Vick so that he can play in the Dog Pound?

this is the most lolsome part:

The league also announced that former Bucs and Colts coach Tony Dungy has agreed to work as an advisor and mentor to Vick.

*vick-killing-himself-joke*

also here's a video of nick barnett's pitbull, Simba, on a treadmill

http://tweetreel.com/?j11h4

honestly, I wish I had a treadmill for my pup... that's a happy looking pit!

i know!! that video made me XD

Goodell ruling fails Vick, players

fuck roger goodell and fuck the nfl player's union.

Here's a counterargument:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/george_dohrmann/07/20/vick/index.html

totally disagree, in the sense that i disagree with anything that would deny an ex-con the right to work. the nfl is just a job.

plus if DNA means anything it won't take Vick long to screw up again

xpost And part of that job is your public image and how that reflects upon the league. Image control for a company that makes as much money and has as many problematic faces as the NFL has is understandably a sore point. Vick was the opening story on the evening news and on the front page of every paper and magazine in the country, portrayed as a monster for months. If he gets reinstated and makes some errant comment off the record on-camera that he doesn't give a fuck about dogs, the league is (I think reasonably) reserving the right to kick him to the curb rather than take another hit that would reverberate among the only audience group that they have left to expand to: women. Quite frankly, I wish the league would flex the same muscle when it came to farve.

that said, i hope he plays again if he has the talent and muscle still left. Fucked if I'll ever be in his corner, but I'd be happy to root ag'in him.

NYT/Vick Dept:

1 - Speaking to the same point I'm making above: "Seven in 10 male fans are in favor of Vick’s return to professional football after serving 19 months in federal prison for his role in a dogfighting ring, but only 4 in 10 female fans agree, according to a recent Marist Poll."
http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/poll-shows-vick-has-less-support-among-women/

2 - WTF Tank McNamara: "Goodell, as rendered by Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds, is seen receiving advice by telephone. In Monday’s strip, former Vice President Dick Cheney suggests: “Kill him.”
During Wednesday’s strip, the cartoon Goodell is told by a caller that the owners “have to prove they aren’t racists by hiring Mike.” But he says that they have “made it clear” to him that his job is to be a racist for them. In Thursday’s strip, “Goodell” says, “If all I punish are black guys, then yeah, people might think I’m a racist. But I’m not a racist. That hurts my heart. Look, I’m an autocrat, that’s all. I’ll punish anyone and like it.” And on Saturday, “Goodell” thinks: “These decisions could be so much easier if I could suspend a marquee white player too,” like Tom Brady and Eli or Peyton Manning. To a picture of Peyton Manning, “Goodell” asks, “Why can’t you walk into a club with a concealed weapon and shoot yourself under your Dockers?”"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/sports/football/11sandomir.html

okay, seeing the footage of him practicing with the eagles is fucking WEIRD. i wasn't completely prepared to see him and mcnabb standing side by side, just chillin & chattin in their red jerseys.

Apparently they're bro's.

Vick Rant

Squeaky Fromme was released from prison just hours after the Eagles signed Michael Vick last week.

It was a tough week to be Roman Polanski's dog.

The Eagles toyed with the idea of signing Fromme. She could join LeSean McCoy and Vick in a Squeaky, Shady, and Sleazy backfield.

Look, this is going to take time, OK? I know America is the Land of Second Chances -- that's going to replace E. Pluribus Unum on our money someday. I know Vick paid his debt to society, that Pope Dungy spoke ex cathedra about the sincerity of his contrition. It's time to forgive and forget, at least according to the ever-forgiving Eagles fans I've spoken to (the ones who still hold a grudge against Joe Kuharich). I'm just not ready for this.

The Eagles have always been like a deadbeat brother to me: a troublesome-but-beloved family member I'm tied to forever. This is just another bail bond in that relationship. Frankly, I'm more worried about the pot-smuggling, middle-finger-waggling, playbook-ignoring Vick than I am about the guy who killed dogs. He's not going to open any more kennels, but he could still check into a Samson Street massage parlor under an assumed name carrying a Wawa coffee mug with a secret compartment full of ganja. That's the guy I didn't want playing for my team long before I heard the bad news about the kennels.

I'm also worried about the Eagles new tight end, Donovan McNabb. That's right, McNabb is about to follow on the heels of L.J. Smith, meaning he will have to learn to drop his own passes. "I'll be a receiver. I might be a tight end," McNabb said of his role in Vick's Grateful Dog packages. "You never know where I'll be." Picture it now: Eagles versus Giants, November 1. The Eagles go Wildcat, with Vick at quarterback, Brian Westbrook at running back, McNabb at tight end with Osi Umenyiora over him. Umenyiora throws McNabb to the ground. Westbrook bravely tries to block him but pulls a variety of muscles. Vick runs in circles to escape, then gets driven headfirst into the turf. Three injured Eagles on one play, the franchise kaput, Jason Peters scratching his butt the whole time. Paranoid fantasy? Vision of the future?

And then, there's the dogfighting. You know a guy carries a lot of baggage when he's the subject of sentences like "and then, there's the dogfighting." Rosie, my own pit bull, has been acting nervous lately; we've had to cone her, and it's a pathetic sight. The Frisbee pooch on Wii Sports Resort doesn't whistle as happily as she did when I bought the game. My oldest son knows who Vick is; he saw him on the news two years ago, and I had to explain about the bad man who hurts dogs, the one daddy gets paid to write about. Now, I have to explain that he's on the Eagles. I want my children to watch football. But I don't want them exposed to anything that will give them the impression that they can force unwitting animals into violent confrontation, train them to become stronger and more aggressive, confine them to tight spaces...

(Wait a second, let me turn on a Pokemon cartoon to entertain them while I work. OK, where was I?)

Eagles owner Jeff Lurie promises that Vick will be "proactive" about animal abuse. "Proactive" means many things to many people and absolutely nothing to most. It probably involves writing checks, recording PSAs, and making some highly controlled public appearances. I think it means he must take his message of redemption to the people. There's an Animal Adoption Center Dog Walk in Camden County on October 4. It's the Eagles' bye week, and Vick will still be suspended, so he would have no trouble attending an event located about four miles from Lincoln Financial Field.

If Vick wants to help the healing process, if he wants to win over Eagles fans who are struggling to accept him, he should come to the dog walk. Pet some dogs. Pet my dog. Look a few hundred dog lovers in the eyes. Then, Eagles fans like me will be more ready to embrace him.

Either that, or score a bunch of touchdowns. That works too.

Posted by: Mike Tanier on 20 Aug 2009

Mike Tanier: OTM