The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that Michael Vick is not a suspect in an incident that occurred early this morning that resulted in a man named Quanis Phillips being shot outside a nightclub in Virginia. Vick had been celebrating his 30th birthday at the restaurant/club sometime before the shooting occurred.

The police have stated that they have no interest in Vick, but that doesn’t mean he won’t face punishment from the NFL. When commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Vick last July, part of the deal was that Vick wasn’t supposed to associate with anyone from his days as a dog fighter. And Phillips was just one of the people that Vick had a close “business relationship” with when he owned Bad Newz Kennels. Goodell also announced upon Vick’s reinstatement that the quarterback’s margin for error was “extremely limited.”

Falcons’ receiver Roddy White, who was apparently with Vick earlier in the night, said that the two of them had left the party before the shooting took place. Said White: “I don’t know what’s going to go on with that or whatever, but we didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Not many details are available right now, so we can only speculate about what transpired leading up to the shooting. Maybe Phillips was there without Vick’s knowledge or arrived to the restaurant after the quarterback had left. Who knows?

But the mere fact that Vick’s name is being brought up in relation to another off-field incident is troubling to say the least. It sounds as if he did nothing wrong and wasn’t involved in the shooting. It also isn’t a crime to celebrate your birthday with your friends, although if one of those friends is an old acquaintance that helped you set up an illegal dog-fighting ring, then that’s a problem. And if Phillips was invited to the party, then Vick’s decision-making is yet again up for criticism.

Check back for more details on this developing story.

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