Tag: Michael Vick comeback (Page 2 of 2)

Goodell to wait on Vick decision

June 26, 2009 /

According to the Associated Press, Roger Goodell has started to focus on Michael Vick’s future, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that the NFL commissioner will make a decision by the start of the season.

Goodell hasn’t given a timeline yet on when he’ll come to the decision on how long he’ll suspend Vick and when he’ll reinstate the quarterback into the league. Considering the media exposure that is sure to follow a story this big, it’s probably a good idea that Goodell doesn’t put himself in a spot to have to make a decision by a certain date and time.

If Goodell waits until right before the season starts, that obvious hurts Vick’s chances on playing this season. Chances are, no team is going to sign him without knowing how long he’ll be suspended for.

On a side note, who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall when Goodell finally does meet with Vick (which should be after Vick is released July 20 from home confinement and federal custody)? Don’t forget that the two met at the draft a couple years ago before the whole dog-fighting situation went down and Vick assured Goodell that he wasn’t a part of it. Oh boy…

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Falcons release Michael Vick – what next?

June 12, 2009 /

The Falcons have officially released quarterback Michael Vick, ending an eight year marriage that started with Vick being selected with the number one overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft and ending with him spending the past two years in a federal penitentiary for dog-fighting.

The release of Vick was just a formality for the Falcons, who had zero plans of honoring the rest of his contract. The remainder of Vick’s signing bonus ($8 million) will count against the team’s cap this season but after that, all financial ties will be severed.

Atlanta tried trading Vick this past offseason and unsurprisingly found no takers. The Rams, Redskins, 49ers, Jets and Raiders were all mentioned as possible trade suitors at one point or another over the past couple months, but most teams declined having any interest in the end.

Vick is now free to sign with any team he wants, but he’s waiting to see if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will reinstate him first and if he does, whether or not another suspension is forthcoming. Once Vick was indicted on federal charges, Goodell suspended him indefinitely, but it remains to be seen if the troubled quarterback will receive any more suspension time.

Assuming he does get reinstated, I don’t think a GM with half a brain would take the risk of signing Vick. Not only will he probably be suspended again, but nobody knows what kind of shape he’s in and whether or not he’s even mentally ready to play football. Not to mention whichever team does sign him, they better be ready for the national media storm that will certainly blow in upon his arrival.

Oakland is about the only place I could see Vick winding up in. Al Davis doesn’t care what anyone thinks and if a player has talent (which Vick certainly does…or did), then Davis will find a spot for him. The only problem is that JaMarcus Russell is the team’s quarterback, so would Vick be willing to move to another position or take a backup role? Considering what he’s done, he better be willing to take whatever a team gives him, but who knows.

Let the Vick speculation begin.

NFL

Falcons owner says Vick won’t return to team

May 20, 2009 /

Not surprisingly, Michael Vick isn’t welcomed to stop by Atlanta Falcons headquarters anytime soon. With Vick’s release from federal prison on Wednesday, Atlanta owner Arthur Blank made it clear that his former franchise player will never play for the Falcons again.

“The Falcons maintain Michael’s contractual rights for now, but he will not be playing for us in the future. In the event NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael to the NFL, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would be at another club.

“From a personal standpoint, I will continue to be supportive of Michael in any way that would be positive, constructive and helpful.”

Blank made plenty of mistakes during Vick’s playing time in Atlanta. For starters, he and the Falcons coddled Vick too much and turned a blind eye when the quarterback started to make off-field headlines for the wrong reasons. They didn’t want to upset their star player and even went as far to protect him at all costs, which wound up hurting them in the end. I always thought the time Blank pushed Vick onto the field in Dallas in a wheelchair after he broke his leg was way overblown, but the situation did show that Blank got too close to his star.

That said, Vick flat out lied to Blank several times and abused his relationship with the owner. Blank gave Vick a mile and Vick took another 74 more miles. While it’s true Vick made Blank a ton of money, he also cost him millions more after the dog fighting scandal reached its pinnacle. Blank never deserved the humiliation that Vick put him through and I think it’s a testament to who he is as a person that he continues to support his former quarterback on a personal level.

But as the man said – no way will Vick ever be welcomed back by the Falcons. That franchise was put through hell by Vick and Bobby Petrino and now have a great thing building with Thomas Dimitroff, Mike Smith and of course, Matt Ryan. In the end, karma paid Blank a visit and made things even.

Let’s just hope that Blank doesn’t make the same mistakes with Ryan as he did with Vick, because no player should ever be put above the team.

NFL

Michael Vick released from prison

May 20, 2009 /

Michael Vick has officially been released from federal prison.

Vick is due to return to his Hampton, Va., home and serve the remainder of his federal sentence on house arrest. He spent the past 19 months in prison after pleading guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting ring.

Vick, once the NFL’s highest-paid player, is expected to take a construction job at $10 an hour while he serves the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. He will be handed a new set of rules when he begins serving three years of probation after his expected July 20 release from federal custody.

Vick’s agent said Tuesday that the quarterback “will place football on the back burner” during his immediate home confinement and that there are no meetings scheduled with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss reinstatement for the 2009 season.

“Michael’s looking forward to reacquainting himself with his family, his fiancée, Kiafa, his children and his mom,” Joel Segal, Vick’s agent, said. “When he gets home, that’s his priority, along with reinserting himself into society and being a positive influence in his community. This is going to be a special time for him, just being around family.”

Goodell has said he would wait until the end of Vick’s sentence to consider reinstatement. He has said Vick will have to persuade him and the public that he is genuinely sorry for his crime, that he has been changed by his experience and that he is committed to leading a different life.

Unless Segal was just playing to the media and wasn’t being sincere, I think Vick “putting football on the back burner” is a great idea. His life is in complete shambles right now and he needs to take one day at a time. Perhaps the most beneficial thing for him is to distance himself from anyone who had a negative effect on his life. Several reports have stated that he’s too easily influenced and if that’s the case, then he needs to surround himself with positive people. Considering he has immense financial debt, football should be the last thing on his mind.

(If anyone else wants advice about their lives or financial situation, please call my hotline at: 1-800-I-Sound-Like-Dr.-Phil-In-This-Article.)

NFL

Dungy: ‘Vick wants second chance’

May 14, 2009 /

After recently meeting with the troubled suspended player in prison, former head coach Tony Dungy said that Michael Vick is seeking a second chance.

He enjoys helping troubled young men, and Vick, in Dungy’s eyes, is simply one of them. Vick is serving a 23-month sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy. Dungy wouldn’t offer details about his meeting with Vick, but compared the quarterback’s situation to many of the ex-offenders at the resource fair Wednesday.

“I think Michael is just like so many other guys that I have seen, so many other people who are nameless, faceless in that environment,” Dungy said. “It’s a young man that made a mistake and is looking for a chance to recover and move forward. That’s where he is and that’s where so many of the men who are here today are.”

Dungy is doing a lot of good in this world and I for one hope that he can help Vick get his life back on track. But in the end, everything is in Vick’s hands. He must surround himself with positive influences that will help him stay on the straight and narrow and keep him out of trouble. It appears that the wrong people heavily influenced Vick when he set up the dog-fighting ring, so it would be beneficial for him to only surround himself with folks that make sound decisions.

NFL

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