Vick blows his chance
Jared Putnam

Dirty bird. Ookie heading to the pokey. ConVICKt.

Michael Vick, complete with a list of unflattering nicknames, seems to be everywhere lately.

At a time when the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez would ordinarily be the lead story on the nightly news, and the pennant races of Major League Baseball would occupy the majority of sports coverage, Michael Vick has managed to overshadow both, dominating media coverage.

Easily.

Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges Monday, mercifully closing one chapter of this strange saga. His sentencing, however, is expected to be handed down on December 10, guaranteeing more than three more months of everyone and their mother offering non-stop analysis of his plight.

How much, if any prison time will he get? Will he ever play in the NFLagain? Is he truly sorry?

After that we can look forward to the time between his sentencing and the time he begins serving his sentence. More analysis, more coverage. Terrific.

I've resisted temptation to comment while this case has unfolded over the last few months, but seeing how this is my last opinion article at this newspaper, I figured I would use it to sum up my take on Vick's situation. After all, anyone who typically reads my columns knows that I was off the Michael Vick bandwagon before we ever even knew about his dogfighting activities.

That said, I don't have a desire to see Vick sent to prison for four or five years. Plenty of businessmen, politicians and garden varsity criminals do worse things than what he did on a daily basis. For that matter, plenty of Vick's fellow NFLstars have committed even more terrible acts.

But there is something uniquely disturbing about someone who is willing to torture animals. I spent my childhood growing up on a farm with horses, dogs, chickens and most every other barnyard creature at one time or another. I will always have a soft spot for animals, and I will probably never change my belief that anyone who enjoys abusing an animal has some deep-rooted issues to work out. So while he may not deserve four or five years, maybe a year and a half behind bars would go a long way towards bringing this pampered icon back to reality.

What Vick did is disgustingly graphic. It is so bizzare that it will be tough for anyone to ever again see Vick only as an athlete, rather than the convicted felon who orchestrated a dogfighting operation.

For an NFLfranchise, that is an almost insurmountable problem from a public relations standpoint. This is not your left guard on the offensive line or an outside linebacker. This is not someone that, five minutes into the game, people will forget that they are even on the field.

This is your quarterback. This is the leader, the franchise face, the man who is at the center of every play on offense.

There is a good chance that NFLCommissioner Roger Goodell will never even allow Vick back in the league. Nothing says he has to. But even if he does, who is going to want Vick, who likely will have spent the prime of his career in prison? How would a GM ever justify putting trusting Vick to fill such an important role, after he threw away his money, his career and his freedom to fight some dogs?

The point has been made that everyone deserves a second chance, and Vick is no different.

I agree that Vick deserves, and will get, a second chance in life. I'm just not sure he really deserves to get to play in the NFLagain. Athletes don't have a right to play in the league simply because they are gifted or exciting. The league should have the right to disassociate itself with Vick in the same way that any company has the right to disassociate itself with a bad employee.

Vick was hardly a saint even prior to these dogfighting revelations. He was developing a lengthy laundry list of onfield and off-field "mistakes." As for the dogfighting, keep in mind, it's not like he went out and had a few too many beers one night, causing him to accidentally operate his illegal dogfighting ring for five years. At some point actions become more than a mistake, they define a person's life.

Nevertheless, Vick has finally issued an apology.

My favorite line from his apology statement was "...through this situation I found Jesus and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to God. And I think that's the right thing to do as of right now."

This is not Where's Waldo. I don't recall the part of the Bible that tells readers that Jesus can often be found hiding in federal courtrooms, though it seems that many do find him only when they get there. Perhaps Mike just wasn't looking hard enough before.

Still, the funniest part is that he ended the statement with, "the right thing to do, as of right now." That sums it up better than anything I could say.

"As of right now."

That is what it has been about since Vick finally accepted the inevitable plea; conducting a clinic in doing damage control and salvaging what is left of his public image and his future. It is about saying and doing whatever his advisers tell him to do at a given time, regardless of whether or not he means a shred of it.

This is the same Vick that, only a few weeks ago, was defiant. He lied to his owner, his league commissioner and the fans. He vowed to "clear his good name" and beat the rap when he thought his "crew" wouldn't turn on him. He only finally gave in because he was virtually assured a guilty verdict and a 5-year prison term had this gone to trial.

His behavior is a perfect example of the fact that there is now practically an accepted formula of response when someone is accused of a crime, even with a mountain of evidence against them.

First: deny, deny, deny. It doesn't matter if all the evidence is found sitting beside you. Claim you knew nothing of it. Vick said he was rarely at the property. He feigned ignorance of anything that was happening on those grounds.

It also helps if you have a parent to help you deny the actions. In the case of Vick, his mother has often been in front of the camera beside him. It helps humanize the accused, to remind people that they are someone's kid. Yes, criminals are always someone's kid, but that doesn't mean they are a kid.

Michael Vick is not a kid. Michael Vick and I are both 27- years-old. Whether we are 27, 30, 37, or anything else above 18, we are legally accountable as adults. We know exactly what we are doing.

At last, when all hope of escaping punishment is lost, tell the world that you had a magical epiphany as to how wrong your actions were. Explain that you have seen the error of your ways and you accept total responsibility for your actions. Just hope it does not ring too hollow.

How Vick's story ultimately ends won't be known for years, but one thing is certain, his career with the Atlanta Falcons is done.

They have to keep him on the roster to recoup bonus money, but that will be his only association with this franchise going forward.

With that said, even though this has been a public relations nightmare for owner Arthur Blank and the entire organization, this was inevitable.

The dogfighting was like a nuclear bomb that wiped out any hope of Vick working out as the Falcons quarterback, but in the end, it may be a blessing in disguise for the team. Vick would have been gone eventually, either from a series of smaller indiscretions, or from the simple fact that he never would have been an effective quarterback.

This only speeds up the process of the Falcons finding a new, long-term solution at the position. Veteran Joey Harrington probably is not the answer, meaning that Atlanta will eventually look to the draft. Many speculate that Head Coach Bobby Petrino may even convince Falcons' management to draft one of his own, Louisville senior Brian Brohm, who is expected to be a top pick in the 2008 draft.

All I can say is, after the trauma Vick has caused, I just hope Brian Brohm is a cat person.