Ah, the NFL. You never can truly peg it.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Michael Vick went home with a broken hand and woke up with only a bad bruise.
There are times in a life, and in football, when a person is ready to do things differently. The Patriots got rebel-without-a-cause Albert Haynesworth at the right time this year; whether he ends up a great player, the one thing we do know is he's working at it, in part because he feels he's finally taking orders from a smart coach.
We're invariably drawn to the storylines that involve the concept of second chances and second career acts in professional sports, and the NFL in Week 1 provided numerous examples of players who were starting over, either with a new team in a new city, or under the auspices of a new coaching staff that offered them a clean, blank slate.
Go ahead, read the headline again. It does say "Writer's black" and not "Writer's block." No doubt, overlooking a mistake like that would be a gigantic copy editing if not editorial blunder. But think about it. How often do we do the editorializing in our own minds before we even start to read a writer's work? A recent article by ESPN The Magazine writer Toure' about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick got me to thinking.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we run down the winners and losers in the all-important (OK, more important?) Week 3 of the NFL's preseason. The games don't count, but the perceptions sure do ...
Three things to cover today: the death of a well-respected football chronicler, the Michael Vick contract from a different angle, and the stunning (at least to me) results of my Super Bowl prediction contest.
When ESPN asked me to write about Michael Vick I knew they didn't want me to write about football. I love football but there are many people far more insightful and experienced than me in their database. Plus I wanted to write about the Vick meme -- the ideas around Vick, especially the social and/or racial ideas around him. And just that week on Twitter there'd been a brief argument about Eminem.
Perhaps this is a handy lesson in why it's so tricky to play the role of commissioner and counselor at the same time. Maybe when Roger Goodell and Michael Vick talked about Vick's long-awaited return to the NFL in the summer of 2009, it was difficult for the soon-to-be-Philadelphia Eagle to tell the difference between helpful advice and official approval. Tacit or otherwise.
It used to be that a QB was almost an afterthought in fantasy leagues. There were enough elite guys to go around that you could pass on the top couple and still give your team a chance.
From one-time participant to present-day activist against the illegal sport of animal fighting, Michael Vick came to Capitol Hill Tuesday in support of legislation that would criminalize spectators and others who organize the fighting.
updated: Tue Jul 19 2011 14:55:00
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick pledges support for legislation to crack down on supporters of dog fighting.
Michael Vick, the star National Football League quarterback whose career was sidelined by a dog fighting conviction, has reached an endorsement agreement with athletic equipment maker Nike.
The comparisons are understandable, perhaps even inevitable. And the similarities are many. It's easy to line up the Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick headlines side by side and see the same inspirational comeback story, played out two years apart. A once-elite skill-position player in the NFL loses a couple precious seasons mid-career to imprisonment and scandal, but heroically returns to the field to bring his personal narrative of redemption full circle and perform even more spectacularly than ever.
NEW ORLEANS -- Very interesting weekend. A multi-dateline weekend across the southeast. Started with some saber-rattling by player reps at their annual meeting in southwest Florida on Friday ... continued at Lee Roy Selmon's restaurant in Tampa that night with Michael Vick contemplating his first steps back into prison in 22 months ... then into south-central Florida at dawn Saturday with Vick and Tony Dungy leading a spiritual mission into a sprawling prison camp ... and finished at the kickoff of the NFL meetings in New Orleans on Sunday, with some good info on the quarterback market, a challenge to the players trade association and some controversy over the new kickoff rules to be voted on Tuesday.
Star NFL quarterback Michael Vick signed his first paid endorsement deal Wednesday since pleading guilty to dog fighting charges.
Michael Vick, the comeback story like no other -- the nation's largest ongoing rehabilitation project not named Sheen -- makes his postseason splash Sunday night.
After Kobe Bryant laid 81 points on the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, the second highest single-game total in NBA history, I wrote a story about it. That was followed by a few dozen e-mails of the why-are-you-glorifying-a-guy-like-that? variety -- the 2003 Colorado rape charges against Bryant had been dismissed by then but many people never forgave him -- and an appearance on CNN's Reliable Sources on which I was asked the same question by host Howie Kurtz.
updated: Tue Dec 21 2010 05:16:00
In a new interview, Michael Vick says that he would like to own a dog, despite his past animal cruelty legal woes.
The head of one of America's biggest animal protection organizations said Thursday that Michael Vick, who served prison time for his role in a deadly dogfighting operation, should have the opportunity to bring a dog home -- in due time.
updated: Mon Dec 20 2010 09:41:00
NFL quarterback Michael Vick says he is interested in owning a dog again despite his legal woes over animal cruelty.
They say Michael Vick is trying to redeem himself. The NFL superstar who participated in a dog-fighting ring that shot, electrocuted, drowned and slammed dogs to the ground now wants to bring home a dog as a pet.
PITTSBURGH -- Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we review a captivating Week 15 of playoff-implication football ...
Things we learned from Philadelphia's 34-24 defeat of Houston Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field ...
updated: Tue Nov 23 2010 06:10:00
In 2009, Michael Vick spoke to kids at a Newark, New Jersey, school to raise awareness on why dogfighting is bad.
Related galleries for the Nov. 29, 2010 issue
Michael Vick stories in the SI Vault
On a night when Donovan McNabb signed a potential $78 million extension with the Redskins, Eagles counterpart Michael Vick played like the quarterback more deserving of a megadeal.
Before we turn our attention to Week 4 and the Armageddon that will be the Donovan McNabb vs. Michael Vick Bowl in Philadelphia on Sunday, 10 final observations on an intriguing Week 3 ...
ATLANTA -- There was a massacre here last December, on the carpet in the Georgia Dome. You could almost smell the burning feathers. Three of the best Falcons were injured, and they started a quarterback who hadn't started a game in two years. My brother John and I paid more than $100 per ticket for the privilege of sharing an upper-level section with loathsome buffoons in Eagles jerseys. No surprise there: Atlanta fans are often forced to cohabitate with carpetbaggers from the North. But today we felt a new kind of shame. A throng of fans in Falcons colors wore the name and number of the backup quarterback for the other team. His name, of course, was Michael Vick.
The NFL's ever-spinning quarterback carousel is so minute-by-minute these days that the Eagles' Michael Vick went from clear-cut backup, to temporary starter, to permanent starter -- all in the span of 10 days.
NEW YORK -- Three quarterbacks. That's what I take out of Week 2, along with a Stat of the Week that might be a Stat of the Year, and why the Dolphins are trouble, and why the Vikings should steer clear of a certain tall receiver from the West Coast, and why the enhanced season proposal isn't bowling you over.
PHILADELPHIA -- Each week I'll provide 10 quick-hitting insights into the 1 p.m. games ...
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, spared discipline by the National Football League over a shooting incident, said Wednesday he is trying to do the "right things" on and off the field.
A few observations on Michael Vick's situation that need to be brought up amid daily reports that the Philadelphia Eagles are considering releasing him:
Virginia Beach, Virginia, authorities have decided not to file charges in a shooting incident that happened at a birthday party for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick.
This was supposed to be the season the Wildcat evolved to the next level and swept through the NFL. A year after the Miami Dolphins used it to surprising success, coaches from coast to coast were expected to implement it as a game-changer, to keep defenses off balance and grab big chunks of yardage.
PHILADELPHIA -- Thirty-three months after he last played in a regular season NFL game, Michael Vick returned to the field today on an overcast and intermittently rainy afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.
Inside the 32 NFL locker rooms this time of year, almost every club feels like it's got a chance to be at least decent. That speaks to the competitive balance that is a hallmark of the league. While fans and the media are speculating on the most compelling storylines of 2009 -- Brett Favre's impact in Minnesota, Michael Vick's role in Philadelphia, and Tom Brady's return in New England -- the people who run pro football are already hard at work charting the course of the game well into the future.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight from an eventful and jam-packed Thursday night of preseason football ...
The NFL season is almost upon us -- I know this because Ron Jaworski emerged from his NFL Films vault and didn't see his shadow ---and I am reminded that it is not so much a league of gentlemen as it is a league of quarterbacks. Here are the ones I'll be following most closely in 2009:
Michael Vick made his Eagles debut at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night during the Eagles' 33-32 win. While he only participated in six plays, all in the first half, we did get a glimpse of what he might become this season. Here are 10 key things we learned.
With Brett Favre once again striding the gridiron and Michael Vick safely in the Philadelphia fold, we couldn't help but notice that Eagles QB Donovan McNabb made a bit of a pitch for securing the services of troubled wideout Plaxico "Big Bang" Burress.
I don't believe Michael Vick. In fact, while watching his 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, I pretty much thought he was full of it. But I also have no problem with his being allowed to return to the NFL, where he will no doubt juke plenty of tacklers and throw just as many inaccurate passes at the feet of his receivers. That may seem contradictory -- not buying his mea culpas and yet not objecting to his reinstatement -- but that's because the real issue is not what Vick gave us on Sunday night, it's what we expected from him.
When pro quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting operation in 2007, there was a spike in reports of dogfighting in the United States.
James Brown says he spelled out the rules with Michael Vick last May when the two spoke for 45 minutes at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. Why was the CBS Sports anchor visiting Vick at a federal prison? He was looking for The Big Get, an interview with Vick following his 18 months in prison on charges related to his illegal dogfighting operation.
The City of Brotherly Love isn't exactly embracing the news that one-time quarterback phenom and convicted dogfighter Michael Vick is joining their Philadelphia Eagles.
updated: Fri Aug 14 2009 16:20:00
Tony Dungy explains why he told the Philadelphia Eagles that Michael Vick would be a good addition to their organization.
The Philadelphia Eagles welcomed Michael Vick back into the National Football League on Friday after the quarterback spent almost two years in federal prison on a felony dogfighting conviction.
PHILADELPHIA -- Marisa Scully's family has had Eagles season tickets since they played at Franklin Field in the 1960s. She's gone to every home game since she moved back to Philadelphia from college six years ago. She also trains pit bulls for a living and owns two. Her lifelong devotion to the Eagles is no match for her disgust at the team signing Michael Vick.
When Michael Vick would see visitors during his two-year exile from football -- either in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., or, more recently, while in home confinement in Virginia -- one refrain was clear:
Is it possible that the best case scenario for the Eagles with their signing of Michael Vick is also the worst case scenario?
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we digest the newsiest Thursday night of NFL preseason football in memory....
Michael Vick, recently reinstated to the NFL after being freed from federal prison after a dogfighting-related conviction, has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles, according to his agent, Joel Segal.
Some will be quick to label it a clear-cut case of double jeopardy, a draconian measure or liken it to "kicking a dead horse,'' but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday afternoon certainly did what he has long intimated he would -- in effect adding the potential of five more games to Michael Vick's two-year suspension.
updated: Tue Jul 28 2009 11:15:00
Commissioner Roger Goodell says Michael Vick has been reinstated to the National Football League on a conditional basis.
Nearly two years after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia, Michael Vick was reinstated to the National Football League on a conditional basis, according to an NFL statement Monday.
One of the truest things about Roger Goodell the commissioner -- something Terrell Owens and Deion Sanders and, as it turns out this afternoon, Tennessee running back Chris Johnson don't understand -- is that even though he can be a tough enforcer if the situation warrants, Goodell always leaves a cooperating player who's gone astray a path back into the NFL. That's exactly what he's done in his decision to conditionally reinstate Michael Vick.
So here we go. The 28-week marathon to the Super Bowl is on. I leave for 21 days of camps tomorrow morning, and I'll try to set the table here with a few appetizers to get you ready for the 2009 season. Love this time of year.
Amid all the speculation regarding who might be interested in signing the newly released Michael Vick, and when he might be re-instated to the league -- conditionally or otherwise -- it strikes me as necessary to point out the seemingly forgotten fact that he wasn't exactly setting the NFL world on fire as a quarterback when we last saw him play in December 2006.
Suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick completed the electronic monitoring device portion of his federal sentence Monday and will remain on probation the next three years.
JIM TROTTER'S OPPOSING VIEW ON VICK
GEORGE DOHRMANN'S OPPOSING VIEW ON VICK
The Atlanta Falcons have "relinquished their contractual rights" to Michael Vick, one of the highest-paid players in professional sports before his conviction on dogfighting charges, the Falcons manager said Friday.
Brett Favre and Michael Vick are spiritual cell mates of sorts -- both iconic quarterbacks are out of the NFL and both want back in. While in prison, Vick became pen pals with Favre and they have continued to correspond. Here now are excerpts of the most recent Favre-Vick letters:
That name. Sonia Sotomayor. President Obama's choice for Supreme Court justice rings a bell in the sports world, especially in Big Ten country. Remember?
updated: Thu May 21 2009 10:50:00
Guest host Roland Martin and his panel discuss whether Michael Vick should be given a second chance.
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick arrived at his home in Hampton, Virginia, on Thursday morning.
There will come a moment during the 2009 NFL season when Michael Vick does something athletically extraordinary or competitively remarkable and, reflexively, I will marvel aloud at it.
Michael Vick is headed home, but he won't be able to leave it. At least not yet.
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick left a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, early Wednesday, according to his publicist and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Michael Vick's reception when he first walks back into an NFL locker room should be the least of a team's worries if they are looking to sign him. That's because football players are a very forgiving bunch. For the most part, they are apathetic to a teammate's off-field transgressions because so much of being a professional athlete is taking care of your own personal business, both on and off the field. The priority is on taking care of one's career so one can provide for one's family. The problems of another player are simply not a concern.
When Michael Vick completes home confinement in July, he will have served the 23-month prison sentence imposed after he pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges.
Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, serving a prison sentence on charges related to dogfighting, will work with the Humane Society of the United States on anti-dogfighting campaigns after his release, Humane Society President Wayne Pacelle said Tuesday.
A federal bankruptcy judge has denied the Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan presented by suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick.
Suspended NFL quarterback Michael Vick will go to work for a construction company in Newport News, Virginia, after he leaves federal prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation, his lawyer said Thursday.
Neither the on-the-field fame nor the off-the-field notoriety of former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was enough to spark a bidding war for his suburban Atlanta mansion Tuesday.
Since being rescued 20 months ago from the dogfighting ring financed by Michael Vick, all but a few of the abused pit bulls have been recovering in sanctuary, foster care and adoptive homes. Now even the most traumatized of them can have a happy new year.
Lawyers for Michael Vick asked a federal bankruptcy judge on Friday to appoint a mediator to help settle his debts to creditors, saying a third party might expedite a resolution in the case
Michael Vick turned himself in to authorities on Monday to get a head start on serving his sentence for running a dogfighting ring, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
updated: Thu Mar 20 2008 11:28:00
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin explains why Michael Vick went ahead and surrendered to federal authorities.
Ellen doesn't look like a top-fighting dog.
updated: Thu Feb 07 2008 22:44:00
Some dogs bred to fight and kill are being trained to be gentle pets. CNN's Dan Simon reports.
updated: Sun Jan 27 2008 14:38:00
CNN.com's Naamua Delaney talks to Tim Racer, co-founder of the group "BAD RAP," about the fate of Michael Vick's dogs.
As a sports culture we like to throw our arms around the pursuit of history. Record chases bind us to an athletic heritage that lives on in yellowed paper volumes (along with Google searches and, blessedly, the occasional YouTube video) and connects to greatness in a language that we can understand and speak at picnics. How about those Celtics? And such. Whatever the milestone, we usually want to see it, touch it, remember it, celebrate it.
Disgraced former NFL star Michael Vick declared that "I am not the bad person or the beast I've been made out to be" in a letter to a judge asking for leniency.
Think back to August, to the day Michael Vick went before the cameras after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors on charges that he financed and participated in a dogfighting operation. He expressed remorse for what he had done and the many fans he had disappointed. Afterward, pundits remarked how Vick had been "forthcoming" and "honest" and "contrite." His supporters said he was accepting responsibility for his mistakes, the first step in rebuilding his image and life.
As we have been virtually from Day 1 of the long Michael Vick saga, we're once again in uncharted territory. The length of Vick's prison sentence has finally been determined, but it's still hard to know how much time, if any, will be left in his NFL playing career when he's done paying for his involvement in that sordid dog-fighting ring.
On Monday, Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced Michael Vick to 23 months in prison -- exceeding the 12-18 months that prosecutors recommended. SI.com caught up with legal expert Michael McCann to answer some important questions about the ruling.
Michael Vick, once one of the highest paid players in the National Football League, was sentenced to 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring and helping to kill pit bulls that did not fight aggressively.
updated: Mon Dec 10 2007 14:11:00
Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for financing a dogfighting ring. CNN's Larry Smith reports.
Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison Monday for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy that involved gambling and killing pit bulls
Michael Vick and his legal team received potentially discouraging news this morning, when U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson sentenced two of Vick's co-defendants, Purnell Peace and Quanis Phillips, to longer prison sentences than federal prosecutors had recommended. Peace will serve 18 months, while Phillips will serve 21 months. In exchange for the defendants' cooperation, prosecutors had recommended that each receive a sentence consistent with the lower end of the federal sentencing guidelines (12 to 18 months for Peace; 16 to 24 months for Phillips). Just as he has with Vick, however, Judge Hudson had the discretion to issue sentences in excess of the guidelines and to discount -- or altogether ignore -- the prosecutors' recommendation.
The judge who will decide how long Michael Vick stays in prison sentenced two of the fallen NFL star's dogfighting partners to prison on Friday.
The government asked a federal court Tuesday to order former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick to keep on hand assets valued at more than $900,000 -- the amount earmarked for the care of 54 pit bulls.
Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick has agreed to pay nearly $1 million for the care of about 54 pit bulls found on his property during a dogfighting raid.
Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 3. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For more essays, click here.
Want to know how un-obsessed Atlantans are with the Michael Vick story now? Witness the local ESPN radio affiliate in the hours leading up to Monday night's game between the Falcons and the Giants. The hosts spent a 10-minute segment making fun of the male producer, who had spent part of his weekend getting a manicure, pedicure and his eyebrows waxed. "Nothing wrong with taking care of yourself," the producer argued. "It's time we put the 'man' back in manicure."
All but one of the dogs seized in the Michael Vick dog fighting case will be placed with families or put in a "sanctuary," where they will interact with people to overcome their fear and lack of socialization, according to court order filed Monday.
How does the failed drug test affect Vick's case?
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