http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/nflnewsfeed/2009/07/vick-decision-looms-for-nfl.html?hpid=topnewsJuly 20, 2009
Vick Released; NFL Decision LoomsUPDATED (2:26 p.m.)...
Michael Vick
was released from federal custody Monday, with the sentence for his role in a dogfighting operation in Virginia expiring after he was imprisoned in Leavenworth, Kan., then on home confinement in Hampton, Va.
There still is no indication, however, about whether he'll be reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely prior to the 2007 season, and has not given a timetable for ruling on Vick's possible reinstatement. Goodell has said in recent months that he would not begin the decision-making process until after Vick's legal case concluded. He has said that Vick must demonstrate genuine remorse to be reinstated.
There is likely to be a face-to-face meeting between Goodell and Vick before Goodell makes a ruling. Goodell has not indicated whether he will make a decision before the upcoming season.
It also is not clear whether any NFL teams are interested in signing Vick, who is a free agent after being released by the Atlanta Falcons. He once was among the league's most dynamic players. But he's been out of the sport for two seasons, and any club that considers signing him will have to weigh the public relations implications of doing so.
Attorney Lawrence Woodward, who represents Vick, told the Associated Press that Vick was released from federal custody as scheduled. Vick had spent the past two months on home confinement, wearing an electronic monitoring device. The AP reported that two men in a car with a federal Bureau of Prisons folder on its dashboard visited Vick's home Monday morning, carrying a case similar to the one in which Vick's monitoring device was delivered when his home confinement began in May.
The period of home confinement was the completion of Vick's 23-month federal sentence. He had to serve at least 85 percent of that sentence under federal law, the AP reported. Vick worked a construction job, then switched to a job with programs for a boys and girls club, during his home confinement.
Vick remains on probation.
He also is without an NFL team and is ineligible for play in the league because of the suspension imposed by Goodell.
"The review of his status is ongoing," Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of public relations, said in a written statement Monday.
Goodell said at an NFL owners' meeting in May in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.: "Michael is going to have to demonstrate to myself and to the general public and to a lot of people: Did he learn anything from this experience? Does he regret what happened? Does he feel that he can be a positive influence going forward? Those are the questions that I would like to see [answered] when I sit with him."
Falcons owner Arthur Blank said at the same May owners' meeting: "There's no question Michael has paid his debt to society, obviously. But beyond that, the commissioner has to decide whether or not Michael, based on his view, has not only the personal remorse but has conducted himself, not only personally but in who he's associating with, in a way that is going to allow him to be a player in the NFL and represent our league well. That's the decision that the commissioner will make.
"... I believe in second chances," Blank said. "I believe in redemption. But the commissioner needs to satisfy himself that Michael has not only gone through his own journey but he's prepared to make other decisions than he's made in the past, both personally and in who he associates himself with. [That's] a very big part of that. He's, from what I've read, committed to getting his life back in order, his family and his own personal life and at the same time looking to the future in the National Football League. That was pretty clear going through [Vick's] bankruptcy proceedings."
Vick's representatives have made a return to the NFL by Vick a key component of his plan to emerge from the bankruptcy proceedings in which he's been involved. But any team that weighs the possibility of signing Vick will have to consider the PR implications.
"I think an owner would have to go through the same process that the commissioner would and satisfy himself or herself that Michael is--it goes beyond paying the price because clearly he's done that," Blank said in May. It's "whether or not he's a different person than he was... the last time he played a game in the NFL, and whether or not he's surrounding himself in an environment that's going to allow him to be a productive person and a productive player and a productive team member in the league."
Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy visited Vick in prison and has said he believes that Vick deserves another chance in the NFL. Some former teammates also have lobbied publicly for Vick's reinstatement. But the public debate has continued, with some commentators contending that Vick doesn't deserve another chance to play in the NFL.
Some talent evaluators within the league wonder privately what the prolonged absence from the sport has done to Vick's on-field skills. Vick turned 29 in June and, while NFL quarterbacks regularly remain productive well into their 30s, Vick's six-season tenure as the Falcons' quarterback often included more success when he ran the ball than when he threw it. He ran for more than 1,000 yards in the 2006 season.
One development in the NFL that could aid Vick's potential return is the widespread use of the "Wildcat" offense around the league last season, in which the ball is snapped on some plays to an offensive player who is as skilled at running the ball as at throwing it. That offensive formation became increasingly popular after the Miami Dolphins used it to beat the New England Patriots in a game, and Vick perhaps could be a major on-field asset to a team wanting to use that approach.
ESPN reported Monday that Vick plans to hire speed and performance trainer Tom Shaw to aid his preparations for a prospective return to the league. Still, there's no way for NFL talent evaluators to know for certain what sort of player they'd be getting.
"You really don't know about the two years off because there's basically never been anyone who's been in that position," former NFL coach Dan Reeves, who coached Vick with the Falcons, said in a telephone interview Monday. "That's going to be a difficult thing. The other difficult thing for him will be finding someone to give him a chance. My hopes are that somebody will. I hope he does get that opportunity because he was such an exciting player. Two years away is a long time but hopefully the commissioner will reinstate him and he can get with a team for training camp so we can see what he can do."
Reeves said there's "no question" that he would sign Vick if he were running an NFL team.
"The guy's got three years probation," Reeves said. "That's a difficult thing. If he makes one mistake, he's back in prison. Michael needs to realize that. I know what type of person he is. He's a good person who made a huge, huge mistake. I'm not defending what he did. You can't defend what he did. But he's a guy who has a big heart. He's a great competitor. I'd like to see him given a second chance."
William Moran, an attorney who advised the New York Giants in connection with the Plaxico Burress shooting investigation, said that what Vick says in his face-to-face meeting with Goodell could be a significant factor in Goodell's reinstatement decision, and Vick will have to be similarly persuasive when meeting with any potential NFL employers.
"As far as what he needs to do to satisfy the commissioner that he is deserving of reinstatement and a chance to play, he needs to sit down and demonstrate he is accepting of the wrongful nature of what he's done and outline what he's going to do to avoid anything of this nature ever happening again," Moran, a partner in the New York office of the firm McCarter & English, said by phone Monday. "As far as dealing with teams, I think it's along the same lines.... I think it [Vick's crime] is of such a nature that teams are going to have to consider it and what implications it will have with the public going forward. On the other hand, the balance to that will be the obvious raw talent of the player."
Moran said he doesn't believe that Vick would be harmed by doing a high-profile media interview in which he expressed regret for his actions. The public generally is willing to forgive those who are contrite, Moran said, although this case seemingly continues to provoke raw emotions in the reactions of observers with views on both sides of the Vick reinstatement debate.
"The press has had enough high-profile cases lately that it's not unreasonable to expect another case to come along to take the attention away from this one," Moran said. "It's in the public's nature to forgive and move on. I guess that will remain to be seen. It will be a balancing act here between the notoriety of the acts and the skill of the player."
Vick also could draw interest from the upstart United Football League, which is scheduled to begin play in the fall and has hired former NFL coaches Dennis Green, Jim Fassel, Jim Haslett and Ted Cottrell to coach its four franchises.
