[DwightShrute]

Vick conditionally reinstated by NFL

QB can participate in preseason practices, provided he signs with team

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/32175602/ns/sports-nfl/


updated 12 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Michael Vick has been conditionally reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Vick can participate without delay in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games — if he can find a team that will sign him.
Once the season begins, Vick may participate in all team activities other than games, but could play as soon as October.

[pavyracer]

No team will sign this animal.

[DwightShrute]

$10 says they do

[pavyracer]

If he finally makes a roster by opening day which is very unlikely some lineman who loves dogs will break his leg and end his career. Mark my words.

[VegasDave]

Glad he was reinstated.

He's paid the price. He saw real jail time. He was made the poster boy of the "athletes don't get away with everything" crusade.

What he did was terrible. He got the punishment he deserved. If he can still play football, let him.

[Doc JS]

No team will sign this animal.

Pavy,
Are you suggesting that there might be collusion in the NFL?

Or are you suggesting that no team wants the PR hit?

Or are you suggesting that there are 64 QB's in the NFL who are better than Vick?

Just curious...

Doc

[pavyracer]

Pavy,
Are you suggesting that there might be collusion in the NFL?

Or are you suggesting that no team wants the PR hit?

Or are you suggesting that there are 64 QB's in the NFL who are better than Vick?

Just curious...

Doc

He hasn't touched a football for 2 years now. If a team signs him up he has to be a starter because the whole offensive scheme of the team revolves around him (he was special when he was playing). This means they need to have the right personel around him to be succesful in what he does best. He can't be a back up to Roth or Manning or Warner. Totally different QB styles. Then the team that signs him up may have thousands of season ticket holders protest the signing. Who wants to take their kids to the game to watch an animal sadist play football?

[jjgold]

It will be interesting to see what he has left. I hope he makes it.

[flyingillini]

He would be a great fit to the Raiders.

[Vesuvius]

About time

[Doc JS]

He hasn't touched a football for 2 years now.

Agreed. No way to know how much rust he has on him or what he has left in the tank.

If a team signs him up he has to be a starter because the whole offensive scheme of the team revolves around him (he was special when he was playing). This means they need to have the right personel around him to be succesful in what he does best. He can't be a back up to Roth or Manning or Warner. Totally different QB styles.

Disagree. He comes cheap. It isn't going to cost you much to bring him in (contract wise). He can come in and run the wild cat.

Then the team that signs him up may have thousands of season ticket holders protest the signing. Who wants to take their kids to the game to watch an animal sadist play football?

Disagree. Oh, they'll be detractors and protesters. But what do fans really want? The answer, of course, is they want to win. And if Mike Vick can help them win. The fans will come and they will cheer. I'm not saying it's right. I'm saying that's the way it is.

[pavyracer]

Good points Doc JS. If I was an owner I wouldn't give him a chance. Let him go back to work at McDonald's for minimum wage to learn not to torture and kill animals in sadistic ways.

[DwightShrute]

Glad he was reinstated.

He's paid the price. He saw real jail time. He was made the poster boy of the "athletes don't get away with everything" crusade.

What he did was terrible. He got the punishment he deserved. If he can still play football, let him.

I believe in second chances. Keep him on a short leash (pun intended) but he paid his debt to society. Let's move on.

[Doc JS]

He would be a great fit to the Raiders.

The Raiders and all the dysfunction that comes with Al Davis and that organization is probably the WORST fit in the NFL. They've got a young QB. Admittedly, one the jury is still out on. And they've got a capable back-up in Jeff Garcia.

I guess if Oakland was the only team that called, he'd probably take it, but I suspect that the NFL doesn't really want him in Oakland. And if Vick's people are smart, they don't really want him in Oakland, either.

Doc

[paco]

I would buy Lions season tickets if they signed Vick. I love Vick, he's my hero

[DwightShrute]

I would buy Lions season tickets if they signed Vick. I love Vick, he's my hero

[Doc JS]

If I was an owner I wouldn't give him a chance.

Which would certainly be your perogative...

But I think it would be difficult to claim the moral high ground unless you're also willing to not take the felony DUI's, wife/girl friend beaters, and "carrying a concealed weapon and shooting yourself in the leg" players in the NFL...

The reality of the situation is there are a lot of players in the NFL who would have a difficult time making the "all choir boy" team. I guess it just depends on where you want to draw the line. Say no to Vick but yes to a felony DUI'er? Hard decisions. Don't you agree?

Doc

[paco]

Or the setting up cocaine deal players (jamal lewis)

[DwightShrute]

Jamal Lewis is my hero

[paco]

Jamal Lewis is my hero

he will be my 1st pik in my fantasy league this year

[MilfDriller]

Funny how black people love to complain about slavery....

... but enslave some animals and make them fight to the death and tear each other's faces off until the skin, muscles, and eyes of the face hang off the animal... yeah, that's okay. I don't see anything wrong with that. lol

I mean, it's kind of like having dinner with one of those dog loving people who is talking about the mistreatment of animals... and meanwhile they're eating a delicious dead animal carcas (sp).... ???

I'm all for just calling it like it is.

As for playing... o/c he'll play. If you've got the goods, teams will lust after your potential performance on the field. That's how it works.

When he suits up again... don't know. But Vick playing in the NFL again... put that at -100,000 to 1 odds for the YES. +700,000 for the NO.

[Doc JS]

Funny how black people love to complain about slavery....

... but enslave some animals and make them fight to the death and tear each other's faces off until the skin, muscles, and eyes of the face hang off the animal... yeah, that's okay. I don't see anything wrong with that. lol

.

If you think blacks are the only people involved in dog fighting, you are sadly mistaken...

[Slim]

Vick will play in the NFL this year. Injuries happen in the NFL too often and Vick will get a call.

[paco]

Vicks new jersey will be the #1 selling NFL jersey

[pavyracer]

vicks new jersey will be the #1 selling nfl jersey

[DwightShrute]

[lakerboy]

Vicks new jersey will be the #1 selling NFL jersey

Paco how many of his jerseys do you have?

[MilfDriller]

Browns maybe? The dog pound?

[paco]

Paco how many of his jerseys do you have?

2, the black one, and the red one

[wtf]

July 28 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Vick’s second chance in the National Football League is most likely to come from the New England Patriots or Pittsburgh Steelers, according to the Internet gambling Web site BetUS.com.
Vick was conditionally reinstated to the NFL yesterday, a week after completing a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring. The NFL said that the former Pro Bowl quarterback can practice immediately and play in the preseason’s final two games if he can find a team that will sign him.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he’ll decide when Vick can play in regular-season games by Week Six, or mid-October. While teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and New York Jets said they’re not interested in the 29-year-old, other clubs might seek to add the No. 1 pick in the 2001 NFL draft who holds the record for rushing yards in a season by a quarterback.
“The ideal situation for Vick coming out of this process is to land with a respectable franchise that has strong leadership from the owner to the coaches to the players,” BetUS.com spokesman Reed Richards said from the Web site’s Costa Rica-based office. “New England and Pittsburgh both fit that description. They would keep him on a short leash.”
The Patriots and Super Bowl-champion Steelers are given 4-1 odds of adding Vick by BetUS.com. They’re followed by the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills at 9-2, meaning a winning $100 bet would return $450 plus the original wager.
Taking a Chance
“Buffalo and Oakland have both shown they’re willing to take chances on players,” said Richards, who cited the Bills offseason addition of wide receiver Terrell Owens, who has clashed with teammates and management in Dallas, Philadelphia and San Francisco during his career.
Other teams listed by BetUS are the Tennessee Titans (5-1), Miami Dolphins (6-1), Minnesota Vikings (13-2), Oakland Raiders (7-1), Jacksonville Jaguars (8-1) and Seattle Seahawks (15-1).
Most NFL teams probably won’t comment on Vick until they open training camps later this week, though Owens said two days ago that he’d welcome Vick as a teammate.
“Vick is a guy that really hasn’t had any character issues besides what he got a prison sentence for, so why not?” Owens told reporters. “There’s a number of guys around the league that have done far more worse things than that and gotten second chances, so I don’t see why he shouldn’t.”
Vick was once the highest-paid player in the NFL, having a 10-year, $130 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July and will probably make significantly less money in his return to the NFL after a two-year absence.
‘Privilege’
“Playing football in the NFL is a privilege, not a right, and I am truly thankful for the opportunity I have been given,” Vick said yesterday in a statement. “The last two years have given me time to re-evaluate my life, mature as an individual and fully understand the terrible mistakes I made in the past and what type of life I must lead moving forward.”
Goodell indefinitely suspended Vick in August 2007 after the quarterback agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of conspiring to run a ring that bought, trained and fought dogs in Virginia and other states.
Goodell said yesterday that preventing Vick from playing at the start of the regular season isn’t additional punishment, but is meant to “maximize the prospect” that he can successfully resume his life on and off the field.
Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy has agreed to work with Vick as an adviser and mentor.
Terms of Release
Vick is also required to obey the court’s terms of his conditional release, including a provision banning him from owning a dog, Goodell said. Vick must follow a written plan submitted to the league that details his proposed living arrangements, his finances and his efforts on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States.
“Opportunities for redemption are rare, but that is exactly the opportunity that awaits Mr. Vick,” American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals President Ed Sayres said in a statement. “We hope that he rises to the occasion and proves worthy of the rare second chance Commissioner Goodell has granted him.”
Any team interested in signing Vick might have to determine whether his talent, even after two years away from the NFL, outweighs potential negatives such as protests from fans and animal-rights groups or the loss of sponsors.
Vick had a 38-28-1 record as a starting quarterback with the Falcons. He completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 71 touchdowns and 52 interceptions, while averaging 52.1 rushing yards a game and an average of 7.3 yards per carry.
“I really have not focused on which team would give him an opportunity, if any team gives him an opportunity,” Goodell said yesterday on a media conference call.
“What I tried to do is focus my decision on what I thought was the right thing for him as a young man and put him in the best position to resume a career within a defined period of time,” he added. “Decisions about who plays where are not something that I can do.”