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.”
Vick conditionally reinstated by NFL
updated 12 minutes ago
I believe in second chances. Keep him on a short leash (pun intended) but he paid his debt to society. Let's move on.
