The Red and Black

Issue date: 8/22/07 Section: Opinions

Michael Vick is going to jail. Let that sink in. The highest-paid player in the highest-rated sport in the nation will, in all likelihood, spend a year or two of his prime in a federal prison.

Six months ago, we were wondering if Michael Vick was good enough to lead the Atlanta Falcons back to the playoffs. Four months ago, we were wondering if there really was marijuana in his water bottle at Miami International Airport.

One month ago, we were wondering if Vick could have been involved in the fighting and killing of dogs.

Now, we are left to wonder how much time the $130 million man will spend in jail and if he will ever get his life together, much less return to playing professional football.

On Monday Vick's attorney, Billy Martin, announced that Vick will "accept full responsibility" for his role in a dogfighting ring and plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges.

That's the sad part - if Vick had accepted full responsibility for his life choices a few years ago, he wouldn't be in this position.

"I always tell the players that when they break a rule or law, you lose control of the situation and the consequences," Georgia head football coach Mark Richt said.

ESPN is reporting that prosecutors will recommend he be incarcerated for 12-18 months, but U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson could sentence Vick to up to five years in prison.

Not since heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was sentenced to three years in prison for rape in 1992 has such a prominent professional athlete fallen so far from grace in his prime.

When Vick burst on the scene as a fleet-footed, rocket-armed quarterback at Virginia Tech, we knew he was one-of-a-kind. He looked like a new evolution of the quarterback position.

The Falcons mortgaged the team's future for Vick, trading their first and second round picks to San Diego to draft him in 2001.

Those picks turned out to be running back LaDainian Tomlinson and quarterback Drew Brees, two of the league's best players and winners of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.

He had the chance to be and was the face of football in the South. Now because he couldn't choose his associates wisely, he's headed to jail when he should be on the practice field.

"He should have been as far away from (his co-defendants) as east is from west," said Dan Reeves, Vick's first NFL coach, in a radio interview Tuesday.

It's all but decided that Vick never will play for the Falcons again, and the team more than likely will seek to recoup some of Vick's signing bonus for breaching his contract.

After Vick spends time in prison, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is sure to have at least a year-long suspension ready to welcome him back among the free.

If he hopes to repair his image enough that another team will take a chance on him, Michael Vick needs to apologize - apologize at a press conference, apologize on Oprah's sofa, apologize on Animal Planet. Vick needs to show the public, in his own words and actions, that he's sorry and that he's turned his life around.

The Falcons have no choice but to trudge through this season and hope the fans will stick around while they wait to try and land another franchise quarterback in next year's draft.

Vick's lack of responsibility not only set him back but also a city and a franchise that put their trust in him. He'll have to work a long time to win either of them back.

- Phillip Kisubika is the First & Goal editor for The Red & Black.

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