MySports Today

It wasn’t all pretty, but at least Michael Vick showed that he probably still has what it takes to play professional football in the NFL.  Vick got his 1st taste of live NFL action when he appeared in the Eagles 3rd pre-season game on Thursday night against the Jaguars.  The Eagles used Vick as a quarterback and wide receiver in a few different sets.  Vick completed all 4 of his passes for 19 yards and he also had 1 rush for 1 yard.  Nothing great, but nothing bad.

Although it initially appeared that Eagles Quarterback Donovan McNabb was upset that Vick saw quarterback action so early in the game, the 2 could be seen joking on the sidelines in the 2nd half.  McNabb completed 21 of 36 passes for 244 yards, with 1 touchdown and 1 interception – good for a 76.6 passer rating.  Can’t complain too much with a night like that.

Vick will be able to play in the Eagles final pre-season contest next week against the Jets in New Jersey.  After that, his return in an NFL regular season game will be at the discretion of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.  It will be interesting to see how much game action Vick sees when it counts during the regular season.  We predict a heavy dose of D-Mac with limited action from Vick early on…

Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles agreed on a 1-year deal that will pay the controversial quarterback $1.6 million for the 2009 NFL schedule.  None of the money is guaranteed, so if Vick does not make the Eagles roster, the Eagles don’t owe him a dime. The Eagles will also have a club option for 2010 that would pay Vick $5.2 million.  Vick has not played in the NFL since 2006.  Vick served 18 months of a 23 month sentence in federal prison, finishing out the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has suspended Vick indefinitely, but he can participate in all pre-season workouts and the final 2 pre-season games.  He will not be allowed to participate in a regular season game until Week 6, but he can participate in all other respects during that time.

Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid was at the morning news conference, as was former Indianapolis Colts Head Coach, Tony Dungy, who has served as a mentor for Vick during his recent struggles.

Vick had this to say about the opportunity:  “I’ve done some terrible things, I made a horrible mistake.  And now I want to be part of the solution and not the problem…  For the life of me, I can’t understand why I was involved in such pointless activity.  Why did I risk so much at the pinnacle of my career?… There was a point in my life where I felt it was wrong and I knew it was wrong.  To this day I have to live with that shame and that embarrassment.”

Should be interesting to see how all of this plays out.  Eagles fans are tough to win over and are never satisfied.  I’m sure there will be some funny signs and outlandish protests once Vicks get into camp and starts playing in games…

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conditionally reinstated Michael Vick to the NFL today.  Vick is allowed to participate in all pre-season workouts and practices, and he will be allowed to play in the final 2 games of the pre-season.  Goodell will not allow Vick to play in regular season games right off the bat, but he will reconsider activating Vick to a full reinstatement situation by Week 6 of the NFL regular season.  That means if Vick can find a team to take a shot on him, he could play in NFL regular season games as early as October 18th or 19th…

Pretty surprising news considering the hard line that Goodell has taked with respect to other NFL players who have gotten into trouble off the field.  The one difference with Vick is that he served serious jail time (18 months jail time and house arrest) for his involvement in running an interstate dog fighting ring.  Plaxico Burress and Donte Stallworth are 2 NFL players whom Goodell has indefinitely suspended for their actions off the field, and many believed that Goodell would continue Vick’s indefinite suspension even after personally meeting with Vick last week. But I guess things went well enough with Vick for Goodell to feel that Vick had served his debt to society.  If Vick joins with a squad soon, and stays out of trouble for the next few months, it looks like we might see Vick on the football field at some point during the 2009 NFL schedule.  Guess we will have to wait and see…

Several NFL sources have indicated that they expect NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to take harsh actions against Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.  Goodell recently came down harsh on Donte Stallworth who had pled guilty to DUI manslaughter in the death of a Miami construction worker in March.  Stallworth recieved a 30-day jail sentence, 2 years house arrest and 8 years of probation, and Goodell extended that punishment by suspending Stallworth indefinitely.

League sources expect Goodell to indefinitely suspend each of Vick and Burress as well.

Vick is set to be released from federal confinement in mid-July.  Vick served 20 months in jail for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring.  Goodell has indicated that he wants to see Vick show remorse for his actions, and that might mean that Vick will need to stay out of trouble for some period of time before Goodell allows Vick to sign with a team.

Burress has yet to be indicted for his actions this past November.  Burress was charged with possessing and firing an unregistered gun in New York City.  His case has been postponed until mid-September and he refused to accept jail time while negotiating a plead deal with prosecutors.  While Goodell would probably rather see the criminal justice system take action against Burress before the NFL does, because of the slow pace of the proceedings, that will likely not be the case.  Expect Goodell to announce some punishment against Burress before he is able to report to any team’s mini camp for the 2009-2010 NFL season.

Stay tuned…