Falcons should have had foresight on Vick Issue

By Tony George www.sportsaudioshows.com  

I guess trading away QB Matt Schaub was premature and ill advised at best for Atlanta. It is going to haunt them all season. Some of the motivation was new head coach Bobby Petrino counting on the versatile Mike Vick to make big plays and flourish in a new scheme, and the other was salary cap issues. Vick's numbers do not exceed now starter Joey Harrington in any glaring fashion other than the ability to break off and run it and make big play, but it is still Joey Harrington, always one TD or one interception away from a big win, and that will never change.

The endurance of Vick for an entire season is questionable at best, and trading Schuab is the biggest blunder that management may have made in the offseason. I doubt anyone knew the depth of the dog fighting issue back in April or May, but trouble has been brewing with Vick for quite some time in the Falcons camp. Did no one foresee that Vick was not the type of guy that Atlanta needed to be a leader and long term solution at QB for them? He is a talented player that makes big plays, but not a leader or role model by any stretch.

Let see, fighting dogs is illegal, betting on ANYTHING is illegal when you are an NFL player, killing dogs and fighting them is inhumane, and lying about the entire situation is quite frankly something Atlanta's top brass are ticked off about not to mention the NFL's top brass, and the national media storm. I personally am not a member of PETA, but I am a dog lover and domestic animal lover in general, so I am appalled at what has transpired with Mike Vick over the past few months. Personally he should be officially suspended from the NFL pending the outcome of a trial, and I think it should be a 1 year mandatory sentence from the NFL, and it should happen right now, avoiding any speculation about a return after a watered down plea agreement. If he is found guilty, a lifetime ban should be enforced. Holding him out of training camp and suspending him in the interim is not enough. The message needs to be loud and clear from the NFL. It also should come from NIKE that dropping Vick as a player representative is mandatory. Once again the message needs to be clear.

The NFL has an image issue, much like the NBA right now. Players in trouble is the norm nowadays in most pro sports. Media scrutiny is at a high level regardless whether is it a pro sport, college sport, or Lindsey Lohan on a drunken rampage. The limelight has never been brighter for the rich and famous. Players and even celebrities must hold themselves to high moral standards, and behavior in public and in private should be considered a top priority. It comes with the territory, and as always, fame has a price, and you have to deal with it. Fame also provides great wealth and it clouds the minds of young players like Mike Vick who think they are above the law. The recent Pacman Jones debacle is a black-eye for the NFL, or the Tank Johnson issue or the Bengal's player roster that is filled with arrests and issues. Better judgment should be enforced on the players and suspensions from the NFL management are needed to be clear cut, no exceptions. Suspensions are needed in order to send a message to players that a "no tolerance mandate" is in effect.

As for the Falcons, they opened camp with protests outside the front gate, hardly the start new coach Petrino was hoping for. The plea agreements with Vick's cronies testifying before grand juries, and coming out saying the "Bad Newz Kennels" in Virginia on Vick's properties and the gambling involved in them, were 100% funded by Vick personally. Of course these guys are trying to save their skin and avoid long jail terms, but it looks bad for the future of Mike Vick, and if the allegations are true, and the smoking gun is in his hand, you may never see him play another down in the NFL. He will be in prison long before he is on the field again, and he should be in my opinion.