FanNation - The Republic of Sport

So it appears that the walls are closing in on Michael Vick. Law enforcement officials are citing that they have enough evidence to indict Vick on his connections with a dogfighting ring. Now that does not mean he will be successfully prosecuted in a cour of law. As of now there are no witnesses who will take the witness stand against Vick. This largely has to do, I assume, with the fact that if a witness were to go on the stand he would not only be calling out Vick but the dogfighting community as a whole. This would take a lot of courage.

Even without a prosecution though there is no doubt Vick should be concerned. If Vick is indicted you have to assume that Roger Goodell would lay a suspension down for the often entertaining but painfully inconsistent Vick.Goodell has already shown that he plans to clean up the NFL and will not hold back from suspending players before they are convicted of a crime. And as odd as this may sound, a suspension may be the best thing to happen to Vick's career.

The reality is this: Michael Vick is in desperate need of a reality check. Vick has yet to show he can be a great passer in the league since receiving his 130 million dollar contract. His negative acts have outweighed his success in the NFL. (The water bottle at the airport incident, missing a meeting at Capitol Hill to persuade lawmakers for after-school funding for children, his brief stint as Ron Mexico, and now the dogfights.) A suspension may wake up Vick to the fact that he is in danger of losing many things.

1. His role as the franchise face of the Atlanta Falcons.

2. The respect of fans everywhere.

3.(And perhaps most important to Vick) His 130 million dollar contract. Unlike The NBA and MLB, the NFL does not have guaranteed contracts. If Vick continues his idiotic ways then owner Arthur Blank may appeal to the higher ups in the NFL to allow him to void the contract and get rid of Vick.

And loudmouths like Clinton Portis aren't making things any better. Here is my suggestion to Daniel Snyder. Issue a diamond studded muzzle to Portis and his little buddy Chris Samuels, who sat by him chuckling like Renfield at Dracula's side, and tell them they will wear it until the regular season. Then Snyder can remove the muzzle and replace it with a helmet and mouthpiece.

As for Vick I think we should enlighten him on how cruel dogfighting is. We could throw him into an octagon with Rampage Jackson and remove the referee, so that there is no submission. Now that is an UFC event I would pay 50 dollars for gladly.

Vick, as was clear in an interview outside of a club, doesn't seem concerned that the fans will turn on him. He is sorely mistaken. Pardon the pun but you can only bite the hand that feeds you so many times. A few years ago Vick was the fan's beloved and was expected to change the game and the role of how a quarterback could function. Remember the Nike commercial with Vick throwing to T.O. in a futuristic computer world? Somehow I think that commercial got deleted from the Nike Archives real quickly.

It was just a few years ago that many cited Michael Vick as a mentor to his younger brother Marcus and that perhaps he could take Marcus under his wing (Unintended pun) and guide the troubled youth back on the right path. Now it is becoming more clear that Michael may have been a horrible influence and a role model that would mold Marcus into who he became.

Vick needs to clean his act up. Immediately. Maybe we will look back 10 years from now and Vick will have turned it all around with a couple of Super Bowl wins and a 100 passer rating. Sadly at this rate he is more likely to end up on the Surreal Life as the outlandish sidekick to a wheelchair riding Jose Canseco. The Michael Vick Experience has become a bumpy ride indeed.