QB Michael Vick Slated for Release
Jailed Former NFL, Falcons Star Will Serve Home Confinement
Vick, currently serving a 23 month-long prison term at Leavenworth, Kan., won't be transitioning to a halfway house as planned. Instead, federal officials said he will be confined at home until his scheduled release on July 20.
According to the Associated Press, prison officials said there were no beds available at a halfway house for him. Vick pleade guilty to bankrolling a notorious dogfighting ring in 2007. He was sentenced in a Richmond, Vir., federal court in Dec. 2007. Although the dogfighting endeavor spanned several states, Vick's base of operations was centered at a mansion he owned in rural Virginia.
Attorneys for the quarterback had previously announced that they expected Vick to be sent to a halfway house in Newport News, Vir., near where he grew up. Instead he'll return to his mother's home, and will have to wear an electronic monitoring device. Any travel outside the home will have to be approved by Vick's probation officer.
The 28-year-old, once the highest paid player in the National Football League, has a multi-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons through 2013. Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff announced earlier this month that the team intends to sell Vick's contract to another NFL club. That way, the team largely can avoid having Vick's lucrative contract -- $9 million for 2009 -- count against its salary cap.
Vick must still be reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell before the club can trade him or sell off his contract.
"We feel a trade is the best move for the Falcons, and it's also in the best interest of Michael," said Dimitroff.
Atlanta owner Arthur Blank, burned badly by Vick, said last fall that Vick was not part of the Falcons' future.
“I believe in second chances, oftentimes third chances,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution quoted Blank as saying in November. “I think that after some period of time, Michael would have paid his debt to society … Obviously, he’s paid a huge price professionally and personally in terms of his family and in terms of his own financial situation. I think at some point, I’d like to see him play again in the National Football League.”
Blank took Vick under his wing, developing a close personal relationship with the quarterback, who had a rough childhood on the mean streets of southeastern Virginia. When the allegations of dogfighting were first raised, Vick assured Blank there was nothing to them. Vick still faces state dogfighting charges.
The Falcons drafted Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan in 2008 as its first pick after a disasterous 2007 season under coach Bobby Petrino, who slunk off into the sunset after he assured team officials he'd stay the course. Atlanta then hired Mike Smith to helm the team, which surprisingly made the playoffs last season.
What do you think about this article?
Latest Articles