June 18
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The question - repeated countless times on Twitter, sportstalk radio and across the Internet the last 24 hours - goes like this: How can Donte' Stallworth get 30 days while Michael Vick got 23 months? Stallworth, the Cleveland Browns wide receiver, pleaded guilty Tuesday to DUI manslaughter for killing pedestrian Mario Reyes while driving drunk in his black 2005 Bentley in Miami. Stallworth also reached a confidential financial settlement with the family of the 59-year-old construction worker. Vick served 19 months in federal prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation, and is under home confinement until July 20. The Falcons released their former superstar quarterback last week. The ..."
June 12
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Jeff Schultz
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It's only a bookkeeping detail. But it's a significant detail. No more looking at the bottom of the roster and seeing, "Suspended. Michael Vick. QB." No more questions to the owner or the general manager or the coach, "So, when are you going to trade Michael Vick?" No more discussion about the implausible but lingering possibility that owner Arthur Blank would somehow change his mind and still bring back the quarterback who both saved the Falcons' franchise but then leveled it - at least by the small percentage of people who still wear No. 7 jerseys, scream his name and still hold a candle for him. Goodbye, Michael Vick. Finally. I'm all for his return - somewhere else. I'm all for him ..."
June 12
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The Atlanta Falcons have released quarterback Michael Vick Friday morning, team officials confirmed. The team had been seeking to trade the former star quarterback, who was suspended by the NFL after his conviction on dogfighting charges. He last played for the Falcons in 2006. "We spent a significant amount of time this off-season trying to trade him to another NFL club, and we had some conversations with a few teams, but nothing materialized," general manager Thomas Dimitroff said on the team's Web site, atlantafalcons.com. "At this point, we feel releasing Michael is best for him and best for us." Dimitroff said he spoke with Vick on Friday. Vick is now free to pursue any playing ..."
June 1
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The gossip Web site Radar Online.com has published photos and a video showing suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick comfortably adjusting to life under house arrest in Hampton, Va. In the video, Vick talks with someone off-camera about his days in prison and is seen interacting with his two daughters. Vick's fiancee, Kijafa Frink, can be heard behind the camera. In the photos, according to the Web site, Vick is visiting with children from the Vick Foundation, a nonprofit for at-risk youth. Vick spent 19 months in federal prison after his conviction for financing a dogfighting operation. He will spend the next two months being monitored at his five-bedroom Virginia home and working a ..."
May 28
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Michael Vick will "be a better man" because he spent 18 months in federal prison, his father said in an interview. Michael Boddie told The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., that he knows firsthand what being locked up can do. "You have a lot of time to reflect," he told the newspaper. "Looks like he came through it in one piece. I think he'll be a better man for it." Boddie, 47, and Vick have a strained relationship, but they visited for 10 to 15 minutes last Friday at the Hampton home where Vick is serving two months of home confinement. "I told him, 'Son, what don't kill you will make you stronger,'" Boddie told the newspaper. Boddie, who has had problems with drugs and drunk driving, ..."
May 21
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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What does Michael Vick's future hold? Should he be allowed back in the NFL? There's no shortage of opinion as media members from across the country sound off. Many, including the Hartford Courant's Jeff Jacobs, argue Vick deserves a second chance if he proves himself worthy. "Vick's redemption can be found only in his deeds," Jacobs wrote. "His atonement will be found in his actions. He is a fortunate man in that regard. Some professions offer no second chances. Professional athletics does. Still, that path must be made available by the NFL commissioner." Others, like Paul Woody of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, say "nothing can erase the sickening feeling that comes from reading [Vick's ..."
May 21
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick arrived Thursday at his Virginia home a day after being released from a federal prison 1,200 miles away in Kansas. Vick, his fiancee and entourage arrived about 8:25 a.m., about 27 hours after leaving the penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. Four cars pulled up to Vick's five-bedroom brick home at the end of a cul-de-sac, led by a black Kia Sedona with blackout curtains in the back and sunshields on the front side windows, according to the Associated Press. Vick was in the Sedona, said Chris Garrett, a member of Vick's support and legal team. A man got out of the lead vehicle and moved aside orange cones blocking the driveway, then the Sedona ..."
May 21
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Keion Carpenter, who played with Michael Vick at Virginia Tech and with the Falcons, was elated with his former teammate's release on Wednesday to home confinement. "I'm extremely happy for him," said Carpenter, who visited Vick in prison several times. "You never want to see any of your friends in that situation where their freedom is taken away from them. I'm excited for his kids." As the Atlanta Falcons began organized team activities, their former star quarterback was traveling across the country to his home in Hampton, Va. "I hope for he and his family as they move into this next chapter of their lives that it goes well for him," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. Falcons wide receiver ..."
May 21
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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As Michael Vick left federal prison in Kansas for home confinement in Virginia Wednesday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank reiterated that the former face of the franchise won't play for the team again. "As Michael nears the completion of his sentence, I wish the best for him and his family," Blank said in a statement. "It is my sincere hope that he has learned from his mistakes and will move forward in a productive and positive manner. "The Falcons maintain Michael's contractual rights for now, but he will not be playing for us in the future. In the event NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael to the NFL, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would ..."
May 21
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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On his first day of freedom in 21 months, Michael Vick was confined to a car seat as he made a 1,200-mile road trip to his home in Hampton, Va. The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback avoided a media circus in Leavenworth, Kan., when he and his traveling party slipped away from the federal penitentiary undetected at 5 a.m. Atlanta time. He's unlikely to accomplish that upon his arrival at his five-bedroom house, where he'll serve two months of home confinement to complete a 23-month dogfighting sentence. A slew of media vehicles are parked at the cul-de-sac neighborhood, awaiting Vick's arrival, which was expected to be a few hours before dawn. Vick's legal team spokesman, Chris Garrett, ..."
May 20
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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As Michael Vick left federal prison in Kansas for home confinement in Virginia Wednesday, Falcons owner Arthur Blank reiterated that the former face of the franchise won't play for the team again. "As Michael nears the completion of his sentence, I wish the best for him and his family," Blank said in a statement. "It is my sincere hope that he has learned from his mistakes and will move forward in a productive and positive manner. "The Falcons maintain Michael's contractual rights for now, but he will not be playing for us in the future. In the event NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decides to reinstate Michael to the NFL, we feel his best opportunity to re-engage his football career would ..."
May 20
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Mark Bradley
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He's not quite free and clear, but he's out of prison. That's a start. Michael Vick can begin to get on with the rest of his life, and we should wish him well. Because he's not some demon. He's a human being who made dire mistakes. And he continues to pay for them. He'll wear an ankle bracelet. He can't go to a bar. He can't vote. He'll need to earn his way back into the good graces of Roger Goodell and the American public, and it won't be easy. But there's a story waiting to be written, a story as uplifting as these past two years have been deflating. Michael Vick needs to talk to us, and soon. He needs to tell us he's sorry and that his time behind bars has changed him, made him wiser, ..."
May 20
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Michael Vick left the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., around 5 a.m. today, the Daily Press of Newport News, Va., reported. Citing sources on the scene, the newspaper said Vick dodged reporters by leaving from a different entrance to the facility. He wore brown slacks and a white button-up jacket. Vick and his fiancee drove to a hotel about half an hour away, and they're expected to start the more than 1,100-mile drive home to Hampton, Va., this morning, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, a growing crowd gathered outside Vick's five-bedroom house in Hampton, Va., where he will serve two months of home confinement, according to WSB-TV. Curious residents were driving up and down ..."
May 18
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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It's get-out-of-jail week for Michael Vick. And from all indications, he plans to hit the ground running in his quest to return to the NFL. NFL.com, citing a source close to the situation, reported that Vick will work with a trainer and start football-related workouts shortly after his scheduled release Wednesday from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. Vick must complete the final two months of his 23-month dogfighting sentence in home confinement in Hampton, Va. Whether the embattled Falcons quarterback will be allowed back in the NFL is up to commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended him indefinitely. Goodell has said Vick must show genuine remorse. At least one training ..."
May 18
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Jeff Schultz
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Sometime in the next few days, Michael Vick will step outside of prison walls and straight into hell. He will have supporters. That's fine. The man has paid his debt to society, slept on a cot in Leavenworth for several months and took a bigger hit to his status, his reputation and his income than possibly any athlete in history. He will have detractors. That's also fine. Because for as much as Vick has every right to resume his football career, you have every right not to like it. It's why so many NFL executives are sitting alone in the dark today, weighing that risk-reward thing. But Vick's ability to return to football will be based on something far more impactful than the strength of ..."
April 15
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Suspended NFL star Michael Vick has begun the third leg of his trip back to a federal penitentiary in Kansas. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons Web site showed Tuesday that Vick has left the federal prison in Atlanta. Vick was held in a local jail for several days after he was brought to Newport News to testify at his bankruptcy hearing earlier this month. A judge threw out Vick's bankruptcy plan. The judge also rejected an effort to keep Vick in the area while he works on a new bankruptcy plan, clearing the way for his return to Leavenworth, Kan., where he is serving 23 months for bankrolling a dogfighting ring. Vick has since made temporary stops in federal prisons in Petersburg, Va., and ..."
April 3
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, taking the stand at a hearing in his bankruptcy case Friday, said he has spent his prison time reading, writing and working as a janitor at 12 cents an hour. Incarceration has given him time to think about the dogfighting conspiracy conviction that led to financial ruin and derailed his football career, Vick said. Vick said he committed a "heinous" act that was very irresponsible. He told the court: "I can't live like the old Mike Vick. I was very immature. I did a lot of things I wasn't supposed to do being a role model." The suspended star took the stand shortly after 9 a.m. and was expected to testify for several hours. His attorneys want to ..."
March 31
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The Atlanta Falcons have settled their claim in Michael Vick's bankruptcy case, but their fight to recoup bonus money is still pending before the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, according to a team official. ESPN reported that the bonus claim was settled. "This is just pertaining to the bankruptcy court," the official said. As part of Vick's bankruptcy case, he has agreed to pay the Falcons between $6.5 and $7.5 million. The franchise was awarded a $20 million claim by the NFL's special master in a grievance over bonus paid already paid to Vick. The team contended he breached his contract when he was arrested on federal dogfighting charges. In federal court, the award was reduced to ..."
March 31
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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ESPN is reporting that the Atlanta Falcons and Michael Vick have reached a settlement in their breach of contract claim against the embattled quarterback. The report says that, under the settlement, Vick has agreed to pay the Falcons $7.5 million if the team wins its appeal before the Eighth Circuit Court. The settlement is dependent on the court's decision, the report states. An arbitrator in November 2007 stated the Falcons could recoup close to $20 million because Vick breached his contract. However, Judge U.S. District Judge David Doty overturned the ruling, saying that Vick was only responsible for a pro-rated portion of his signing bonus - $3.75 million. In its report, ESPN cites ..."
March 30
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Michael Vick's plan to climb out of bankruptcy partly depends on the suspended star suiting up again for the NFL after he gets out of prison. The embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback is hoping to earn as much as $10 million a year or more, according to court filings in his bankruptcy case. Under the plan he submitted to the court, Vick would keep the first $750,000 of his annual income over the next five years. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale. Vick, who is nearing the end of a 23-month federal prison sentence for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy, could learn the fate of his bankruptcy plan this week. Bankruptcy Judge Frank J. Santoro is set ..."