February 1
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Mark Bradley
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I was encouraged to hear that Michael Vick, in advance of his reality show that debuts Tuesday on BET , is saying he led "a double life," and I use the word "encouraged" advisedly. Because you don't know how many times I've asked myself and asked people who worked inside the building at 4400 Falcon Parkway if I/they had any hint — any hint — of what was to come. And I did not. Which might make me the world's worst reporter, except that I've not yet found anyone within the compound who saw it coming, either. I know, I know. People on the outside will harrumph and say they knew it all along because he wore his hair in corn rows and dressed in a manner different from, say, Peyton Manning. ..."
January 24
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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The Dallas Morning News is reporting that a man from Texas supplied former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick with steroids when he played for the team. The man, David Jacobs, is identified in the report as a Plano steroids trafficker. According to the Morning News, Jacobs killed himself and his girlfriend in June 2008. They report that before killing himself, Jacobs admitted to being at a party with Vick and other Falcons players who used his drugs. The report comes after documents were released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that detail the investigation into Vick's dog-fighting operation in Virginia. According to the documents, Vick, now a backup quarterback for the ..."
January 10
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Michael Vick seemed to get an "adrenaline high" when he killed dogs that didn't measure up at his now-defunct Virginia dog fighting operation, according to documents obtained by WSB TV. The records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- part of the federal investigation of the former Atlanta Falcons, now Philadelphia Eagle, quarterback - describe graphically how Vick and others at Bad Newz Kennels killed dogs that lost or refused to fight. Losing was not accepted, according to the records. "All of the pit bull dogs were destroyed after they lost a fight or refused to fight," an unnamed confidential witness told investigators. "The dog that won the fight was the only dog that was ..."
December 7
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Michael Vick was back in Atlanta Sunday. Perhaps you heard? And he wound up far more than a bit player on the stage where he once starred. The former Falcons quarterback, wearing the familiar No. 7 in the unfamiliar green uniform of the Philadelphia Eagles, recorded his first touchdowns of the season, one rushing and one passing, in a 34-7 victory at the Georgia Dome. The two scoring plays totaled just 10 yards but they represent miles gained toward resurrecting a career. For Vick, out of the NFL for two seasons while serving a federal prison sentence on felony charges related to dogfighting, his third-quarter touchdown on a 5-yard run was his first rushing touchdown since Oct. 15, ..."
December 6
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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For much of the past 2 1/2 years, Michael Vick has been pure talk radio gold in Atlanta. Just throw out the fallen quarterback's name, stand back and watch the phones melt and the control board needles dance. Vick was such a radio-active topic that the jocks became wary of relying on it too often. "The joke around the room was that it was too cheap, too easy," said Chris Dimino, morning co-host at 790 The Zone. Yet, the week leading up to The Return of Vick today passed in relative quiet. "Thank you, Tiger Woods," joked Falcons back Michael Turner. The talk on talk radio was quite the stew last week, rendering Vick's return to the Georgia Dome with Philadelphia just another carrot in the ..."