Who will be the Idiots that Pick-Up Michael Vick on their NFL Team

the different articles on Mike Vick returning home from PRISON!


Only a few teams would be good fit for Vick
Buffalo, Tennessee, Carolina among the likeliest destinations

Michael Vick’s release to home confinement has touched off a bizarre-o version of “Pin the Tail On the Donkey” in which the media tries to pin down which owner is a big enough donkey to sign the as-yet-to-be-reinstated quarterback.
Given Vick is, in essence, still in police custody, these are really nothing more than guesses. Nobody’s seen Vick throw, run or do a sit-up. Nobody knows if his heart is in it. Nobody knows whether he’s going to run with the same crowd of knuckleheads that helped land him in trouble so many times before. Nobody knows if he is willing to come in and play for a fraction of what he played for in the past or if he’ll accept a reduced role. Nobody knows anything definitively except that Michael Vick is no longer in Leavenworth.
So instead of throwing team names against the wall to see what sticks, let’s instead look at which teams might present workable situations for Vick if/when Commissioner Roger Goodell gives him his pass back into the league.
OWNERSHIP
This is the most important domino that has to fall before Vick puts on a helmet again. Who is willing to go through the negative publicity Vick engenders? Who is willing to sign checks for a guy who body-slammed dogs to their death? Who is either so secure with their fanbase or so desperate to win or create interest that Vick makes sense? Who has a wide benevolent streak that sees Vick as a redemption project?
Well, we can rule out Atlanta. But Dolphins owner Stephen Ross told Scott Hanson of the NFL Network at the owner’s meetings on Wednesday that he “believes in giving a second chance” and would defer to his football people. Saints owner Tom Benson also told Hanson that he’d be inclined not to but would let his football people at least make a recommendation. Raiders owner Al Davis will do what he wants. Bills owner Ralph Wilson seems particularly bent on making a Super Bowl run at his advanced age. Jerry Jones and Dallas? You have to wonder if they have the stomach for Vick after three years of the T.O. circus.
The Kraft family would likely run like hell from Vick. The Steelers have been mentioned because of their franchise stability and solid, respected ownership but don’t you get to be solid and respected by not hiring guys like Vick? Seems a stretch. Washington owner Daniel Snyder should not be ruled out. He could be sufficiently intrigued by Vick to make that leap, although it might be a hard sell to the fanbase in and around D.C. The Wilf family in Minnesota desperately wants to win and shouldn’t be ruled out. Wayne Weaver, owner of the Jaguars, might also be willing.
FANBASE
Let’s be blunt, dogfighting is a predominantly Southern pursuit. Exclusive to the South? No. But more prevalent there. So one can reason that fanbases in places like, say, Miami, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Carolina, Tennessee, Houston, Dallas or even Cincinnati would be more likely to shrug off Vick’s hobby than, say, New York, New England or San Francisco.
Also, which fanbases are more inclined to worry more about on-field results than hand-wring about which players are bad guys? Probably one in which the NFL entrant is the only real game in town. So Jacksonville, Buffalo, Tennessee — most of the small-market teams — would probably get a little less resistance from fans who don’t have a dozen different options on where to spend their sports entertainment time and money might be more willing to swallow their distaste and root on Vick anyway.
COACHES
Who best to coach Vick? Young, easy-to-relate-to black coach like Tampa Bay’s Raheem Morris or the Steelers' Mike Tomlin? Older, less communicative white guy like the Patriots' Bill Belichick or Philly’s Andy Reid? Hardass former player like the Niners' Mike Singletary? Professorial Brad Childress in Minny? The fact is, the reclamation and reintroduction of Michael Vick won’t fall to one man.
To borrow a phrase, it will take a village. Media relations, GM, quarterbacks coach, teammates, VP of Player Development. He comes with baggage and a little will land in the laps of many. Whoever coaches Vick will need to clearly define the role the team has in mind for him. If he’s in the race for the starting job or comes in as a pure backup, he will be a curiosity. Also, bet on this — when he’s on the field, he will flash brilliance. And the head coach will need to be able to stick to the script if Vick is not the starter or risk creating major distractions. With all that in mind, you need a smart, older, seen-it-all-before coach. Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher. Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati — though he isn’t old — has been through the gauntlet. Reid. Belichick. Mike Holmgren if/when The Walrus returns.
NEEDS
Who needs Vick? That’s where this all leads. Remember, this is a three-time Pro Bowler who ran for 1,000 yards in 2006. He is a special talent and — even sitting in his jail cell — was better than half the league. Why any team would want Michael Vick as a changeup quarterback to run the Wildcat is beyond me. If he’s reinstated, teams need to look at him as a starting quarterback. Otherwise, you’ll lose him. And why bother with the headache? So who needs an electrifying starter of the teams we’ve mentioned in the other sections. Buffalo. Maybe Tennessee. Jacksonville. Minnesota (he and Favre could come in together in August and battle it out in the preseason!). Carolina down the road. Miami when Chad Pennington goes into decline.
WHERE?
Taking this all into account, what would be the places that would make the most sense in terms of ownership, fanbase, coaching/support staff and need at the position? Buffalo. Tennessee. Carolina. Miami. Jacksonville. Minnesota. Now, bring on the reinstatement.


Free from prison, Vick arrives home in Virginia for confinement

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) -- Suspended NFL player Michael Vick arrive at his Virginia home by car a day after being released from a federal prison in Kansas to start home confinement and a job in construction but with hopes of making it back to the playing field someday.
Four cars pulled up to Vick's five-bedroom brick home at the end of a cul-de-sac at about 8:25 a.m, led by a black Kia Sedona with blackout curtains in the back and sunshields on the front side windows. 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 drove into a garage on the side of the house and out of sight of the street. The other three cars followed into the driveway. Two men, presumably security guards who were part of the traveling party, stood in the driveway and three others took up posts near the front door as though to prevent anyone from approaching.
"He's happy to be reunited with his family," Garrett said 10 minutes after the cars arrived.
Vick spent 19 months at the prison in Leavenworth, Kan., after his conviction for financing a dogfighting operation.
He will spend the next two months under home confinement wearing an electronic monitor and working a $10-an-hour job as a laborer for a construction company. He's scheduled to be released from federal custody on July 20, and then faces three more years of supervised probation.
His ultimate goal is a return to the NFL. Chief among his challenges is rehabilitating his image and convincing the public and Goodell that he is truly sorry for his crime, and that he is prepared to live a different life -- goals that will depend more on deeds than words.
"It goes beyond, 'Has he paid his debt to society?' Because I think that from a legal standpoint and financially and personally, he has," Falcons owner Arthur Blank said at an NFL owners' meeting Wednesday.
Part of Vick's problem was the company he kept, Blank said, and weeding out the bad influences and associating with people who have his best interests at heart will be a key to redemption and a possible return to the NFL.
"There's the expression 'you are what you eat.' To some extent, you are who you hang with too, and that does have an effect on lives for all of us," he said.
Vick's NFL future remains a mystery.
"Mike's already paid his dues," Falcons receiver and former teammate Roddy White said Wednesday. "He wants to play football. I think if he gets reinstated before the season, there'll be a couple of teams that will be after him and give him a chance to play."
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Vick doesn't deserve that chance until he passes psychological tests proving he is capable of feeling genuine remorse.
"Our position would be the opportunity to play in the NFL is a privilege, not a right," PETA spokesman Dan Shannon said.
First up for Vick is a $10-an-hour job as a laborer for a construction company. That job is part of his probation, and he will find out more about the restrictions he faces in home confinement when he meets with his probation officer later this week. He also will be equipped with an electronic monitor.
The Humane Society of the United States said Vick met its president recently in prison and wants to work on a program aimed at eradicating dogfighting among urban teens.