Entries Tagged 'Michael Vick' ↓

By: T. Love

On Oct. 4, the Atlanta Falcons will attempt to recoup $20 million of Michael Vick’s $37 million signing bonus that was given to him after signing a contract extension on Christmas Eve 2004.

I really don’t know how this is going to turn out, but it would be huge if the organization could get that money back. It would be bittersweet because that would mean King Arthur will cut Vick once he is sentenced, ending all hopes and dreams for us hanger-ons that No. 7 will come through the Georgia Dome tunnels again.

On the flip side, that is a lot of money and with the No. 1 draft pick which we look (after one game) destined to win, the team could get some decent players.

There is a lot of legal jargon that is thrown into this, so I will definitely take the wait and see approach.

In other Vick news, U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson, who will sentence No. 7 on Dec. 10, has agreed to hear animal loving/granola crunching organizations about the harm of dogfighting. 11… that’s right 11 animal rights groups have filed motions. The groups have recommended a 57-month sentence.

This seems a bit absurd that animal rights groups can come in, talk to the judge and RECOMMEND a sentence. They will not be a part of the actual sentencing, but I think their rally cries will have some kind of affect on the outcome.

Hopefully, this guy is not influenced easy or there is not a picture of his family pet near his gavel. If so, “Ookie” will definitely be in some stuff.

Good luck to him once again.

Check out this article that will be appearing in ESPN the Magazine.

That will be discussed tomorrow.

By: T. Love

No. 7 jerseys could be seen every time you turned around at the Georgia Dome tonight.

Atlanta still loves Michael Vick.

Vick’s public apology on Monday really stuck a nerve with people. The person that stepped up to the podium after pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges, is far different from the cocky, arrogant ass that knew “No matter what I do, people love Mike Vick.”

The little protest by PETA and whatever “insert bogus cause because don’t actually support what you say” here groups was comical at best. These lame asses were standing on the corner in front of the Dome and waving signs at a blocked street. Great strategy.

Throughout the Dome, Michael Vick was everywhere. On women, children, grown ass men, hippy looking dudes.

I really expected the crowd to be different. You would think that the entire world wanted this man dead after everything had been reported. This is hardly the case.

It really appears that America and more importantly the Atlanta Falcons fanbase wants to forgive Michael Vick. Sure what he did was incredibly stupid and disgusting, but people mess up all the time and have to pay the consequences. Once a person serves their time and pays debt to society, should we forgive them?

I’m not really sure, especially since I feel truly betrayed by Vick. Not because he lied, but the fact that he did not take the fans into consideration. He took his NFL career for granted. Maybe it didn’t mean shit to him, but his career meant a lot to people.

There is really no telling what the future holds for MV7. His sentencing is on Dec. 10 and he will serve out whatever prison sentence is given to him. Once he is out, he will take whatever steps are necessary when the time comes to restart his career.

Judging by the crowd tonight, get your life together Mike. A lot of people would still love to have you around.

By: T. Love

After a guilty plea on Monday, FORMER Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick took to the podium to make a statement. This was far different from any podium that Vick has ever had to step to in his career. Instead of asking what look the defense game him on a touchdown pass or what was talked about at halftime, Ookie is making his apology rounds and asking for forgiveness for his actions in the Doggygate ’07.

Before I go any further, I would just like to point out that because of your actions, a U.S. Attorney General has resigned and it will never be clear who ordered those firings, an entire league’s credibility is in jeopardy because of a gambling scandal and some pretty intense hurricanes have hit once again. Yet, everyone wants to talk about you dogfighting. Man you picked the wrong crime to commit.

You apologized to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, whose league you have made so much money for over the past six years. You apologized to Arthur Blank, who has ridden your coattails to fatten his pockets with a subpar franchise. An apology shout out was sent to head coach Bobby Petrino who left behind a Heisman Trophy candidate and a damn good team at Louisville in hopes of coaching you. You apologized to PETA and any other nonsense groups that you had never heard of until all of this went down. The kids were mentioned, because everyone loves the kids. You even found Jesus, which most athletes do when they can’t piss money anymore.

Well Mike, you left out one group.

What about the people that spend their hard-earned money to watch you play each Sunday? The people that follow this team with all their energy. The ones that stood behind you through Ron Mexico, the waterbottle, flipping off the crowd. The ones that still defend you to this day.

Don’t you us something?

I don’t really know where to begin… I sit here in disbelief of the fact that you will plead guilty of your involvement of the dogfighting charges brought against you by Federal authorities. I’m not in disbelief because the charges that I so adamantly defended you against are true. I’m not even in disbelief of the cruel ways you allegedly executed man’s best friend. I don’t know which counts of the indictment you are going to agree to. Maybe it’s just the funding, maybe it’s the actual killing of the dogs or just giving the O.K. I really don’t care. I’m in disbelief because a young black man that was smart enough to use a game to make his way out of poverty stricken Newport News, Va., and have the entire world in his hands could throw it all away for nothing.

I don’t understand how you let this happen.

You had it all Mike. Drafted first overall in the 2001 draft and a huge six-year $62 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Endorsement deals with Nike, Airtran, Powerade and many other corporations. At 20 years old, you were the kid that this great city of Atlanta rallied behind and supported. A packed out Georgia Dome every Sunday to watch you play. Vick jerseys every time you turn around. The Dome cheered for you when you had a great game and picked you up when you had a bad one. This city was behind you 100% and you let us down.

I’m not going to sit here and call you a criminal, murderer, dumbass, scum or demon. Nope, I’m not going to do that because I am no better than you. I don’t know you as a person, I only know the Michael Vick that is in the spotlight.

When you were first drafted, many thought you were a shy and humble young man that had a fierce competitive attitude about you that made you want to be the best. Now, you are portrayed as an egomaniacal, cold-hearted killer of animals. I don’t know which one is you, nor do I care.

What I care about is the fact that after Ron Mexico, the water bottle, flipping off fans or whatever wild adventure you got yourself into, Atlanta defended you. As more and more of these incidents came about you lost more and more support. Now, you have been charged by federal authorities and some people out there still defend you.

I myself defended you through everything. I am a firm believer in due process because I’ve been wrongly accused and charged in my lifetime. The burden of proof was on the government. It was up to them to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you were this cruel person the media made you out to be.

Well, you said it yourself. You are guilty. You could have killed someone while driving intoxicated, get a DUI a year later and still have your career. You could have watched P-Funk and Q kill a person. You could have shot your limo driver in the face, jumped in your swimming pool to wash off the blood and then tell 20 people what story to tell. You could have done any of these things and still had your career, but you did the ultimate wrong. You harmed innocent animals.

This is America and people are forgiven, but this is not forgivable to many.

Your career is over now. I honestly do not believe that you will ever play again, but that is the least of your concerns. The quick rise and fall of your career is the last thing you need to be concerned about.

As a Falcons fan, you let me down. You had complete disregard for this city, the Atlanta Falcons franchise and most importantly the fans. You know longer have the privilege to represent the “A”. I stood up for you against all odds. I believed in you and you let me down.

I still support you as a human being and I hope that you can one day get your life together and not spend it in a cell. All the luck in the world to you.

But, you at least owed me a fight. Go to trial and give some inclination that these charges were not true. Make this city believe that for the past seven years, the savior of our franchise was the guy we had all hoped him to be.

With a federal indictment, you said that you would “fight to clear my good name.”

You didn’t fight to clear your good name.

You couldn’t do that, you really did throw it all away for nothing.

And that is why I am in disbelief.

Sincerely,

A broken-hearted Falcons fan and your former No. 1 fan

By: T. Love

Last Friday was the beginning of the final chapters. Joey Harrington, on his third team in three seasons, led the Atlanta Falcons onto to the field for their preseason opener versus the New York Jets. Garnering the unlucky 13, a visibly nervous Harrington led the Falcons through the tunnel and onto to the field at the Meadowlands. That is when I started to realize that I wasn’t waking up from this nightmare, the Michael Vick Experience is over, Michael Vick is no longer the quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons.

Despite the events of Friday night, the numerous reports by the talking heads on BSPN, lame protests by PETA, continuous hate by friends, family members and coworkers; I continued to keep my spirits high.

That was until last night, the kung-fu kick to the face that pretty much delivered the final blow.

EA Sports rehashed and released its latest version of Madden Football on Tuesday, so naturally I was itching to play. I went by my buddy Robert’s to get on the sticks and as we waited for the bootlegged copy to start up, the trouble began.

The teams were set, Falcons vs. Eagles. Eagles win the toss and defer to the second half. The ball is kicked and Allen Rossum returns to the Falcons 30. The offense takes the field… and I push “start”. It had to be done. Vick was pulled from the game and Harrington was sent in as the starter. It was absolutely devastating. It all came full circle.

No longer will Michael Vick throw that 1,2,3 uppercut combo leading the team out of the Georgia Dome tunnel with flames and fireworks going off to T.I.’s (or TIP, whichever you prefer) Bring Em Out, no longer will No. 7 juke and jive to make a play out of nothing and give this fragile fan base something to cheer about. Extinct is the deep ball that causes a collective gasp in the Dome. No more sellouts, hello blackouts. The end of tapping R1 to escape a jam, a quick flick on the juke stick, three steps in the pocket and hitting square to bomb the ball 50 yards down the sideline on a go route. It is all over.

No. 7 probably will be juking and jiving in cell block 8 for the next year or so… Oh well, back to the Playstation matchup.

On the first play from scrimmage, Harrington failed to recognize the corner blitz and Lito Sheppard destroyed the QB knocking him out of the game. I hope this isn’t the way the team’s season is going to play out, but the positive coming out of the destruction of Harrington was D.J. Shockley going under center.

Shock had a modest day throwing the ball, but he did not complete the game after it was stopped following his fifth touchdown pass. I think he was around 350 passing yards as well.

Watching Shockley and Harrington take snaps was difficult. We have been watching Vick handle those duties for the past six years. No more.

The silver lining?

Watching Shockley dominate helped me remember, winning cures everything. Without Vick, the Falcons must win football games to rejuvenate the fan base. Morale is low, but that is nothing winning can’t cure.

Following my excitement and watching the only game the Falcons will probably dominate this season, I was quickly slapped back to reality after being annihilated in three-straight games of cricket on the dartboard.

The Falcons need to start winning now. Friday would be good even it is preseason.

All of this from a video game, maybe these things are getting better than I thought.

By: T. Love

Michael Vick stands alone in the Federal dog fighting case as Purnell A. Peace a.k.a. “P-Funk” and Quanis L. Phillips a.k.a. “Q” have flipped the script and decided to cooperate with the authorities. These dudes must have been in deep.

Vick looks like he is in real trouble now, but for anyone who has watched our elusive QB, knows he does not go down easy. He always finds a way to pull a Houdini to get out of the worst situations on the field. Of course, there are times when he starts pulling his Houdini act and all you can see is catastrophe developing. This might be one of those times.

P-Funk is scheduled to enter a plea deal on Thursday and Q will give up his “street cred” the following day.

There is speculation that they are all testifying against Vick and that he will go down now. That is probably a good assumption but after all of the false media reports and all the sensationalism, I will continue to take my wait and see approach.

All I can say is this situation doesn’t look good. From the time you put the overmatched, disrespected and underdog Virginia Tech Hokies on your back and rallied them to a 21-point comeback (although it fell short) in the Sugar Bowl versus one of the most legit Florida State teams, I knew you were something special.

Atlanta drafted you in 2001 and you put butts in the seats. Gave this city something to cheer about, we won games, the Falcons were relevant, you carried us to the NFC Championship and you gave us hope.

I, as well as many others, remember everything you have done for us and maybe you are guilty of these charges, but I honestly don’t care. Yea, it is stupid but who doesn’t do stupid things? You just get dirt thrown on you because you are famous and your not supposed to make mistakes because a bunch of corporate idiots give you tons of money so they can sell their products. Give me a break.

Keep your head up No. 7. You have until Friday to accept a plea, but if you’re truly innocent then don’t. An innocent man doesn’t plea.

No matter, you still have support in this city because a lot of us don’t forget the great memories you gave us on Sundays the past six years.