Michael Vick

So Michael Vick has reached a plea agreement. Who didn’t see that coming?

Make no mistake – a plea agreement was Vick’s last chance to leave open the possibility that he could come back to the NFL. If he went to trial and heinous details of torturing dogs made the nightly news, night after night – the disgust factor with Vick would have been off the scales.

Now with the plea bargain and guilty plea – he can hope that someday he can go back to playing on Sundays. The door is open but only just a bit. My guess is that Vick has taken his last snap in the NFL.

Michael Vick won’t ever be back in uniform with the Atlanta Falcons. That’s for sure. He lied to the face of the owner and he betrayed his responsibility to the team. The Falcons can’t wait to void Vick’s contract to free up some cap space. This season the Falcons may tank and end up with one of the top picks in the 2008 draft. It is well within the reach of possibility that by the time Vick gets out of jail that Brian Brohm will be the #1 QB for the Falcons.

When Michael Vick gets out of jail it is entirely possible that Commissioner Roger Goodell will refuse to reinstate him because of the gambling aspects of the charges that Vick is about to plead guilty to. You are known by the company you keep and the company that Vick was keeping while tens of thousands were bet on dogs trying to kill each other is not the crowd the NFL wants players hanging with. The quality of company Vick will be keeping in jail may actually be an upgrade.

If by some slim chance Commissioner Goodell does reinstate Vick – who will want to take a risk on him? What team will be in such dire straits that they would take a chance on a player who will have been out of football for two years and who has a reputation already as a coach-killer? This doesn’t even take into consideration the fan protests the franchise would face from dog lovers and PETA.

I won’t even be charitable enough to hope that Michael Vick has saved some money so that he can support himself after prison. I hope he has played his last down in the NFL and hope he has to work at McDonalds the rest of his life – after he gets out of jail that is.