Michael Vick Has Been Indicted, Now What?
Feds: Falcons QB, cohorts executed pit bulls that failed fight tests

July 18, 2007 

The following sentence is directly out of the indictment handed down against Michael Vick this week.

"In or about April of 2007, Peace, Phillips and Vick executed approximately eight dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging, drowning and slamming at least one dog's body to the ground."

Federal investigators are alleging that Michael Vick is a murderer of dogs who weren't willing to fight for his enjoyment. Now, investigators can say anything they want and I have been quiet up to now about this, but now a grand jury has agreed that there is enough evidence and that this is not a witch hunt, but a legitimate charge at this point. That does not make him guilty yet, but it is certainly as much as PacMan had at the time of his suspension.

Before you form an opinion, you should read and reread the indictment handed down against Vick and the rest of his merry gang of thugs. It's available on the smoking gun.

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He is not, as he previously said, someone who merely trusted the wrong people. Rather, he is the face of a horrible and disgusting practice that the majority of American's probably didn't even think existed anymore until this all began.

Now what becomes the central question is what does the NFL do with Vick. This indictment the way it reads makes PacMan Jones look like a choirboy.

Now here comes the scary part. The following is an actual quote from NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy

"Michael Vick's guilt has not yet been proven, and we believe that all concerned should allow the legal process to determine the facts"

Now I am really not sure where Brian McCarthy is coming from, but the NFL has made a point this year that they are not waiting for the courts to decide. Vick has crossed a line that no athlete has ever crossed before. This is America, even the murderers in prisons hate people who are cruel to animals and children. He has gone from possible superstar to possibly the most vile human being we have heard of in a long time. If the NFL waits on Vick unlike the way they have handled other situations that were much less vile and disgusting, it becomes a laughingstock to fans everywhere. If they don't act, the beating Vick and the Falcons will take from fans around the country will become a sideshow into itself.

What do the NFL and the Falcons do now? Roger Goodell hasn't shied away from punishing big names thus far, and I don't think he's hypocritical enough to leave Vick out. If the punishment is to fit the crime, Vick must be gone for the year at a minimum, and since the NFL doesn't wait for the courts anymore, it has to be this year.  Now the Falcons and owner Arthur Blank want to be seen as a team full of good guys. Vick's image is forever tainted and at this point the Falcons are a sinking ship as far as public perception. Can they really just toss Vick aside? The salary cap implications are horrendous, but what can they do?

Whatever the short term consequences, letting Matt Schaub go is starting to look like a huge mistake at this point.