Vick indicted

[OnWis97]

If what they are saying is true then Vick is pure scum, not only was he making dogs fight, but when a dog lost too much it was killed in sick ways such as electrocution.

I was watching ESPN and they were describing the ways that at least eight or so dogs were killed and it just about made me sick. Dogs were hung, drowned, and just beat against the ground if they didn't perform. Sickening.

Dogfighting is bad and is mistreatment of animals. A conviction and whatever the courts would give him would have OK by me along with 8 games to a year from the NFL.

But this is way different. You almost have to be a sociopath to kill a dog by some of these methods. What kind of person could hold a dog underwater until it is dead (or i suppose they cowardly weighed him down and left)?

If this is true, I honestly hope I have seen the last of this guy on the football field due to being too old to play next time he is free. (OK, we're probably stuck with him this year).

[BlueSky]

Here's an ESPN article on what Vick faces legal wise. An important distinction to make from most of the other celebrity cases are that this is a federal case not a state case. The Prosecution has much more resources and Vick's chances of buying his way out of it through high priced lawyers goes down.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2940312

I haven't researched this personally but one of Atlanta's sports radio stations, 790 "The Zone", said the feds have a 95% conviction rate and most of the other 5% are plea deals.

[RichO]

Lester Munson knows his stuff, especially legal stuff.

Facing the feds is a different animal than going up against some local prosecutor out to make a name and win re-election. Like he wrote, high priced defense lawyers can't overmatch the US Attorney's Office like they can the DA. They don't get indictments unless they've got you.

If Vick goes to trial, he'll get convicted (with the help of his co-defendants) and serve time.

But he could make a deal and others in the dog fighting world should be scared. He's a defendant with a ton to lose, if he flips (which may well be what the feds want) then this could just be part of taking down a huge piece of east coast dog fighting.

[VirginiaTechSucks]

He isn't out of the woods yet after the Federal charges either. I live 30 min from Blacksburg and the local news said Vick still might face local and state charges of animal cruelty due to a law passed a couple years ago trying to prevent things like this from happening.

There is a good chance even if he makes a deal in the Fed case, that he is in some big ass trouble with the Commonwealth of Virginia too.

[BlueSky]

Wow, consider the possibilities for the next Longest Yard remake.

[Sterling84]

FWIW ? I?m more in line with Skyaa1?s thinking on this one. In fact, I?ll go one better and predict that Vick never takes another regular season snap in the NFL; Certainly not with Atlanta.

That may seem rather naïve considering the propensity for famous people to avoid legal trouble.

But as others have stated, this case is SO different in many ways from these other scandals. Almost all the other ones of recent memory were moments of fleeting violence that could only be verified, proven/ unproven with conflicting eye-witness testimony and character assassination. In other words?he said/she said arguments.

This is a federal case of substantial duration; much more akin to bringing down a mafia family than investigating a single stabbing. We can all pretty safely assume they have ALL the evidence they need.

Will Vick do time? I dunno. He?ll either do time or sell out his buddies/family/teammates. But in either scenario I do not see a way in which the Falcons or Goodell can let him take the field?.even without having been proven guilty.

I?d like to think the good people of Atlanta would have a hard time cheering for him either. Again, color me naïve. But the details of this have a special way of touching a nerve in the public. People can imagine what it would be like being rich and a target and persecuted for a moment of passion. I don?t think people can imagine themselves beating a dog to death or drowning on or electrocuting one either. It?s only a couple steps above touching children in terms of the gross-out factor.

I heard an interview on the radio comparing this situation to that of Allen Iverson. Iverson was always protected by his work ethic and even when the press did attack him, they took more of the ?He couldn?t leave behind his homeboys out of loyalty and they continue to be a bad influence? angle.

This radio personality with some inside NFL access said?(paraphrasing) ?Ya know, the thing is, that ISN?T the case with Vick. HE?S the one corrupting other people. Other young Falcons included. He?s an absolute despicable human being?a real dirtbag with serious problems and the Falcons may just part ways with him and be done with it?.

Again, I paraphrased the tone of the interview (and the comparison to Iverson) and I cannot remember the dude?s name. But it was on Ciciliano?s show on Fox last night. And you just never hear the ?insider? types disparaging people unless the tide has fully swung in that direction. Usually it?s too damaging to tear a guy down because everyone rallies to him and you get shut out as a media type. This interview made me think it?s going to be fashionable, acceptable and commonplace to distance one?s self from Mike Vick in all senses of the word.

[elliott]

Starting at Quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons #13 Joey Harrington.

That is scaring me to death right now. I mean, the Vick thing is horrible, but JOEY HARRINGTON AS STARTING QB makes things worse, IMO.

In defense of Vick ON THE FIELD, without him we were successful probably once every couple years every decade. And coming to think of it...dammit, it was the same. We were successful for a couple of years with Vick, and now it's gone down the :censored:ter. So, assuming Vick gets the conviction and is gone forever, and Joe Harrington is the starter, that's still freakin' scary.

lol, or DJ Shockley!!! Hooray!

[BCBoy]

I'd actually love to see DJ Shockley start over Joey Harrington...I mean, we all know with Joey in there, the Falcons aren't going to make the playoffs, so with DJ, perhaps they can throw him in there and try to develop him to be the next starting QB!

...AND if not, well, the Falcons will have a top 5 pick in the draft!

---

If anything, Vick will get nailed on the gambling part of this whole ordeal, since the NFL has a really strict policy when it comes to gambling.

[puckhead42]

No common sense in this case......Why would Vick get involved in this type of crap?...lets face it..it was his property....he was involved in some way....go to dailypress.com or search news papers at yahoo and look for papers in New Portnews Virginia....take a look at the pictures of his property and house and the other obvious photos of dog fighting promotion bad newz kennels?....please......it was reported that the estate was valued at 750K...and he sold it for 350k....I grew up in that area in the 70s...left in the early 80s because of crime and drugs....surry county is a very rural area...and dog fighting is nothing new there....In my opinion....which may not mean much....Vick is an incredible athelete and has or had a great future in the NFL with the right team....now he has wasted it on stupid like this...and be sure he will get off on this as far as the law goes...why?...........................$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[pcgd]

I read the indictment and found it interesting at one point someone yelled out Vick's name (I'm assuming his real name and not Ookie) in a crowd of people. That person was "criticized" (I'm assuming that means threatened) by a member of Bad Newz Kennels.

I just find it interesting that if Vick was there, how people didn't know it was him and how that would have been a big deal to call out his name.

This whole thing is fairily sick and I can't see how he escapes this. I'm assuming innocence, but that's pretty hard with all the evidence and the fed's previous track record. Even if he never "owned" a dog, or participated, he still was delivering money and that was said numerous times. Those times it was only his name involved. Most of the other fights were associated with the other 3 people.

[knightranger]

I for one am sick to death of all of these athletes who have been

coddled since high school then get the privilege to play professional

sports and make millions of dollars. It is a privilege you know and I

think it should be taken away as freely as it?s given. To many of the

guys would rather be thugs and gangsters than continue to earn the right

to play sports. I saw some say Vick should be banned for the season!

Hell with that!!!, Vick should never play in the NFL again!

[HedleyLamarr]

He isn't out of the woods yet after the Federal charges either. I live 30 min from Blacksburg and the local news said Vick still might face local and state charges of animal cruelty due to a law passed a couple years ago trying to prevent things like this from happening.

There is a good chance even if he makes a deal in the Fed case, that he is in some big ass trouble with the Commonwealth of Virginia too.

Not to mention tax evasion...which I'm assuming none of the four isn't innocent of.

The thing that's disturbing me the most about this, is Vick's possible involvement. I'm not a dogfighting expert, but it just doesn't strike me as something that the upper financial classes participate in. It's a low-life activity involving low-life folks. Vick (alledgedly) wasn't involved for the money aspect......simply for entertainment purposes.

The more I read about the details of this, the angrier I get.

[ZapRowsdower8]

I bet Bobby Petrino wants Vick off the team. That way the Falcons will be sure to have a high draft pick and he can get his own guy in there. Your new starting QB for the Atlanta Falcons in 2008... Brian Brohm.

[RichO]

and be sure he will get off on this as far as the law goes...why?...........................$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

We're talking about federal charges. If you think money for high priced defense attorneys can get a person off- go talk to Jeffrey Skilling. The ex publisher of the Chicago Sun Times was just convicted and he's a Lord. The former governor of Illinois was convicted. Money doesn't keep guy in organized crime out of prison.

The feds don't play around with iffy cases. They aren't your local DA. Odds are either Vick does time or he flips on other dog fighters.

[leedsunited]

Can they have a re-do on the Matt Schaub trade?

[HedleyLamarr]

Can they have a re-do on the Matt Schaub trade?

I'd rather have Joey Harrington....he's actually won some games in the NFL.

Matt Schaub's stock, for all intents and purposes, is based on potential.

[BlueSky]

So much for my theory about Goodell dropping the sledgehammer on the alleged dog killer...

NFL won't immediately suspend Vick

[leedsunited]

Can they have a re-do on the Matt Schaub trade?

I'd rather have Joey Harrington....he's actually won some games in the NFL.

Matt Schaub's stock, for all intents and purposes, is based on potential.

You know what you're getting with Joey. Schaub, he just might be something. Or, he could just get pounded into oblivion behind that Texan line.

[TFoA]

So much for my theory about Goodell dropping the sledgehammer on the alleged dog killer...

NFL won't immediately suspend Vick

Shocked the hell out of me. I was kinda sure that Vick was gonna get the axe, especially since, if found guilty, he lied to Goodell back in April. Oh well, at least that puts to bed my football concerns...Joey Harrington won't be getting near the starting lineup...whew

But who knows when the trial's gonna be...

Schaubie, on the other hand, got what he got in Houston due to the fact that he was ridiculously good during the preseason, and had loads of potential. Didn't do too much DURING the season, other than torch an injured NE Patriots defense for I think 345 yards and 2 touchdowns, fabulous day, but we lost, so idk what you can say about that. All I know is, my lasting memory of Schaub, and, for the most part, the 2006-07 Atlanta Falcons, is him tripping over either himself or the guard and sacking himself on a 3rd down against the Eagles, then pulling a Lucy on Moren Anderson's Charlie Brown and called his own fake FG and failed miserably. Figurative end to a :censored:ty year.

[hrivnak]

I'm not surprised Vick wasn't suspended. And I don't think he should at this point. There is this thing called due process that I think needs to be followed. Like people have said, the Pacman situation is different due to the amount of run-ins he has had with the law.

But as a Falcons fan, from a football perspective, I'm not breathing a sigh of relief. I'd rather have Harrington start at this point than Vick. It's going to be a three-ring circus all year if Vick plays. At least if he was suspended, the Falcons could concentrate on football... Maybe he'll break his leg again and we won't have to worry about it.