Falcons need to give Vick leave of absence

[NYBronco]

Falcons need to give Vick leave of absence
John Czarnecki
FOXSports.com, Updated 56 minutes ago
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The wait-and-see attitude of the NFL office toward Michael Vick makes sense even though mainstream America probably wants an immediate suspension based on the federal dogfighting allegations.
If found guilty, Vick most likely will be facing prison time. Going to jail is a greater punishment than simply being suspended for a few games.
Many believe that federal prosecutors want to put Vick's case on a fast track, meaning that the Falcons quarterback will be focused on keeping himself out of jail rather than studying Coach Bobby Petrino's playbook. For example, the first day of training camp Vick won't be in Atlanta, but in Richmond formally hearing the charges against him and requesting bail.

If Vick can't get this case postponed until after the football season, it makes sense for the Falcons to give the player (and his teammates) immediate relief. Owner Arthur Blank and GM Rich McKay should give Vick a leave of absence from football.


Michael Vick indicted



News:

Vick to face no-nonsense judge
Nike to hold release of Vick shoe
PETA wants Vick suspended
Vick due in court July 26
Vick indicted on dog fight charges
Read the indictment (.pdf)
Analysis:

Czar: Vick should take year off
Kriegel: Just blew it
Czar: Vick's crippled image
Video:

Glazer: Goodell likely to crack down


The time off would aid Vick in defending himself and also leave his teammates free to concentrate on their season without a daily distraction. A man's life and his future career is more important than Sunday afternoon games.

Vick and the Falcons never believed it would come to this. Vick kept telling everyone that he was innocent. The federal indictment and its lengthy details of how Vick and his co-conspirators killed dogs is gruesome reading. The charges are so serious that Vick needs to be attentive to his lawyers and finding a solution to this case if he is innocent.

His good name is at stake. Also, allowing Vick to concentrate on his court case keeps him off the field, which ultimately benefits the NFL.

On a less serious note, oddsmakers don't like Vick's chances. According to Bodog.com, it's an even money bet that Vick will miss (suspension) between nine and 12 games this season.



I believe Vick should step forward and remove himself until this gets sorted out. Who other than Vick knows the situation better. He's already placed the Falcons in a difficult situation why compound it?

[Northman]

Even though this is a serious matter it is Vick's first offense (if he is found guility). So Goodell is doing the right thing right now by holding back. Personally, i think he is guilty at least to some extent and should be suspended but if the rules state " multiple " infractions than Goodell needs to wait.

[Garcia Bronco]

Goodell is already within his rights though to suspend. I agree that it's the right move to wait and see.

[Jason in LA]

This is the reason why I have a problem with Goodell's swift punishments. I have no problem with Goodell suspending players who have been found guilty. Tank Johnson deserved that suspension, and if Pacman is found guilty, then his suspension is well deserved. I didn't want to give my opinion on the Pacman case because it would have seemed like I was defending the guy, which I do not want to do. He's a bad guy. I just thought that Goodell should have waited for him to be found guilty, which may happen, and then suspend the guy.

Now we have a problem, because Goodell opened up a can of worms with these swift punishments. Does he give Vick, the second highest paid player in the league, and one of the biggest stars, a swift punishment? How can he give Pacman that punishment but not Vick? If he doesn't give Vick that same punishment, then shouldn't Pacman have a legit gripe? I'd think so.

If Goodell would have just let the legal system do it's work, and then added on a punishment after that, then there wouldn't be this problem. Players found guilty for off the field problems would have been fairly delt with.

Just so you all know, I think Vick is going down for this, and he should. My point isn't to defend Vick or Pacman. My point is that Goodell's system is very flawed.

[Garcia Bronco]

The difference with Pacman is he has a repeated negative problem constantly getting into trouble. Vick on the other hand has never had issues with the law. I don't find it flawed at all. Different cases require different resolutions. The idea that one solution should fit all is lacking.

[Jason in LA]

Wasn't the incident at the airport a problem with the law? Sounds like he is a repeat offender, even though he hasn't been convicted with anything.

There is way too much grey area here. That's the problem I have with the situation. The NFL is usually black and white when it comes to the rules. Like it or not, we know what's going to happen in most cases. The commissior isn't being consistant with this case.

[BroncoBuff]

Ya think the Falcons might wanna be calling up Kubiak to un-do the Schaub trade? ROFL!

It would be frightening to go into a season with Joey Harrington ... they're focusing on the run game mostly, but still. Joey ... Harrington?

[ward63]

The can always sign Marcus Vick and give him the #7 jersey....just an idea, haha.

[MrPeepers]

agreed.

[cutthemdown]

This is the reason why I have a problem with Goodell's swift punishments. I have no problem with Goodell suspending players who have been found guilty. Tank Johnson deserved that suspension, and if Pacman is found guilty, then his suspension is well deserved. I didn't want to give my opinion on the Pacman case because it would have seemed like I was defending the guy, which I do not want to do. He's a bad guy. I just thought that Goodell should have waited for him to be found guilty, which may happen, and then suspend the guy.

Now we have a problem, because Goodell opened up a can of worms with these swift punishments. Does he give Vick, the second highest paid player in the league, and one of the biggest stars, a swift punishment? How can he give Pacman that punishment but not Vick? If he doesn't give Vick that same punishment, then shouldn't Pacman have a legit gripe? I'd think so.

If Goodell would have just let the legal system do it's work, and then added on a punishment after that, then there wouldn't be this problem. Players found guilty for off the field problems would have been fairly delt with.

Just so you all know, I think Vick is going down for this, and he should. My point isn't to defend Vick or Pacman. My point is that Goodell's system is very flawed.

It's simple Jason. Goodell has stated he is most interested in cracking down on repeat offenders. To my knowledge this is Vicks first official time in trouble with the law.

[cutthemdown]

Wasn't the incident at the airport a problem with the law? Sounds like he is a repeat offender, even though he hasn't been convicted with anything.

There is way too much grey area here. That's the problem I have with the situation. The NFL is usually black and white when it comes to the rules. Like it or not, we know what's going to happen in most cases. The commissior isn't being consistant with this case.

I don't think officially he was cited or anything. Had he been wrote a ticket for marijuana possession etc etc then for sure that would count as an incident. I just don't think a media report about a container that may have hid an illegal substance is enough to count. But I do agree with you it seems like Goddell had he wanted to could have found the reasoning to suspend Vick. What I think is Goddell wants to see if he is convicted. If he is the suspension may be very very harsh. Goddell may not want to suspend for say 4 games or 8 games only to have that be to lenient in the long run if Vick is convicted.

[That One Guy]

I just kinda figure this situation is so serious that Goodell realizes he doesn't really matter when Vick is more concerned with the charges of the Federal Government. If this were something like, say, a few years ago when Randy Moss bumped that police officer with his car to move her.. then I think that'd be something that could be punished in a first situation scenario because of how it comes out and there's clear cut proof. Something as serious as this can only be inflamed if Goodell suspends him. Also, as soon as he suspends him then Vick is essentially convicted. I'll say all day long that Vick is guilty but I think this situation is just so serious that Goodell doesn't want to touch it any more than he has to.

[BroncoBuff]

He was completely exonerated for the Ron Mexico "marijuana-smelling" water bottle airport episode.


But this one is not going away .... even money he won't play a down this year. Can you imagine? On a team like Atlanta with just one marquee player ... losing him to this three weeks before camp starts?

[That One Guy]

He was completely exonerated for the Ron Mexico "marijuana-smelling" water bottle airport episode.


But this one is not going away .... even money he won't play a down this year. Can you imagine? On a team like Atlanta with just one marquee player ... losing him to this three weeks before camp starts?

I was talking to one of my commanders Thursday morning and he's apparently a Falcons fan and he was talking about how Vick should just be gone and they should let Shaub start because he's ready. The look on his face when I told him Shaub was traded and Harrington would be leading that team was priceless. After a few seconds of disbelief and saying "We traded Matt Shaub?!" he finally said "OK, Harrington's good too..." It was awesome.

[Jens1893]

Ya think the Falcons might wanna be calling up Kubiak to un-do the Schaub trade? ROFL!

It would be frightening to go into a season with Joey Harrington ... they're focusing on the run game mostly, but still. Joey ... Harrington?

Tank the season and let Petrino get Brohm next April.

[milehimike]

The comish should drop the hammer now and get it over with. Do the obvious now and lets get past it. Let Vick take care of his life and problems, mature, then get back to football after the dust settles. To many people involved in this matter to let it slide. When PETA makes waves it's going to get messy. Just get it over with. To much bad press in the NFL is not good for the game. IMHO

[theAPAOps5]

I like the paid leave of abscense method being discussed. It saves the league from a PR nightmare it still compensates Vick until the case is tried. ESPN had a pretty decent article on it as well:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2943276

Basically its like a police officer who has either conducted himself unbecoming, fired his weapon, or someother questionable offense. They get put on paid leave pending an investigation. The same should be done with Vick.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

He was completely exonerated for the Ron Mexico "marijuana-smelling" water bottle airport episode.
But this one is not going away .... even money he won't play a down this year. Can you imagine? On a team like Atlanta with just one marquee player ... losing him to this three weeks before camp starts?Joe Horn told ESPN that he doesn't think Vick will be on the field when the season starts.

[-Slap-]

Joe Horn also compared dog fighting to deer hunting:

Falcons' Horn believes Vick should stay with team (http://www.ajc.com/falcons/content/sports/falcons/stories/2007/07/20/0721joehorn.html)

"We need him but more than anything, he needs us."

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Joe Horn also compared dog fighting to deer hunting:

Falcons' Horn believes Vick should stay with team (http://www.ajc.com/falcons/content/sports/falcons/stories/2007/07/20/0721joehorn.html)

"We need him but more than anything, he needs us."
Well, his take is killing any animal is wrong apparently...

I'm not saying that dogfighting is good. I feel like all animals should be created equal. I'm not trying to make an excuse for dogfighting but it's OK for lawyers, doctors, average person to get a gun to slaughter a bear, kill a dear, go hunting. It's legal. I think that's wrong. They say you should be thrown in jail for dogfighting. I think you should be thrown in jail if you fight chickens. You should get thrown in jail and take out your 30-odd-six and shoot Bambi in the head.

[theAPAOps5]

I understand Joe Horn's comments but like many people his reaction is over the top. Human beings are hunter/gathers. We kill to eat. Now trophy hunting is another thing but people who eat what they kill are not in any way in the wrong.

[Jason in LA]

My issue with this situation is that Goodell has created too much grey area. I'm all for dropping the hammer on players found guilty of crimes. If Goodell would wait for that to happen, there would be no grey area. But he's dropping the hammer on players who haven't been convicted, and now he's asking another player to take a leave of absence. So what's the official rule here? There is none. That's the problem. And I don't buy that repeat offender argument. I understand that is what they are doing, but it doesn't really make sense to me. If Pacman got suspended without a conviction, then so should Vick. If Vick doesn't get suspended, then Pacman shouldn't have. If there wasn't so much grey area here, there wouldn't be a conversation about what should happen.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

My issue with this situation is that Goodell has created too much grey area. I'm all for dropping the hammer on players found guilty of crimes. If Goodell would wait for that to happen, there would be no grey area. But he's dropping the hammer on players who haven't been convicted, and now he's asking another player to take a leave of absence. So what's the official rule here? There is none. That's the problem. And I don't buy that repeat offender argument. I understand that is what they are doing, but it doesn't really make sense to me. If Pacman got suspended without a conviction, then so should Vick. If Vick doesn't get suspended, then Pacman shouldn't have. If there wasn't so much grey area here, there wouldn't be a conversation about what should happen.Who has he "dropped the hammer on" that hasn't been convicted? Jones was/is a career criminal basically.