On This Day
Vick Pleads Guilty in Dog-Fighting Case
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges related to an illegal dog-fighting venture.
30 Second Summary
Michael Vick's explosive style of play made him one of the National Football League's most popular stars. He was the first overall pick in the 2001 NFL draft, and is the only NFL quarterback in history to rush over 1,000 yards in a single season.
Now Vick's future in the NFL is uncertain.
On Monday August 27, Vick pled guilty to federal conspiracy charges in connection with the dog-fighting operation called Bad Newz Kennels being run out of his Surry County Virginia home.
The plea deal offered by prosecutors recommends a 12-to 18-month prison sentence for Vick, but he could receive as many as five years if Judge Henry Hudson gives out the maximum sentence during Vick's December 10 hearing.
Since allegations of his dogfighting ventures first surfaced in late April of this year, Vick's seen his endorsement deals and league support steadily dwindle. Reebok stopped selling Vick's jerseys, Nike suspended his endorsement deal, and trading card giant Donruss pulled Vick's card from all future 2007 releases.
The NFL has indefinitely suspended Vick without pay, and Atlanta Falcons' owner Arthur Blank called Vick's actions "incomprehensible and unacceptable."
The Vick controversy comes amid a flurry of sports scandals worldwide, including the doping scandals of this year's Tour de France and ongoing allegations of steroid use in major league baseball.
Now Vick's future in the NFL is uncertain.
On Monday August 27, Vick pled guilty to federal conspiracy charges in connection with the dog-fighting operation called Bad Newz Kennels being run out of his Surry County Virginia home.
The plea deal offered by prosecutors recommends a 12-to 18-month prison sentence for Vick, but he could receive as many as five years if Judge Henry Hudson gives out the maximum sentence during Vick's December 10 hearing.
Since allegations of his dogfighting ventures first surfaced in late April of this year, Vick's seen his endorsement deals and league support steadily dwindle. Reebok stopped selling Vick's jerseys, Nike suspended his endorsement deal, and trading card giant Donruss pulled Vick's card from all future 2007 releases.
The NFL has indefinitely suspended Vick without pay, and Atlanta Falcons' owner Arthur Blank called Vick's actions "incomprehensible and unacceptable."
The Vick controversy comes amid a flurry of sports scandals worldwide, including the doping scandals of this year's Tour de France and ongoing allegations of steroid use in major league baseball.
Headline
After entering his guilty plea, Vick held a press conference during which he apologized to the NFL, his teammates and the fans for his "immature acts." "I need to grow up," Vick said, "dogfighting is a terrible thing, and I did reject it."
Source: Sports Illustrated
Throughout the press conference Vick asked the public for forgiveness, insisting that he alone was responsible for his actions: "I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering Michael Vick the person, not the football player. I take full responsibility for my actions ... not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else ... I'm totally responsible, and those things just didn't have to happen." Sports Illustrated has the full text of Vick's statement.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Background
On Tuesday, July 17, Vick and three others were charged with conspiracy in connection with the dog-fighting operation being run out of his Surry County Virginia home. As a result, Vick was ordered by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to stay away from the Atlanta Falcons' training camp in what would become the first move toward his suspension.
Source: ESPN
The full text of Vick's 18-page federal indictment includes disturbing information concerning the brutal killings of several dogs. Available in pdf format.
Source: CNN
The July 17 indictment describes how Vick and three others bought a Virginia property in order to stage dog fights, bought dogs with the express purpose of having them fight, then had them fight at the property over a six-year period. The indictment goes on to describe how Vick executed dogs that proved too docile for fighting.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated looks at the evidence found by animal control officer Kathy Strouse at Vick's Virginia property: "In a room about 16-feet square Strouse found blood: a smear on one wall, splashes near the base of walls, a spattering on a jacket hanging from an air conditioner. She also found a dog tooth on a bucket. Yet the most convincing evidence that this was the ‘pit’ -- the dog-fighting arena -- was the rectangular area in the middle of the room devoid of blood. 'Dogfighters put down carpet to give their dogs traction,' Strouse says."
Source: Sports Illustrated
CNN's timeline of the case offers a quick recap of the events leading up to Vick's guilty plea.
Source: CNN
Reactions
Animal Blawg, an animal law blog, offers legal analysis of the case against Vick: "He was not indicted for dog-fighting, but for conspiracy. There is a very good reason for that. Conspiracy is the prosecutor's best friend ::pun intended:: Compared to other crimes, conspiracy is remarkably easy to prove. There are three things the prosecutor must prove: (1) two or more people (2) agreed to try to commit a crime and (3) one of those people did some 'overt act' in furtherance of the conspiracy. Conspiracy to commit a felony is punishable by five years in prison."
Source: Animal Blawg
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that as a result of the dog-fighting controversy, Vick's jersey sales are diminishing and his endorsement deals are steadily disappearing. Once one of the most marketable players in the NFL, the University of Central Florida’s professor of sports business, Bill Sutton, says that Vick is "going to disappear, like a magic act ... You won't find him anywhere."
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nike has suspended the release of a new Vick shoe, stating that the company "is concerned by the serious and highly disturbing allegations made against Michael Vick and we consider any cruelty to animals inhumane and abhorrent." The Nike Air Zoom Vick V shoe was originally scheduled for release in late August.
Source: Advertising Age
Former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith thinks Vick has become the public fall guy for federal investigators: "He's the biggest fish in the whole doggone pond right now so they're putting the squeeze on him to get to everyone else ... He's not the one you're after, he's just the one whose going to take the fall – publicly."
Source: The Dallas Morning News
Sports Illustrated blogger Andrew Perloff analyzes Goodell's announcement: "Goodell is saying there's no time for the legal process to determine the facts, so I'm going to have to do it. Vick can't go on as the quarterback of the Falcons because doing so will leave the Falcons and the league vulnerable to an ever-growing wave of public scorn."
Source: Sports Illustrated
The Effect on the Field
Sporting News NFL writer Matt Crossman looks at what Vick's absence could mean for Atlanta's season. Crossman writes that "even if Vick were not in trouble with the law, he would be closely watched in training camp. With every year that goes by that he does not put up big passing numbers, he moves one step closer to being a relative bust. And with a new coach and new offense this season, time is running out for Vick to prove he's more than just a terrific athlete who plays quarterback."
Source: Sporting News
Opinions
Despite his impending incarceration, Slate states that Vick could be out of jail in time for the 2008 season. Harlan J. Protass writes that "if Vick wants the minimum possible prison term, he should ask for a sentence of slightly more than one year. Under Bureau of Prisons regulations,federal prisoners are eligible for an approximately 15 percent reduction of their sentences if they behave themselves––so long as that original sentence is longer than a year. Sentence of one year? Serve one year. Sentence of one year and one day? With good behavior, you'll serve a bit more than 10 months."
Source: Slate
Chris Lynch at the blog A Large Regular discusses an element of the Vick story that most news sources aren't covering, the gambling: "It should not be lost on the NFL and federal authorities that these dog fights were part of a high stakes gambling ring. Gambling seems to be a forgotten factor here ... I have to ask––isn't a player who would risk staging such felonious gambling activities at his own house the exact type of player organized crime would try to get their hooks into to shave points?"
Source: A Large Regular
CBS Sportsline blogger Mike Freeman writes that Goodell's announcement marks "the beginning of the end of Michael Vick's career ... the Vick Blockade is a pre-emptive strike, an expertly configured and skillfully crafted way of telling Vick (and everyone else) they believe he is guilty of at least some of these charges ... My guess is we may never see Vick in an NFL uniform again."
Source: CBS Sportsline
Fox Sports writer John Czarnecki thinks that the Atlanta Falcons should give Vick a leave of absence for the upcoming season: "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."
Source: Fox Sports
Michael McCann of Sports Illustrated states that Judge Henry Hudson could very well sentence Vick to the full five-year prison term his crimes carry. According to McCann, if Vick truly wants to avoid a stiff sentence, he should "undertake a pro-active effort ... he could purchase real estate ... and build facilities that heal, rather than hurt. Organizations that aid, such as drug and gambling addiction treatment centers and homes for the homeless, are almost always in need of tangible support."
Source: Sports Illustrated
Reference Material
The origins of dog-fighting date back to the Roman invasion of Britain in 43 A.D. Both sides brought fighting dogs to their battles, and seeing the ferocity of the British dogs inspired the Romans to import the canines to Rome for use in war and public entertainment. Roman crowds would gather in the Colosseum to watch gladiator dogs fight animals like wild elephants.
Source: National Public Radio
A rundown of all of Michael Vick's statistics since he entered the NFL in 2001.
Source: CBS Sportsline
Related Topics
National Public Radio reports that Vick's indictment has shed new light on the increasingly popular underground culture of dog-fighting. Although it is a felony in 48 states, the practice is only a misdemeanor in Idaho and Wyoming. In recent months, high-profile kennels suspected of dog-fighting have been busted in Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Ohio.
Source: National Public Radio
The Vick controversy comes amid a flurry of sports scandals that include the disqualification of Tour de France cyclist Alexander Vinokourov following a failed drug test, an NBA gambling investigation involving a referee, and continuing allegations of steroid use in major league baseball. Jim Lehrer of PBS's NewsHour interviews sports writer John Feinstein about the rash of athlete-committed crimes in recent years. Calling the phenomenon "athletes living in the land of Never Wrong," Feinstein asserts that athletes today consider themselves above the rules. "I often joke, but it's not really joke, that you always see athletes parking in handicapped parking places because they don't believe that sign is there for them. It's there for normal human beings," Feinstein told Lehrer.
Source: MP3 Format
Source: Real Audio Format
John Feinstein's latest book is "Tales from Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major." Read reviews and find copies of the book at Amazon.com.
Source: Amazon
Tour de France officials asked the Astana cycling team to withdraw from the race after its leader, Alexandre Vinokourov, tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion. Exhibiting their disgust at yet another doping scandal, dozens of riders staged a protest by refusing to begin the 16th stage of the tour on time.
Source: The International Herald Tribune
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