Vick's Plight Saddens Teammates

By Phil Foley
SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) - Exactly one year ago, embattled Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick helped lead the Atlanta Falcons to a come-from-behind victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. By Monday night, he had traded the red-and-black Falcons uniform for a black-and-white prison one. Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison on Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Henry E. Hudson for his conviction on federal dog fighting-related charges, a sentence that will keep the 27-year old away from the NFL for at least two seasons.

Like they have all season, the Falcons played without their infamous superstar, starting Chris Redman at quarterback - a player who probably would not have even been on the club but for Vick's legal issues. And as has been typical of this season, the Falcons struggled. Redman finished 23-for 40 for 298 yards, two TDs and one interception as the Falcons were routed by the New Orleans Saints, 34-14, en route notching their NFC South-leading 10th loss of the season. "We pretty much have been to the bottom," Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "We have nowhere left to go but up."

The absence of Vick, who had so much talent on the field but lacked common sense off of it, has put Atlanta into a rebuilding mode. And the rebuilding process will not be easy. Although the troubled Vick struggled with his personal demons off the field, it was apparent to anyone who watched him that he was a truly gifted signal-caller on the field. In his first six NFL seasons, Vick, the first pick in the 2001 draft, passed for over 11,000 yards, tossed 71 touchdowns and found the end zone 21 more times on the ground. Before his indefinite suspension from the league, the fleet-footed Vick had ran for 3,859 yards on the ground and became the first quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards last season.

Atlanta will not have its superstar quarterback in uniform until at the 2009 season at the earliest - that is if they still want him after his legal troubles subside. Although owner Arthur Blank left the door open for a possible Vick return in an interview for the team's official web site, Atlanta is going about life without their former superstar. "I would never say never because there is always a chance," Blank said. "Quite candidly as an organization and football team, we have to look forward and go forward and assume that Michael will not be back. "If Michael makes a mistake and eats fried chicken and French fries every day, he could come out (of prison) weighing 250 pounds and he won't be able to play football. How he's going to be able to keep himself in shape, maintain himself, stay athletically tuned and mentally tuned, I don't know."

Despite Vick's legal troubles, one thing is for sure, his teammates miss him. Vick clearly was in their thoughts Monday night. Hall, a close friend of Vick dating back to when the two played collegiate ball together at Virginia Tech, came out onto the field with a poster of the troubled signal-caller and stenciled "MV7" under both eyes. "It's life," Hall said. "Mike has been given some bad breaks. He has to take it in stride and keep going. We did that because we wanted to know we're still thinking about him. We still care about him as a human being." Teammate Roddy White flashed a homemade "Free Mike Vick" T-shirt to ESPN's television cameras after recording his Falcons' first touchdown. "There isn't much to say," said an emotional White, who choked up when asked about the T-shirt after the game. "This team misses him. We really miss him this season." "We rally around each other," linebacker Keith Brooking said. "At the end of the day, the guys in this locker room are all we got. We've got to stay together. That's the key. There's going to be a lot of negativity going on in the outside."

Vick's legal troubles have also brought a new perspective of the game to some of the Falcons. "You know you are one play away from not being able to play this game we love and have fun playing," Hall said. "One situation away. Anything can happen." No one knows that better than Vick, who is going to have to learn that lesson the hard way.