Suspended NFL star Michael Vick slipped past waiting cameras and reporters undetected to leave a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas before dawn Wednesday to begin home confinement in his house in Hampton, Virginia. It is the latest step on a journey that he hopes will lead to his reinstatement after serving 19 months for financing a dog fighting ring. He will begin two months of home confinement before a scheduled released from federal custody on July 20.
Vick was traveling by car accompanied by his fiancé, Kijafa Frink with several members of a security team arranged for by his team of lawyers and advisers. The drive from Leavenworth to Vick’s Hampton home is expected to take about 19 hours.
Ultimately, Michael Vick’s goal is to rehabilitate his image and return to the NFL, but his first priority is spending time with his children and his loved ones. Vick, once the NFL’s highest-paid player, is scheduled to report to a probation officer Friday in Norfolk, Virginia. He will be allowed to leave the house to work a $10-an-hour job as a laborer for a construction company and for other limited purposes approved by his probation officer. He will be handed a new set of rules when he begins serving three years of probation after he is released.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007, has said he will review Vick’s status after his criminal case is concluded. Vick has said he wants to work with the Humane Society on a program aimed at eliminating dog fighting among urban teens.
Michael Vick’s NFL future is uncertain even if he is reinstated. He and the Atlanta Falcons have parted ways, agreeing to a contract settlement that will allow him to sign with another team. However, there are some risks; a public backlash being one and there’s no telling how much his skills have eroded after two missed seasons. One certainty is that he will not command the kind of money he once earned. Besides his 10-year, $130 million Falcons contract he had several lucrative endorsements, all lost because of the dog fighting. The minimum salary for a player with Vick’s years of experience is $620,000. Yeah, I know $620,000 a year is a lot of money, but not compared to $13 million a year plus endorsements.
Michael Vick, like anyone else who has served their time, should be given an opportunity to resume his career. The United States has always been a country of second chances. You have some remorse for what you did, apologize, go pay your price and then come back and become a better person. We have never been one strike and you’re done. “Let any of you who is without sin, cast the first stone.” I understand people love their dogs, and it was a horrible thing. But has he paid his debt? I think so. To err is human.
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