Michael Vick timeline
April 25: Local authorities raid a property Vick owned in Surry County, Va., reportedly finding 66 dogs (mostly pit bulls), a dogfighting pit, bloodstained carpets and equipment associated with dogfighting.
May 27: Informant tells ESPN Vick is "one of the heavyweights" in dogfighting and said the quarterback bet $30,000 to $40,000 -- and sometimes even more -- on dog fights.
May 29: Authorities obtain search warrant to look for as many as 30 dog carcasses that sources claimed were buried in various locations on the property. The warrant was never executed by Surry County officials.
June 7: Department of Agriculture executes search warrant at property, with the help of state police investigators, finding remains of seven dogs.
July 6: Federal investigators conduct second search at Vick property. Federal authorities file court documents in Richmond, obtained by The Associated Press, detailing aspects of the case for the first time. Vick was not named in those documents.
July 17: Vick indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to illegal dogfighting.
July 26: Vick and three co-defendants scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in Richmond, Va., on July 26, 2007, the same day the Falcons begin training camp.
I never expected the Michael Vick saga would have a happy ending.
I realize it is far from over, that an indictment is not the same as a conviction, and that Vick is entitled to his day in court. But this story, which was disconcerting enough when it surfaced in April, has taken a turn that can only evoke feelings of sadness.
This is a sad day for Vick, the Atlanta Falcons, the NFL, and everyone connected to the game at every level. Something tells me there will be even sadder ones as the story unfolds.
NFL training camps -- including the Falcons' -- open within a week, yet the stomach-turning details of the charges stemming from Vick's alleged involvement in a dogfighting operation make it difficult, if not impossible, to concentrate on football. Thoughts of two-a-day practices and seven-on-seven drills are overshadowed by disturbing images of dogs being tortured and killed as part of someone's twisted concept of a money-making endeavor in the name of, what, entertainment? Competition? Sport?
I find it hard to believe that this will all turn out to be some sort of silly misunderstanding. I can't envision Vick being able to elude accountability the way he has eluded so many would-be tacklers on the field.
The legal process likely will take some time to play out, perhaps several months. That doesn't mean Commissioner Roger Goodell must wait to take action. The league's new player conduct policy gives him the leeway to suspend a player before a conviction or even an indictment, and I suspect his already dim view of the Vick case has only intensified. One can easily gather as much from the following two sentences within the statement released by the NFL on July 17: "We are disappointed that Michael Vick has put himself in a position where a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against him. ... The activities alleged are cruel, degrading and illegal."
Less than a year on the job, Goodell has firmly established himself as the "disciplinarian commissioner." He is on a mission to clean up the image of the league, to eliminate what he and NFL owners have identified as the greatest threat to the health of one of the most powerful brands around. Goodell is not afraid to make unpopular decisions, including the suspension of one of the league's biggest stars, for the greater good of the game. And he might very well have no choice but to act on Vick well before there is a final answer from the judicial system.
I can't get my mind around Vick taking the field when the Falcons begin training camp drills, let alone when they start playing games. I can't get my mind around how he will be able to go about his day-to-day dealings with his teammates, coaches, the team's front-office staff, and especially with the man who signs his mammoth paychecks, Arthur Blank. One can only imagine what the media circus that is already setting up its tents will be like throughout camp, the preseason and regular season.
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I also can't fathom how the Falcons, or the NFL for that matter, could continue to have business-as-usual dealings with sponsors of a team or a league that includes someone who has been connected with "cruel, degrading and illegal" activities.
At the least, a suspension would remove Vick from an environment that could very well prove impossible for him or his team to function in with the focus necessary to consistently meet the lofty performance standards of the NFL.
At the most, it sends the strongest message yet that no one, not even one of the game's biggest stars, is immune from accountability.
