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08-17-2007, 04:01 PM | #41 |
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IF HE BEATS IT, he plays. |
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08-17-2007, 04:07 PM | #42 |
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Of course, the NFL is a business. A business has the right to refuse employment to anyone. I'm not exactly sure how it would pan out. You think that some crappy team like the Raiders last year wouldn't have offered Vick a contract, and let the PR be damned? |
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08-17-2007, 05:47 PM | #50 |
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08-17-2007, 08:13 PM | #52 |
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It's interesting that the Falcons may be able to recover bonus money from Vick:
What will the Falcons do? Atlanta owner Arthur Blank likely would not let a felon convicted of dogfighting run his team. The question is how Blank would handle Vick's exodus. Cutting him would be the easy thing to do, but terminating Vick's contract could disqualify the franchise from claiming more than $22 million of signing bonus proration. Vick has three years left on his contract, including this season. If he is unable to play in any of those seasons because of legal action, the Falcons can make a legal case that he failed to fulfill his contract, then claim the annual $7.5 million of signing bonus proration. Vick signed a 10-year, $130 million contract, and the Falcons can't go back and get money he earned by playing. But it makes good business sense to go after the money he collected in signing bonus even if it means keeping him on the roster while he serves any prison sentence and a possible NFL suspension. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...ohn&id=2977162 |
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08-17-2007, 11:01 PM | #53 |
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It's interesting that the Falcons may be able to recover bonus money from Vick: But if they try to collect that bonus money, they are just going to pust Vick further into the world of crime! What's next, stealing kidneys from people? |
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08-17-2007, 11:03 PM | #54 |
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If the guy is in prison, can you put him on the PUP list? That would save you the roster spot.... And Vick probably has a lot of assets that the Falcons could go after. |
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08-18-2007, 09:53 AM | #55 |
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Now Vick is in trouble (as if he wasn't before), this guy testified that Vick actually hung and drown the dogs with them
RICHMOND, Va. -- Two of Michael Vick's alleged cohorts in a grisly dogfighting case pleaded guilty Friday, and one said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback joined them in drowning and hanging dogs that underperformed. With his NFL career in jeopardy and a superseding indictment in the works to add more charges, Vick and his lawyers have been talking with federal prosecutors about a possible plea agreement. Atlanta owner Arthur Blank told ESPN's Sal Paolantonio on Friday night that he expected Vick to submit his plea deal before the end of the day. Blank also accused Vick of lying to him and the NFL after hearing of Friday's statements from Vick's co-defendants. "What's suggested in those statements of fact don't match up with what the league was told, even our organization and certainly not what was said to the commissioner," Blank told The Associated Press before Atlanta's preseason game against Buffalo. A report in The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk said federal prosecutors had offered Vick a plea deal that would recommend he serve at least one year in prison on a felony dogfighting conspiracy charge, while a story in The New York Times said the lawyers for the Falcons' quarterback were advising him to accept a deal. Now that all three co-defendants have entered plea bargains, Vick is on his own to cut a deal or face trial on federal charges. The court docket did not list any appearance for Vick. One of his lawyers, Lawrence Woodward, attended Friday's hearings and declined to answer questions as he left the courthouse. Purnell Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach and Quanis Phillips, 28, of Atlanta entered plea agreements and joined defendant Tony Taylor of Hampton, who struck a similar deal last month. The agreements require the three to cooperate in the government's case against Vick. Sentencing is scheduled for Peace and Phillips on Nov. 30 and Taylor on Dec. 14. Vick has been barred from training camp by the NFL and is to go on trial Nov. 26. A statement signed by Phillips as part of his plea agreement said Vick participated in the execution of about eight dogs, some by drowning and hanging. "Phillips agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips and Vick," the statement said. ESPN's Kelly Naqi has learned from multiple sources that Vick, Peace and Phillips initially hanged all of the dogs in the woods behind Vick's house but at least three dogs survived the hanging attempt. Subsequently, Vick, Peace and Phillips submerged the surviving dogs' heads in five gallon buckets filled with water until they drowned. Phillips and Peace also backed Taylor's assertion that Vick was involved in gambling. "The 'Bad Newz Kennels' operation and gambling monies were almost exclusively funded by Vick," statements by the two men say. Peace and Phillips were charged with conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and conspiring to sponsor a dog in an animal fighting venture. "Did you conspire with these folks to sponsor a dogfighting venture?" U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson asked Peace. He replied, "Yes, sir." The offenses are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but the exact sentence will be based largely on federal sentencing guidelines. Hudson told Peace and Phillips that certain elements of their offenses will increase their sentencing ranges. "There are aggravating circumstances in this case, there's no doubt about it," he told Phillips. While Peace was freed, Hudson found that Phillips violated terms of his release by failing a drug test and ordered him jailed. Phillips also is on probation for a drug conviction in Atlanta, and the guilty plea could mean more jail time in that case, Hudson said. Any outcome that ties Vick to betting on the dogfights could trigger a lifetime ban from the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy. The 27-year-old quarterback was linked to betting by a statement signed by Taylor, who pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the government, and the July 17 indictment. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell withheld further action while the NFL conducts its own investigation. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had no comment on the latest pleas. About 30 animal-rights activists gathered outside the courtroom. Afterward, as police officers cleared the scene, protesters continued waving large pictures of a mutilated dog. "This is one dogfighting ring that's been annihilated," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. The four defendants all initially pleaded not guilty, and Vick issued a statement saying he looked forward to clearing his name. A statement of facts signed by Taylor as part of his plea agreement placed Vick at the scene of several dogfights and linked him to betting. Taylor said Vick financed virtually all the "Bad Newz Kennels" operation on Vick's property in Surry County. "This is one dogfighting ring that's been annihilated," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States. The case began with a search in April that turned up dozens of pit bulls and an assortment of dogfighting paraphernalia at the property, a few miles from Vick's hometown of Newport News. According to the indictment, dogs that lost fights or fared poorly in test fights were sometimes executed by hanging, electrocution or other means. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2978715 Now I think they should all get the same penalty, if Mike really did do the dirty work, then he should be punished equally |
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08-20-2007, 01:29 PM | #56 |
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08-20-2007, 01:31 PM | #57 |
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Can't find a link but local radio is reporting that some of the dogs were juiced with some meth formula to make them more aggressive. |
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08-20-2007, 04:04 PM | #58 |
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08-20-2007, 04:05 PM | #59 |
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08-20-2007, 04:15 PM | #60 |
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