The NFL: Where second, and third, chances are commonplace

ON FOOTBALL

Lost behind the biggest NFL headline of this week, the end of Michael Vick's prison sentence and home confinement, was this little nugget:

Chris Henry is still in the NFL, still a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, and, apparently, doing very well and staying out of trouble.

I was shocked when I read the news the first time, so I found another source. And sure enough, the 26-year-old is behaving well both on and off the field and receiving praise from teammates, including respected quarterback Carson Palmer.

In case you don't know Henry — or, smartly, chose to expunge any thoughts of him from your brain — he's a young, talented wide receiver out of West Virginia. He was also one of the dumbest, most immature professional athletes in this country.

I thought he'd never change.

His rap sheet reads like this (it'll take a minute):

— Dec. 2005: Pulled over for speeding. Marijuana found. Driving without valid license or insurance.

— Jan. 2006: Arrested for multiple gun charges, including concealment and aggravated assault.

— May 2006: Investigated for an alleged sex crime that occurred in a Kentucky hotel room, but no charges were filed.

— June 2006: Pulled over and had a blood-alcohol content level above the legal limit.

— Oct. 2006: Suspended two games by the NFL for violating its personal conduct and substance abuse policies.

— Jan. 2007: Pleaded guilty to providing minors with alcohol during a 2006 incident.

— April 2007: Suspended eight games by the NFL for violating its personal conduct policy and is given a warning that more problems could end his career in the league.

— Nov. 2007: Allegedly assaulted a valet.

— March 2008: Allegedly punched a man and threw a beer bottle through the man's car window. He was waived by the Bengals a day after the arrest.

Got all that?

Granted, many of the incidents above don't exactly make Henry the worst person in society. If I had a dime for every fraternity brother who has hooked up minors with booze, I'd be retired and living in an O.C.-like mansion.

Still, during a two-year period Henry showed no signs of learning his lessons and being a law-abiding citizen. He continued to take his life of fame and money for granted and think he was above the law.

And he came pretty close to misbehaving his way out of the NFL.

But Bengals management has a history of taking in players with character issues, and that's what it did again before last season, re-signing Henry in a move that I called ludicrous at the time.

How could the team know he'd get his act together?

That, however, is exactly what's happened over the past year. Now who knows for sure what will become of Henry, but judging from what others are saying and just not him, he's finally turned that corner and could be a productive citizen.

On about his eighth chance, give or take.

Now, of course, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell's focus is on Vick and whether he should reinstate the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback who ran a dogfighting ring and helped in the killings of underperforming dogs.

I really don't know what Goodell will do. I guess it depends on whether he thinks 23 months of prison and home confinement changed Vick into a morally positive man.

I also don't know if that's the case. I'd have an extremely hard time forgiving someone for such acts, and I can't even imagine what would push someone to do something so heinous for two years.

What I do know is that the NFL is good at giving second chances.

Just look at Henry's case. He's not one of the most talented players in the league and he's never had close to the fame that Vick had when he was the star of the Falcons and was making Nike commercials in his spare time.

But he was never suspended indefinitely from the league, and the Bengals gave him that extra chance that might just have awakened him to how close he came to being ignored by the entire league.

Vick's crimes, obviously, are much worse than anything Henry did. Henry didn't kill anything and didn't badly hurt anyone (although he endangered others by driving recklessly).

But if Vick is truly repentant and ready to be an honest man of integrity, someone who will genuinely speak out against acts such as the ones he committed, why shouldn't he deserve a second chance in the league?

I won't criticize Goodell either way. He's the person who will sit across from Vick and look into the man's eyes.

And I won't criticize any of the 32 teams that passes on signing Vick if he is, indeed, reinstated. I don't care how badly a team needs a quarterback — why would management put itself through the PR nightmare of signing the guy?

I surmise one of the morals of Vick's story, at the moment, is that the more famous you are, the harder it is to bounce back after a dreadful crime. If a lesser-known player had committed the terrible acts, he probably wouldn't have gotten so much negative publicity.

But if I were Vick right now, I'd look at players like Henry and Leonard Little — He crashed into and killed a woman while driving drunk in 1998 and then drove while intoxicated, and speeding, again in 2004; yet he's continued to play for the St. Louis Rams and hasn't had any more off-the-field problems — and be confident about getting another chance in the league.

Just not now.

As has been reported, his best chance this fall might be in the new UFL, whose coaches have shown interest. Playing in the four-team league would obviously be six steps down from the NFL, but it'd be a good start for a reconciled Michael Vick.

And maybe, in a year or two, I'll look at Vick, in an NFL uniform, and see another young man who benefited greatly from getting another chance, or two — deserved or not — in life and on the football field.

The best comeback medicine for Vick

ON FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL

I don't personally know Michael Vick. Never seen him in person. Never spoken to him. Never shook his hand.

I didn't personally know Eddie Griffin. Yada, yada, yada.

But from far away, it's clear that both men — one alive, but heading to prison; one dead after driving his SUV into a freight train last week — have/had serious problems.

Hopefully the one still alive, Vick, can learn from the mistakes of the deceased one, Griffin.

But it will likely take some help.

Being overly loyal
On Tuesday afternoon, Vick's former teammate, Fred McCrary, came on ESPN Radio and said that Vick is a good guy and that we in the media should stop judging him. Basically, McCrary was showing blind loyalty toward Vick. He was standing up for him when he knows — as does the rest of this country — that what Vick engaged in was downright despicable.

While I'm sure McCrary knows Vick better than most of us in the media "judging him," we are simply basing our opinions of Vick on the facts. He gambled on dogfighting. According to his (former) friends, he helped kill underperforming dogs. That's all we need to judge Vick.

McCrary is doing Vick a disservice by benightedly supporting him and saying he'll be a better man when he comes out of jail. That's nice to think, but the only way Vick's going to become a different person once out of the ringer is if he realizes just how awful his transgressions were and that he needs to make some changes in his lifestyle.

To do that, he needs friends and family members who support him, but who don't make him feel like he's locked up for no reason. He needs people around him who recognize that Vick was a bad person and that he needs to change.

Griffin's lost opportunity
There were people who tried to help Eddie Griffin, the troubled NBA player whom Houston gave up three first-round draft picks to get in the 2001 draft.

Houston Rockets vice president of basketball operations and athletic trainer Keith Jones knew Griffin well and had many conversations with him, including in May. Griffin would tell Jones that he was doing the right things, working out to get back into shape.

But those words were always false, including — tragically — one final time. Jones said that Griffin, who battled alcoholism his entire NBA career, was likely influenced by the wrong people, the type of people who don't sit a struggling person like Griffin down and tell him to get his act together.

"I can't say it shocks me," Jones said in J.A. Adande's ESPN.com column. "It's still really sad and really tragic. And Eddie was a good guy. He had a good heart. He made some bad decisions on a lot of things. I think he had people that were guiding him, that he thought were guiding him, that didn't have his best interests in heart."

Sound a little like Michael Vick? Maybe it's a good thing Vick is being locked up.

Another chance at life
As a dog lover, I doubt I'll ever be able to forgive Michael Vick. But that's just me. There are millions of conciliatory Americans who will open their minds up to Vick when he is released from prison a year or so after serving his sentence. Even if an NFL owner doesn't grant Vick a second chance in the league, I'm sure some other league — maybe the burgeoning Arena Football League — will open its doors to Vick.

He could even become a star once again.

But first he needs to do what Griffin failed to ever accomplish. He needs to admit his problems and his wrongdoings. He needs to recognize that the Michael Vick of the past six or so years was not a good person. He needs to reshape himself.

Whether Vick is able to achieve this is up in the air.

His friends/loved ones can sway the wind toward a successful comeback by giving him tough love rather than blind support.

Sunday, 8/19/07's main point: Probable sentences don't fit the crimes

ON FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL

Note: This column is written based on the assumption — which is looking more true by the day — that Michael Vick is guilty of dogfighting.

Imagine this scenario, friends...

So an NBA referee pocketed more than $30,000 by giving inside tips on games to friends running an illegal gambling ring.

A bad deed? Yes. (Especially in the NBA's eyes). An irreconcilable sin? No, I don't think so.

During the same time period — in addition to a couple years beforehand — a celebrated NFL quarterback allegedly engaged in a dogfighting ring. According to other members of the ring, who have accepted plea bargains and are prepared to testify against the star QB, he was present when several dogs were electrocuted, hanged and grounded to death because they didn't perform adequately.

You know the story.

So, let me ask, which crime deserves a greater punishment? Put aside your love for dogs and/or the NBA for a moment, and be honest.

Giving inside tips to bettors? Or killing dogs?

Um, I'll take killing dogs for $500, Alex.

It's a simple answer. No ifs, ands or buts.

Except for this "but." One of the criminals faces up to 25 years in prison in addition to as much as $500,000 in fines for his actions. The other, whether he admits to the crime through a plea or takes his weak case to trial, isn't likely to face more than a couple years in the can (and could likely cop a plea for no more than a year or so locked up).

In fact, many of the questions being asked this weekend have centered around whether an NFL team will take a chance on Michael Vick in the future? Tim Donaghy's life, meanwhile, has been deemed "over" by many in the media.

Now I know life's not fair, but this borders on ludicrous.

Yes, Donaghy's admitted actions are reprehensible. It will take some genius marketing, not to mention star talent, for NBA commissioner David Stern to keep the casual NBA fan watching this season. But Donaghy didn't physically hurt anyone with his actions. That's why 25 years is a tad above ridiculous.

Vick, on the other hand, apparently showed no restraint in not only creating fighters out of innocuous dogs, but killing the live creatures when they didn't win him gambling money. So not only was he gambling, but he killed too.

Hmm... I'd say at least 10 years. Maybe more.

But it appears that a decade from now, Vick is more likely to be playing in the NFL than serving any kind of sentence. Donaghy, though, will probably be locked up, mourning those tips he gave his buddies, which only landed him $5,000 apiece (when his tip was right).

The NBA can be resurrected. Stern is a very smart businessman. He can undoubtedly bring the league back from this public relations disaster, especially considering the young talent that is entering the NBA each season. Donaghy's crime isn't the end for one of the top three major sports leagues in America.

The dead dogs cannot be resurrected, however. They are dead. Forever.

That right there should be enough for Vick — plea bargain or not — to serve a longer sentence than Donaghy.

But that's not the case, and as we all know...

Life ain't fair.

Wednesday, 7/18/07's main point: Is Vick now the football version of Bonds?

ON FOOTBALL

As sad as it is to say this, Michael Vick isn't the only one.

Vick's not the only NFL player who has been involved with the grotesque, inhumane, sickening practice of pitting dogs against each other in a concealed area until one rips the other's head off.

I don't have proof. I can't name names. But I know there are others. All you have to do is listen to what Washington running back Clinton Portis said a while back about the ongoing investigation of Vick: "I know a lot of back roads that have the dog fighting if you want to go see it."

Portis isn't lying, folks. This stuff goes on frequently — especially in the South — and I'm sure Vick isn't the only NFL player (or other professional athlete, for that matter) involved.

He is, however, the only player who has been indicted, and his name makes this case huge.

Which reminds me of an investigation that is ongoing in another sport. Um, does the name "Barry Bonds" and the word "steroids" ring a bell?

Just as the federal government is determined to nail Bonds for what we all know he did — cheated — it is dedicated to convicting Vick for his participation in a dogfighting ring.

The evidence isn't quite as transparent in Vick's case. A book hasn't been written with loads of evidence against him. His dogfighting trainer isn't locked up in a Surry County jail, refusing to talk about his loyal companion. But it has become quite conspicuous that Vick played some role — whether it was running the ring, or simply betting on the fights — that should land him in a dirty jail cell and abruptly end his NFL career.

That's where the similarities stop. Bonds is a free man, hitting home runs, making millions, on the verge of history. Right now it appears unlikely that he'll get indicted for taking steroids, and I'm sure the thought of spending time in the ringer hasn't even entered his super-sized head. He's got it much better than Vick.

What's interesting is that the man in the most trouble — Vick — has been loved by NFL fans for most of his six-year career. His dazzling runs and cannon of a arm made football exciting in Atlanta and filled the Georgia Dome on Sundays. He became a favorite player for video gamers — Falcons' fans or not — and he was featured on the cover of Madden 2004. For his play (and the positive publicity he brought to Atlanta), he was awarded an NFL-record 10-year, $130 million contract in December of '04.

Only recent mediocre play, a couple other off-the-field incidents (the double-birdie to Falcons' fans, the special water bottle), and this current case have tarnished Vick's reputation as one of the most exciting and popular players in the NFL. Despite the federal indictment of Vick Tuesday, Nike still hasn't ended its sponsorship of the quarterback, instead reviewing the new information.

Basically, Vick really had to mess up to ruin his situation, and despite his irreconcilable mistakes, Nike — I guess — still believes he's a decent person to represent the company, which — I guess again — doesn't sell dog collars.

Bonds, on the other hand, has been hated by baseball fans for several years for his unruly attitude and now, of course, the overwhelming evidence that he took steroids. He couldn't land a Nike contract if he threatened the company with Greg Anderson. Unless he hits No. 756 at home, he'll be booed mercifully.

Baseball fans know that Bonds is just one in a first baseman's glove-full of steroid users in MLB, but they don't boo the other guys. Jason Giambi, the contrite one, is cheered at Yankee Stadium and treated indifferently in other ballparks. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, who has lost several pounds in the past few years, is beloved in Detroit and was voted the starting All-Star catcher for the American League despite not having the best numbers.

The only player fans, the media and the government — it appears — want to indict, want to lock away, is Bonds, the man who could steal Hank Aaron's record, the man who will never apologize for anything.

And then there's Vick. This indictment is great news. I cannot wait for Vick to be banned from the NFL — the right move for commissioner Roger Goodell — convicted, and then sent to jail. As a dog lover who recently lost my beloved dog to cancer, it sickens me to think of grown men transforming innocuous animals into violent creatures that kill each other.

Vick should get no leniency in this case.

But let's not be too ignorant to realize that Vick's not the only NFL player — just as Bonds wasn't baseball's only steroid user — who has witnessed a brutal dogfight. The NFL and the legal system needs to send a strong message with this case that anyone who so much as knows about dogfighting will be strongly disciplined.

Maybe the NFL should amend its meetings that it holds with players about personal conduct to include a section on treating animals kindly. Whatever it does, it shouldn't view this case as isolated.

Michael Vick, I'm sure, is simply the bass in a pond swarming with fish when it comes to dogfighting.