VICK SPENT $3.6 MILLION BEFORE GOING TO JAIL

For anyone out there who thinks that Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s decision to plead guilty to multiple federal charges relating to dogfighting and gambling represented a sudden jolt of maturity for a chronically coddled athlete who did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted however he wanted wherever he wanted with whomever he wanted, think again. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Vick burned through more than $3.6 million in the less-than-three-month-period between entering his guilty plea and submitting to federal custody. More than $3.6 million. Without the assistance of Richard Pryor or John Candy. On the same day Vick reported for prison, he purchased a $99,000 Mercedes. In all, he squandered more than $18 million from 2006 through 2008. He even gave $150,000 to the codefendants in his dogfighting case for legal bills. Attorney Ross Reeves represents a group of “unsecured creditors” in Vick’s pending bankruptcy action. That group includes the Falcons, who hold multi-million-dollar judgment against Vick for previously paid bonus money. (A final ruling is still pending on appeal.) “Where did these assets go and for what purpose?” Reeves told the AJC. “A lot of what Mike Vick was doing was planning for being incarcerated. He wanted to provide for his family, and he made that clear.” Although 23 months behind bars might result in the change that Vick so desperately needs, the fact of his public disgrace and looming sentence apparently did nothing to change him. If anything, it served only to embolden him. There’s a growing sense that, once Vick is released from federal custody, he should be reinstated to the NFL. Falcons owner Arthur Blank, arguably the biggest non-canine victim of Vick’s deeds, has said that Vick should be allowed to play again. Last month, Adam Schefter of NFL.com joined that chorus, explaining that, come July 2009, Vick will have done his time, and thus should be allowed to resume his career. We’re not ready to declare that Vick should automatically earn a shot at redemption; if anything, we’re leaning strongly against it. Given the gruesome details of his deeds against dogs deemed unfit to fight, his fresh felony conviction on Virginia dogfighting charges, his failed polygraph after pleading guilty, and the fact that he never faced criminal prosecution for his admitted role in killing animals in cold blood, we’ve yet to see a shred of proof that Vick has in any way changed. Our suggestion to Commissioner Roger Goodell? Suspend him for the 2009 season, and monitor him constantly. If he shows that he truly is remorseful and that he has had the type of epiphany that should have come in August 2007 (but apparently didn’t), then let him play in 2010. Otherwise, slam the shield shut to him. If playing in the NFL is truly a privilege and not a right, Vick simply hasn’t convinced us that he deserves another opportunity to enjoy that privilege. Either way, we hope that the final decision isn’t influenced by the UFL’s stated intention of providing a pro football halfway house for Vick. In this case, the NFL needs to act based on principle, and to ignore the possibility that keeping Vick out could provide an upstart league with its first superstar.