Michael Vick's "Dog Fight" Investigation

[Brett Favre 0]

Jason Williams is a racist?

 

And no, they shouldn't get public scrutiny based on their reputation, because their reputation was perceived by the media in the first place. Everyone makes mistakes, and take Ron Artest for example. He gave his whole first year paycheck in the NBA to his entire neighborhood, does well for the community all the time, and was even in Africa this summer giving rice, water, and electricity to kids that need it. Was it the front story for ESPN? Hell no. But if he throws down a camera, he's suddenly a bad guy, with a horrible reputation, when in fact there's more to the guy. Which is why we shouldn't blast a guy until he's guilty.

[Nate 0]

isnt Vick supposed to be entering a guilty plea today or something, i think regardless of the outcome i dont see him ever playing for the NFL again, and for some goofy reason i see TNA picking him up

[tominator89 0]

Two more plead guilty; no word from Vick

FOXSports.com, Updated 16 minutes ago

 

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Michael Vick has yet to cop a plea deal, but the news keeps getting worse for the Atlanta Falcons quarterback.

 

Vick posed for a photo with three co-defendants and a pit bull they were about to sponsor in a dogfight in North Carolina four years ago, according to the statement of facts signed by Purnell Peace, one of two alleged cohorts who entered guilty pleas Friday.

 

It was unclear whether prosecutors — or anyone — has a copy of that photo.

 

Peace also said Vick "participated" in the execution of approximately eight dogs earlier this year.

 

According to the statement of facts signed Friday, "Peace, (Quanis) Phillips and Vick executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging and drowning. All three participated in executing the dogs. Peace agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips and Vick."

 

With his NFL career in jeopardy and a superseding indictment adding more charges in the works, Vick and his lawyers have been talking with federal prosecutors about a possible plea agreement.

 

But there was no indication Friday at U.S. District Court that Vick would enter a plea before any new charges are filed, perhaps as early as next week.

 

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.

 

Sentencing for the two was scheduled for Nov. 30. Vick has been barred from training camp by the NFL and is scheduled to stand trial Nov. 26.

 

Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach and Quanis Phillips, 28, of Atlanta entered plea agreements and joined another defendant who previously changed his plea to guilty. The agreements require the three to cooperate in the government's case against Vick.

 

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. Tony Taylor of Hampton pleaded guilty last month and will be sentenced Dec. 14. Vick faces the same charges.

 

"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 the 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.

 

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://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7130140

 

No words exist to describe how stupid Vick is.

[Ripper 0]

Its not about black or white, its about the look of the black and white. If Jason Williams or Eminem were in the same situation the same negative spin would have been made.

 

If it were Tiki Barber or Kobe, or Ladamian Tomilson, people would give them the benifit of the doubt.

 

I'm loathe to even discuss this with you, considering the lengths that you go to maintain an apologetic stance for Vick, but this is an absolute riot. Kobe Bryant isn't "gangsta" enough? Is that what you really think this is about? People assuming guilt for Michael Vick not because federal investigators were raiding his house, but because he has cornrows?

 

If this is really all about persecution of an anti-establishment image, have you considered the possibility that Vick has earned that reputation through his actions in the past (flipping off fans, getting stopped for "hidden compartments" in water bottles)? Don't you think that Jason Williams (racist, homophobic statements) and Eminem (homophobic statements, songs about making his wife BLEED BITCH BLEEEEEED) make for poor examples of "unfairly persecuted" public figures?

 

 

Kobe is a walking example. Kobe was accused of rape, was arrested and not once was the media slant towards him being guilty. They were doing interviews with old girlfriends talking about how he would never do such a thing, with teammates and such. Not once was their an implication of guilt.

 

Then you have the Iverson case where the second he was being sought they were reporting that he threw his wife out the house naked (something later denied by Iverson, his wife, his cousin who came and picked up his wife and his neighbors), that he pulled a gun on a guy after breaking into his apartment (the apartment that he paid the rent, and the guy said he didn't see a gun, but saw a buldge in his pants that could have been a gun).

 

And on top of that, look at a story about Iverson now and they still will mention that incident as though it wasn't completely thrown out of court and the judge called the case laughable. They never mention the Kobe case again.

 

And Kahran, you have to look at the "bad behavior" that got these guys the reputation as to what I am talking about. Peyton Manning, while in college thought it would be hilarious to pull down his pants while a female trainer he didn't get along with was taping his foot and put his bare ass in her face. Allen Iversons friends got in a fight at a bowling alley when he was in high school (witnesses said he was not involved but he was charged with this gang activity charge where any group over 6 is considered a gang). Which one says more to bad behavior?

 

Michael Jordon punches Steve Kerr in the face for setting screens to hard on him during practice. Where is the bad behavior rap on him? Kobe isn't considered a Thug but has gotten into at least 3 fist fights in while in the league and had a rape charge, Iverson is a thug but hasn't been in one fight while in the league. Are we TRUELY pretending that there isn't a difference given? And what differences are their about the people involved? How they speak and how they look.

 

Even more, look at how a fight in baseball is covered and how a fight in basketball is covered. Hell, look at how Keyon Dooling and Ray Allen brawling into the stands was covered and how the Jr. Smith/Nate Robinson/Carmelo Anthony thing was covered. Look at how words are used to sway the meaning of a article. "Iverson claims he was not involved in assualt." vs "Kerney not involved in sexual assault". These were the actual headline titles on ESPN.

 

Vick was convicted by the media the second Surry county investigators went to that house. Just like he was convicted by the media when that water bottle incident occured. The actual article title in the AJC and on ESPN when the test were completed on the water bottle contents : "Police decide not to pursue charges against Vick". Not : Water bottle content not illegal drugs, or anything like that.

 

Is Vick and idiot? Yep. Is he about to go to jail? Yep. Were the media premature assertions of guilt correct. Looks like they were. But what about the countless other times they were flat out wrong. And it seems that a certain type of athlete are the ones that will get the automatic guilty press spin and its obvious.

 

Let a white athlete from a southern team say something that could be percieved as racist and its going to be all over the place, because you know, southern white people are all racist. Let someone from a more "advanced" area say something that is COMPLETELY racist then it will be glossed over, or explained in depth as to why it isn't racist.

 

The media will insist on the guilt of certain people and not on the other and people will eat it up like candy. I mean seriously, remove the dog fighting from the picture, if Matt Leinert had the same list of things against him that Vick had before: Not throwing away a water bottle, flipping of opposing fans and a civil suit, do you HONESTLY think he would have been called a thug or half the things Vick was called? Or for that matter, if Dante Culpepper had the same list of things, or Donovan McNabb(who does have the cornrows but has a completely different pattern of speech than Vick). Do you all really think the John Rocker interview would have been nearly as explosive if he was a member of the Boston Red Sox at the time? If anything they would have played it up as adding to the fued and been done with it.

 

If Kerney had been, say Chad Johnson(who has never done a thing but is ghetto as all hell) and the same thing happened do you think the headlines would have said "Alleged rape at Chad Johnsons home; Johnson said not to be involved" or would it have said "Police: Rape at Chad Johnsons home".

 

My bottomline is that the media likes to play to stereotypes, and no one is excluded and the beginnings of this case was a clear and perfect example of it. No one is saying Vick is an alright guy and that this case is about race. no, its about dog fighting and stupidity of a athlete. But what I am saying is that if it had been, shit, Jake Plummer at the center of this case, the media would have covered it COMPLETELY Differently. Peta would have still protested because its not like they have anything better to do, but I doubt the media editorial venom inserted into non opinion pieces would have been there.

 

 

 

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

You do make a lot of good points about media perception and the inherent bias that comes with their coverage. But I think much of your point of view is hurt by living in Atlanta where Vick is a controversial figure. And without trying to race bait, I think a lot of your perecption is hurt because you are black and there are so many problems in this country with race relations.

 

But there is an obvious difference in where we are getting our news from and how we interpret media coverage. From my point of view, Kobe was dragged through the streets and spit on all along the way. I remember him being guilty from the moment that story broke. He lost all his endorsements and was basically barred from the public images of the NBA. I still don't think he's recovered and that story's been dead for what, 3 years now?

 

When the Michael Vick story broker, it was "Dog fighting at house owned by Vick." It seemed like it took quite a while before he started being linked to the story. And the reason he started being linked is because of the reputation he's earned. Michael Jordan isn't going to get bad press for punching Kerr because he's got ten plus years of being an upstanding citizen and good teammate. Vick has had a string of stories that imply bad decision making. Dog fighting isn't a jump when you consider his past.

 

Media bias is something that works both ways. Vick may be getting skewered today, but just two or three years ago he was pegged as the future of the NFL. He got the richest contract in league history, the cover of Madden and daily coverage on ESPN. And he got all this despite the fact that he has never proven to be much more than a mediocre quarterback. Being a public figure will bring the good and the bad.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

I don't know what the fuck Ripper is talking about.

 

"What are you doing here, Uncle Rico?"

[The Man in Blak 0]

Kobe is a walking example. Kobe was accused of rape, was arrested and not once was the media slant towards him being guilty. They were doing interviews with old girlfriends talking about how he would never do such a thing, with teammates and such. Not once was their an implication of guilt.

 

Yeah, so McDonalds and a couple of other sponsors dumped their endorsement contracts with Kobe for the hell of it, right?

 

Then you have the Iverson case where the second he was being sought they were reporting that he threw his wife out the house naked (something later denied by Iverson, his wife, his cousin who came and picked up his wife and his neighbors), that he pulled a gun on a guy after breaking into his apartment (the apartment that he paid the rent, and the guy said he didn't see a gun, but saw a buldge in his pants that could have been a gun).

 

I'm not going to contend that the media's reporting of Iverson's domestic dispute was flawless, but the man was busted for marijuana and for carrying a concealed weapon. He's hardly a saint.

 

You seem to be incapable of discerning the different contexts behind each of these events. Michael Jordan punching a teammate in the middle of a practice isn't even in the same league as having one of the most famous stars in the NFL getting raided by federal investigators for an illegal dogfighting conspiracy. Peyton Manning mooning some girl in college is not going to have as much impact on the newswire as a Pro Bowl franchise quarterback getting dragged into court on federal charges. For you to throw those incidents out there as counterexamples for how Michael Vick should be treated in this case is really naive, if not completely and altogether ignorant of reality.

 

Jason Williams is a racist?

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...001&sc=1000

[Brett Favre 0]

Ohh, that incident. I wouldn't say he's a definite racist though.

[skullman80 0]

Vick took the plea deal.

 

per main page of CNN.com.

 

http://www.cnn.com/

[Boon 0]

And per ESPN.

 

No word on how long he'll be behind bars.

[skullman80 0]

He will never play another snap in the NFL again.

 

I love it.

 

I hope he rots.

[Ripper 0]

I am guessing it must be a pretty good deal since pleading guilty means his NFL career is probably over and it is probably going to cost him about 22 million in signing bonus money.

[MrRant 0]

So I assume you have no defense for him now Rip?

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

Well, that's the end of that book, huh.

[Ripper 0]

So I assume you have no defense for him now Rip?

 

 

You never actually read my post, do you?

[Robert 0]

Isn't there some new football league opening up soon w/Cuban as an owner? Well, if nobody signs Vick and he gets cut, he can always join the new league. My question is this: Who in the hell do the Falcons have at QB? Harrington is meh, Shockley is out, and Redman is pretty bad. Who do they go after, maybe Brunell or somebody?

[Ripper 0]

Shoulda went after Culpepper.

 

I say tank the season and go after Brohm.

[Mike wanna be 0]

This would've been Shockley's year and probably Shockley's future, seeing as he's the closest to Vick's mobility they've got. Shame he blew out his knee, I liked him.

 

Oh, and Vick is a moron. As soon as the first guy made the plea deal, Vick should've hopped on board and sold out the other two. Now he's the last one, and he's the big one...

[Vampiro69 0]

I am guessing it must be a pretty good deal since pleading guilty means his NFL career is probably over and it is probably going to cost him about 22 million in signing bonus money.

 

There is always the Raiders. They will be looking to sign him when JaMarcus Russell's holdout continues into the 2nd year.

[tominator89 0]

Shoulda went after Culpepper.

 

I say tank the season and go after Brohm.

 

My friend, a Falcons fans, said the same thing.

 

 

Kelly Holcomb should become available soon.

 

I couldn't help but tease him about the availability of Ty Detmer and Kordell Stewart.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

So the talk is 18 to 36 months. I guess that's not too bad, considering that it could be much worse with racketeering charges coming in. Vick said he wanted less than a year. Well, yeah. Who wouldn't?

 

That's almost certainly the end of his career, though. He'll go down as one of the biggest busts ever now. This guy went from "revolutionizing the quarterback position" to federal prison, with just a playoff Lambeau win to his name, really.

[Ripper 0]

No way he took a 18-36 month deal. No freakin way he took a 3 year prison term(which would mean he owes the Falcons 28 million dollars on top of his career being over) plus however long the NFL suspends him.

 

Plus you don't what he pled guilty to. If he ducked the gambling charges, he might have saved his career in the terms that the league couldn't give him a lifetime ban, but what GM would take a chance on him?

 

 

 

 

[Broward83 0]

Doesn't matter what he pleaded to, its dependent upon what the judge is going to give him. He's gained a reputation for being pretty hard-lined when it comes to sentencing and he's already made a note to point out to others that no matter what the government recommends to him, he can give the entire sentence...which for Vick would be five years or so plus 350k in fines.

 

 

Edit: Fucking Vick is ruining my enjoyment of the ATH/PTI power hour now...

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

Okay, Ripper, how long do you think it is? I heard 18 to 36.

[Ripper 0]

I could see him getting a year honestly.

 

Just as the judge is hardline, he wouldn't want to be seen as he is trying to make an example out of a high profile case.

 

And if the prosecutors are recommending a sentence around that length, him giving a sentence twice or three times that would be looked at just as that.

 

People are guessing 18-36 because the judge usually starts at the top of the sentence and works his way down and usually ends up with somewhere around the middle. So people are guessing that.

 

Lets just say it will be ALOT closer to the 18 than the 36, although I would think under the 18 is probably where it would be.

 

 

[Broward83 0]

The thing is Rip, he's a Federal Judge. He's got that job until he steps down, or does some real serious shit. So if he wanted to, he could bury Vick in jail for the max and still sleep well at night.

 

If he gets less than 24, I'll be upset and feel that the judge did nothing more than pander to the Atlanta populace under fear of being labeled a racist.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

I think it'll be between 12 and 18. He won't get less than a year for all of this, but certainly not three whole years. I don't think he's ever coming back to the NFL, though.

[MrRant 0]

So I assume you have no defense for him now Rip?

 

 

You never actually read my post, do you?

 

Oh I did. Just wanted to make sure.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I'm guessing that the prosecution will ask for a 12-18 month sentence. The judge will likely go for 18 months, maybe even tacking on an additional six. Somewhere around 1.5 - 2 years in prison.

 

As for the NFL, Goodell will lay down an indefinite suspension that will last during the prison term. Once his term ends, he'll have a meeting with Vick to work out some sort of rehabilitation plan. At that point, he'll administer his own punishment. Probably a year based on the precedent set by previous cases. All in all, that will put him out the leage for 3 years.

 

Someone will probably take a chance on him later on. But he'll be 31 years old by that time. His days as an NFL-caliber QB will be over. Let's face it, he's not really a skilled QB right now. I'd hate to see what he'll look like when his legs are gone and he hasn't seen NFL defenses in 3 years. He'll get a shot as a WR or punt returner somewhere.

[Guest Soriano's Torn Quad]

The Saskatchewan Roughriders, probably.