Vick pleads Guilty!!!!

[KB21]

The Michael Vick error, I mean era in Atlanta may be over now. It's the best thing that could happen to the Falcons, IMO. They now have an opportunity to get themselves a real quarterback. Maybe they will be able to draft Petrino's boy, Brian Brohm next year.

[Vafan]

I don't remember who, but a poster on here said that Vick will never go to prison. Hmm, I guess he was wrong. They wanted to stamp out dog fighting. Convicting a famous person will help stamp out or reduce dog fighting. No one is above the law.

[Yubs]

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Maybe they will be able to draft Petrino's boy, Brian Brohm next year.

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I don't follow college football all that much, but I have heard some good things about Brohm's ability. And looking at his numbers, they seem very admirable. Any idea where he's projected to go in the draft?

[KB21]

Top 5-10 right now, and he's considered to be the top QB prospect going into the draft. I'm taking a wait and see approach with him. He's got great ability, but he has durability issues. The guy that may top the list by the end of the season is Hawaii's Colt Brennan. The thing with him is that he doesn't have prototype size or mechanics, but the guy can fling the ball all over the field. Colt threw for 5,549 yards, completed 72% of his passes, and had 58 TD passes to 12 INTs last season for Hawaii.

[skankin_richard]

Hell yes to Colt Brennan man... The main knock on him is that he's a system QB, but come on... the kid is the all time leader in career TD's (I'm preety sure). He's gonna be siiiick.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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The Michael Vick error, I mean era in Atlanta may be over now. It's the best thing that could happen to the Falcons, IMO. They now have an opportunity to get themselves a real quarterback. Maybe they will be able to draft Petrino's boy, Brian Brohm next year.

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Wow. That means the Falcons are going to be in the bottom 5 of the league this year then. And be careful what you wish for. The last coach that thought he can just plug his old college QBs to run his "system" in the pros, was Steve Spurrier.

This is a devestating blow for the Falcons. ATL isn't the most passionate sports town in the world, so they need a "box office" attraction to keep their attention.

I think this might have the same effect as an Iverson leaving Philly or a Kobe leaving LA. You can't lose a megastar like that, and think that everything will be OK in the long run. As long as Vick was there, a good majority of that fan base would've been content with occasional Falcon playoff appearances, even if they never went to the Super Bowl. Without Vick, that entire team better be damn good, in order to get Falcon fans to support them like they did when Vick was the star.

I know ATL sports fans don't want to admit to that, but it's true. I'll give you a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

7 years ago, I'm in town for the Tennessee St - Florida A&M footbal game. The Falcons were scheduled to play the world champion St. Louis Rams that Sunday. I didn't even bother to go to the stadium to buy a ticket, because I figured that the GA Dome would be sold out not only to see the Falcons, but to see "the greatest show on turf".

So I go to the ESPN Zone to watch my Bengals take on the Ravens, and figure that I could see the Rams-Falcons game at the same time. LOL. The dang game was BLACKED OUT in ATL, because it didn't sell out. I was pissed!

Fast forward 4 years later. I'm in town in 2004 for the TSU vs FAMU game. And the Falcons play the Cardinals that Sunday. This time, I go to the stadium to buy tickets. I get there 2 hours before kickoff, thinking I'd have plenty of time to get tickets if they're available.

LOL . . the line at that ticket office was AMAZING. By the time I got to the clerk an hour later, I was forced to sit in the only section she had left . . club level in the end zone. Not bad seats, but the only section left.

That Falcon - Cardinal game was terrible. Vick was erratic as hell and was getting pressured and sacked left and right. I think he turned the ball over 3 or 4 times that game, and even got booed by the Falcon faithful at one point. The Cardinals weren't any better. It seemed like every time they get something going, McCown would fumble the dang ball. LOL . . I think Shawn King almost saved the day for the Cardinals.

Then in happened. That 60 some-odd yard bootleg run with about 2 minutes left to go. That run sealed the game for the Falcons, and they won 6 - 3.

That was my first and only time seeing Vick live in person. That play was what I came there to see. Yes, he was nowhere near a great passing QB. But for sheer excitement, he was a top box office draw.

Now, the box office draw is Alge Crumpler? Wow. He's a nice player though.

Oh well . . at least Vick provided NFL Films with enough material to remember him by. That is, if they don't try to erase him from the NFL memory banks.

[chillzatl]

that would have been me. I still say it has nothing to do wtih dog fighting. The feds don't care about the dogs. That's just a means to an end.

[coachx]

In my opinion many of the fan's confidence in Vick was broken 1/2 through last season.

The games were sold out but only 2/3 full. Around 1/3 of the people with season tickets quit coming and could not even find people to take their tickets for free !

I know this from 1st hand expierence.

The season ticket orders had to be in prior to the dog fighting allegations. Those orders were well below last years levels. The tickets went up in price while confidence in Vick went down due to the team production on the field.

So we had decling confidence in the team and quarterback to begin with. Then the dog fighting allegations snow balled the whole thing.

The Falcons may still sale out some games only due to season ticket holders holding a pretty good % of the tickets but the Dome will not be full for one game this year unless this team wins.

I think this team has a realistic chance of suprising people. The NFC South is not the power house it once was.

Blank is a buiness man. He realizes the demand has gone down. The only way to to remedy this is to lower prices to fill the dome. One thing Blank cannot afford is 8 ATL area blackouts due to an empty dome furthermore declining what little interest is left about the Falcons. Of course giving incentives now would only infuriate season ticket holders who just renewed their season ticket for an increase amount of money. But, hell, no one ever teaches business is supposed to be fair all the time.

[coachx]

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that would have been me. I still say it has nothing to do wtih dog fighting. The feds don't care about the dogs. That's just a means to an end.

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There was just a dog fighting and **** fighting ring bust in Jackson County Ga. where no high profiled people were involved. This happened just last year. About 80% of those arrested were hispanic. It was happening on the opposite of the Mulberry River from Grandfather's cattle farm. Funny thing, my cousin's pit bull was stolen 2 weeks before the bust. Guess what ? His pit was stolen to use in the fights. They would not give it back to him. Every dog and rooster taken was immediatly killed. There were over 80 arrest. The raid occured in the middle of "fight night."

Nothing racist here and no animal hate folks. Don't make a mountain out of mole hill that so many here love to.

I just report the facts.

There are dog fighting bust all time. This is the only time I can recall it involving any one of social importance.

[chillzatl]

all you have to do is watch the aspca show on animal planet to see that they don't really care about the dogs. The only reason such a scene is being made of it all is because of the name involved. It's a shame for him that he is who he is, otherwise there wouldn't be nearly so much heat behind it all. I can't help but feel there's something not quite right about that either, but in the end I side with the laws and he knowingly broke them. So in that respect he deserves what he gets.

[DJlaysitup]

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that would have been me. I still say it has nothing to do wtih dog fighting. The feds don't care about the dogs. That's just a means to an end.

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Sadly, that may be true. But the bottom line is "how did you identify yourself to law enforcement Mr.Vick?" He identified himself by funding a dog fighting/gambling operation for years and being stupid.

Personally, I don't know anything about dog fighting, but I do know that one has to cover one's tracks if one is doing something outside the law...plus one has to know the law. IMO MV didn't understand how much trouble he was getting himself into. The NFL might use the gambling aspect of the deal to hammer Vick, but I doubt MV was doing anything worse gambling-wise than a player who goes to Vegas now and then. I SERIOUSLY doubt MV would do anything like the NBA ref did.

Bottom line for me is the accusation about executing the "non-game" animals. It's hard to excuse cruelty.

[drzachary]

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The Michael Vick error, I mean era in Atlanta may be over now. It's the best thing that could happen to the Falcons, IMO. They now have an opportunity to get themselves a real quarterback. Maybe they will be able to draft Petrino's boy, Brian Brohm next year.

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Hang 'em high.

[KB21]

I like that movie.

[KB21]

I think the big blow to the Falcons was trading Matt Schaub to the Texans and putting everything onto Michael Vick. First of all, they traded the better quarterback. Secondly, it was foolish to put that much reliance upon Michael Vick. Arthur Blank deserves this, IMO, because he's the moron that paid Vick like a superstar quarterback when he was nothing more than a media creation.

Trading Matt Schaub was the big blow though. If the Falcons had Schaub right now, I'd think they would be serious contenders for the playoffs.

I do think this will end up being similar to Iverson and Philly. Noticed how much better Philly got and will be in the long run now that Iverson is gone.

Face it. The wide receivers are going to get much better now that Vick is gone. Trust me on that. When they get a quarterback that can consistently get them the ball, they will be better.

[KB21]

I do agree that the justice system has misplaced its priorities.

IMO, Leonard Little should not be playing football right now. This guy committed vehicular manslaughter because he was driving drunk. Driving drunk is something that I have absolutely no tolerance for, because you put yourself as well as the people on the road in danger. There's absolutely no sense in getting behind the wheel of a car when you are drunk.

To top it off, Leonard Little got another DUI after the incident, and he got no punishment for it from the justice system or the league.

[Spiral]

As a Falcon fan who enjoyed watching Michael Vick play, this is a sad day. I'm not happy nor do I feel the Falcons are better for this happening. I was excited about this year with the prospects of an offensive guru like Petrino building an offense around Vick. Now, for the first time in a long while, I'm not excited about the upcoming Atlanta Falcons season. I'll still watch and support my beloved team. I hope Joey Harrington plays well. I'm mainly disappointed because I felt that Michael Vick had the potential to be a Hall of Fame player if put in the right offensive scheme, now, it will NEVER happen. Sad... very, very sad...

[DJlaysitup]

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As a Falcon fan who enjoyed watching Michael Vick play, this is a sad day. I'm not happy nor do I feel the Falcons are better for this happening. I was excited about this year with the prospects of an offensive guru like Petrino building an offense around Vick. Now, for the first time in a long while, I'm not excited about the upcoming Atlanta Falcons season. I'll still watch and support my beloved team. I hope Joey Harrington plays well. I'm mainly disappointed because I felt that Michael Vick had the potential to be a Hall of Fame player if put in the right offensive scheme, now, it will NEVER happen. Sad... very, very sad...

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Best post on the MV situation.

[KB21]

Michael Vick would easily be the worst quarterback, or so called quarterback, ever put into the Hall of Fame. He never had a chance at the HOF. The voters would take into account that Vick has consistently been one of the worst passing quarterbacks in the NFL. It's wishful thinking to believe that he would have become a better passer under Petrino, because Vick wasn't willing to become a better passer. Just like his off the field ventures, Vick does what he wants to do on the field.

[Final_quest]

Good short summation of my feelings as well.

And Northcyde I remember that game against AZ, excruciating to watch. Vick put on his superman cape at just the right time though. Nothing close to his overtime play in the Metrodome though.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Norwood may be that guy to win the crowd over. And if the defense is healthy I think they can be a big hitting, tough nose defense that can win some crowd over as well.