Hit Vick Where It Hurts

As each week passes the outlook for Michael Vick is becoming more and more bleak. Two more co-defendants are set to agree to plea agreements with federal prosecutors, leaving Vick the odd man out. He is clearly becoming the target of this investigation as rumors swirl that the dog-fighting ring was financed by Vick himself. Vick reportedly has until Friday to plead guilty and agree to a deal or he will stand alone in this trial with his former co-defendants as the prosecution's best witnesses. That spells trouble.

But I'm not sure this bothers Vick all that much. In some twisted, backward thinking there may be some element of "street cred" (whatever the hell that is, and why it seems to be important I'll never understand) that he gains as a result of this. And while I'm sure his defense team isn't cheap, he has already made more money than most people see in a lifetime.

What is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to Vick is for him to become irrelevant. A great big blow to the ego. The latest comments from Warrick Dunn are the first step in that direction. If you missed it, Dunn basically said that there is nobody on the Falcons who is hoping Vick comes back. Ouch.

For three years in a row the Falcons have declined in the numbers of wins, from a high of 11 in 2004 to just 7 last year. Incidentally, Vick's completion percentage has dropped each of those years. His ability to become a successful, winning quarterback in the NFL has been questioned as a result. If Joey Harrington (whose completion percentage has increased three years in a row) can take this team to a 9+ win season and a shot at the NFC wildcard, Vick becomes irrelevant in Atlanta -his critics justified and his reputation has a quarterback who can't lead a team to the promise land solidified. And could you imaging he public relations nightmare for the team that may try to pick him up after that? He would be forgiven quicker if he was caught funneling money to Al-Qaeda than for dog-fighting, and any team that would try to acquire him would feel the wrath of every animal lover in the country.

So whatever happens as a result of the legal proceedings, and I hope the judge rules with an iron fist, he can do nothing that would hurt Vick as bad as Joey Harrington leading the Falcons to the playoffs. So for this year, I'm the Atlanta Falcons biggest fan.