AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > May > 11 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USEveryone sick of Vick issues
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Flowery Branch — He opened by saying he would only discuss football, and he closed by saying, “Don’t plan on talking about me anymore unless it’s about football.” But there’s another word that begins with an “f” that’s of even greater importance as Michael Vick seeks to go forward with his career and his life.
That word is “fatigue.”
His employer is tired of this. Arthur Blank was described as being “weary” of Vick’s travails in Friday’s AJC. Before mini-camp began, Bobby Petrino felt moved to address the reality of “distractions.” After Friday morning’s session, Petrino repeatedly had to invoke the new party line: “I’m only going to talk about football.”
No, Vick hasn’t yet been charged with anything regarding the pit bulls on his Virginia property, just as he wasn’t charged after the water-bottle incident. (He was charged with trespassing after fishing in the wrong Virginia lake, but the count was dismissed.) And it wasn’t a felony or even a misdemeanor to skip the breakfast meeting with members of Congress. (Crass, yes. Criminal, no.)
But there is, believe it or not, a greater issue than legality. There’s the mighty matter of perception, and the raging national perception is that Vick has lost control of his career and his life. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the tough-talking new sheriff who has already suspended Pacman Jones for the year, has dressed Vick down, and Blank said Thursday he’d done the same.
Those men are tired of this.
I am, too.
I’m tired of driving up I-985 to witness yet another Vick “apology” — he didn’t say he was sorry for anything Friday, perhaps on advice of his attorneys — or “explanation.” I’m tired of writing about Vick and not describing touchdowns scored and games won. I’m tired of defending Vick as a good guy who’s being undone by shaky friends and relations. See, you can be a victim of circumstance for only so long; ultimately you change those circumstances or you become complicit in your own undoing.
In the grand scheme, it won’t be a grand jury indictment or a Goodell suspension that undoes Vick with this franchise. It will be the aggregate effect these untoward headlines have on those around him.
I saw the same thing happen with the Braves and John Rocker (who was, I should stipulate, infinitely less popular with his teammates than Vick is with his). They simply got sick of answering questions about him and his latest stunt.
And that’s the way it works. Vick can refuse to talk about anything but football, but industrious reporters will troop to other Falcons and ask, “What do you think about Vick?” It happened Friday, when the imported receiver Joe Horn spent much of his post-practice interview defending the quarterback with whom he hasn’t yet played a game.
And this is only May and minicamp. Imagine if there’s another ugly headline during the season, when the press is on hand most every day of every week.
I like Michael Vick. I think, and have always thought, he has a good heart. Petrino said Wednesday he has “to believe” in Vick, and I likewise want to believe. But these last seven months, from the finger-flipping on, have made it hard. How long before hard becomes too hard? How long before the Falcons decide the man in whom they’ve sunk $130 million is more trouble than he’s worth?
For Michael Vick as an Atlanta Falcon, there cannot be another shoe to drop. This dogs-on-the-property thing has to be the last mess. He has told Blank and Goodell he’s taking control of his career and his life, and he cannot merely give it a shot. He has to succeed.
Too many people are tired of waiting. I’m one of them.
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