Michael Vick the Felon

[Aristotle]

I don't understand this part:

If Atlanta receives the bonus money from Vick, it will be applied to the team's salary cap for the following season. If, for example, the team recouped all $22 milllion, that figure would be credited to the team for the 2008 salary cap.

So if they get their money back from Vick, it gets treated as if they paid it to him, and charged off their salary cap?

How does that make sense that they take a salary cap hit for money that will then not have been paid?

[Falix]

The 22 million dollars the Falcons paid to Vick was part of his signing bonus. Signing bonuses are pro-rated salary cap hits.

Let's say I sign a 5 year deal and my signing bonus is 10 million dollars. The salary cap will be hit for 2 million dollars per year (in addition to whatever my salary will be).

The 22 million is money they've paid Vick already up front.

What I don't get is why they're getting all 22 million credited in one year. I don't know why they aren't getting credited yearly, the way the system was designed to hit the cap in the first place.

[Aristotle]

Originally posted by Falix

The 22 million is money they've paid Vick already up front.

What I don't get is why they're getting all 22 million credited in one year. I don't know why they aren't getting credited yearly, the way the system was designed to hit the cap in the first place.

But the point of the cap is so you only have a limited amount of money to spend on players per year, right?

Well, they are getting the 22 million BACK, therefore it is being unspent. It still seems more fair to me that it should have no cap impact.

I understand how it works where if you cut someone then the entire signing bonus hits your cap (if I recall, this was why the Lions couldn't just cut/release Barry Sanders). But this is all the money coming back to the owner away from the player.

[Falix]

You're right that it's money that ends up being unspent, since they're getting it right back.

Spent or unspent though, it's still a figure that was being held against the cap. That 22 mil was already deducted from the team's upcoming caps for the duration of Vick's contract.

At first I thought it was a huge advantage to get a 22 million dollar cap break in a single season, but then I thought that you'd only be able to hire out one year mercenaries if you were gonna make a push.

[Aristotle]

Wow. Vick really doesn't even begin to understand the severity of his actions, does he?

Vick to be sentenced Dec. 10 after guilty plea

"I was ashamed and totally disappointed in myself, to say the least. I want to apologize to all the young kids out there for my immature acts. What I did was very immature, so that means I need to grow up."

Immature?

[Khalid]

Olberman or Costas has a good comment on this last night - that Vick is heavily lawyered and agented up and that is NOT helping him with perceptions. His "appearing to not get it" is a way of avoiding publicity on he really serious charges, so that he still has what he thinks is a chance of playing again.

Olberman made the point that we're incredibly forgiving as a society - BUT he needs to come completely clean and show real contrition for that to kick in. It ain't going to happen as long as he's more focused on his future job than on being straight now

[Aristotle]

Originally posted by Khalid

Olberman made the point that we're incredibly forgiving as a society - BUT he needs to come completely clean and show real contrition for that to kick in. It ain't going to happen as long as he's more focused on his future job than on being straight now

I can't believe I didn't see this until now. As usual, Olberman is completely wrong and clueless about the real world. People implicitly understand at a basic level that when someone is fighting to save their life, their career, and to stay out of jail they are going to focus on that long before they worry about the public's opinion. In fact, it is more creepy to have someone facing serious jail time worry about their image instead. But since Olberman is a clueless idiot, he doesn't understand this.

As for what drew me back to this thread:

Apologetic Vick gets 23-month sentence on dogfighting charges

Good behavior could reduce it to 20 months, and there is no parole in the federal system according to the article.

And here is speculation about him playing again.

If Olberman is one of the most clueless morons in the world of political/social news, Clayton has to be one of the most undeservingly over-respected writers in sports. I actually keep a meta thread about his idiocy here just for that purpose.

He leans towards this ending his career, even if Vick gets out in May 2009. The only way this ends his career is if:

1) He does crazy shit in prison and gets killed or something similarly bad.

2) Goodell decides to go hard line and ban him from the league.

Otherwise, he can return at the age of 29, and he'll be a young 29 since 2-3 of those years he would not have had the punishment of playing in the NFL.

To play in the NFL, a player must train year-round to be ready for the league's physical and mental rigors. Offseason programs for teams begin in March and are intense. Vick will be outside that system for too long. Prison doesn't offer the resources teams can provide to maintain what it takes to compete in the NFL.

Get real, John. If he goes to a "nice" prison with workout facilities, he can very easily stay in great shape. Herschel Walker was one of the most fit athletes in NFL history and he did it almost entirely from running, isometrics, situps, and pushups. He didn't get into weight lifting, and he was huge, strong, and had a LONG career.

If Vick is hungry enough, he can stay in tip top shape in prison. Many athletes have done it. The reality is that many pro athletes don't work that hard during significant portions of the year. Coaches and owners have a hell of a time motivating their players to actually stay in shape in the off season. If Vick works hard during his time in prison, he'll be fine physically.

The whole issue comes down to:

1) Does Michael Vick want to play again badly enough.

2) Will Roger Goodell let him.

All the other crap in Clayton's article is bullshit.

There are sucky QBs in the league right now who are playing after multiple years out of the NFL and they were never as good as Vick to begin with.

[Aristotle]

I also have serious reservations about the huge penalty here, when players who engage in domestic abuse or get DUIs get a slap on the wrist.

A classic example is Leonard Little, a defensive end for the Rams who played college ball for Tennessee.

Paraphrasing from Wikipedia and some news articles:

After a drunken birthday in 1998, Little crashed into and killed another motorist, Susan Gutweiler (a mother and wife) in St. Louis, MO. When tested, his blood alcohol level measured 0.19 percent, a level considered intoxicated in the state of Missouri. Little received 90 days in jail, four years probation and 1000 hours of community service.

Six years later, Little was again arrested for drunk driving and speeding. Little was acquitted of driving while intoxicated, but was convicted of the misdemeanor speeding charge. He was sentenced to two years probation and a special condition that he not consume alcohol. Gee, why the alcohol part? And why did they dump the DUI? Maybe to save his ass from NFL trouble?

In Week 11 of the 2006 NFL season, Little signed a 3-year extension with the Rams.

[Aristotle]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colum...saraceno_x.htm

In the fall of 1998, Little — his blood alcohol nearly twice the then-legal limit — ran a red light in St. Louis and slammed his Lincoln Navigator into a car driven by Susan Gutweiler, 47. The impact broke her neck and caused her lungs to collapse. She never regained consciousness and died the next day. Little pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 90 nights in jail as part of a work-release program. He also completed 1,000 hours of community service and was placed on four years' probation.

Mike, who was 15 at the time, has the date of his mother's death, Oct. 20, 1998, tattooed on his right shoulder. When the Rams made their Super Bowl run the following year, he couldn't bear watching the playoffs. Eventually, he left his hometown because "of all the drama" regarding the fatal accident.

Once, he walked into a Burger King and the woman behind the counter said to him, "Your mother was killed by Leonard Little, wasn't she?" He is angry at Little and the Rams for their seeming indifference. He is frustrated by a legal system that applies justice unevenly, often seemingly in favor of wealthy athletes.

"They are treated like gods of the Earth," he said.

To this day, neither Little nor the Rams have offered an apology, he said. That is as sad as it is outrageous.

"It takes a big man to plead guilty, but it takes an even bigger man to say he's sorry," Mike said. "It depresses me to no end that we've never heard from him. I don't think we ever will. I don't think he deserves to play in the NFL."

Leonard Little is out of his last big chance, far as I'm concerned. If he is found guilty, the league needs to seriously consider banning him — forever. It is a privilege to play in the NFL, not a right.

Police stopped Little's Mercedes-Benz S500 for going 78 mph in a 55-mph zone in suburban St. Louis just before 4 a.m. Officer Greg Stork said in an affidavit that Little had "bloodshot, watery eyes and emitted an odor of alcohol." Little also failed three sobriety tests and admitted drinking, according to Stork. Still, he maintains his innocence.

When Mike's father, Bill, heard the news, he was stunned. "I'm thinking to myself, 'You got away with (something) the first time when you killed someone. My God, what is it going to take?" he said.

Two years ago, Little signed a $17.6 million contract. At 29, he is in the prime of his career. Mike recalls his mother working full time while going to night school — for 13 years. "She did everything for me," he said. "And she never got the chance to use her degree."

The last time he saw her, "I gave her a big hug and said, 'I love you.' She gave me a kiss. We did that every time we said goodbye. Every night, a hug and a kiss before bed. (We) had a relationship that most parents and children don't have."

That is what makes Sunday's holiday always so difficult.

"I buy some flowers, bring something to eat and go see her at the cemetery," he said, exhaling deeply. "I've gone there and drawn or painted. This will be the first Mother's Day I won't be with her. But I am always with her in spirit."

Instead, he plans to remain in his apartment. He'll light a candle or two and "do what I normally do" on Mother's Day. "I'll sit down and talk with her," he said.