After months of investigation, Falcons quarterback Mike Vick, along with three other people, were indicted on charges of "conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce in aid of unlawful activities and to sponsor a dog in animal fighting venture." You can read a copy of the full indictment at The Smoking Gun, but trust me, you may not want to do that. I went through each page and what I read is absolutely appalling. Some of the things Vick and the others did to these dogs is beyond comprehension. I'm not even going to get into what went on because you can read that for yourself, but basically, starting in 2001, Vick and these others started dog fighting. Purses were as small as $1,000 and as large as $26,000. The worst part isn't even the fact that he was dog fighting, but instead is what happened after if that dog lost.
Vick and the others killed many dogs over time since 2001, once by the way of electrocution and most recently, this past April in various gruesome ways.
I was stunned after reading through the indictment simply because the details of what went on were so unbelievable. I haven't liked Mike Vick for a while now, especially after the whole water-bottle incident, but once this story started that he was involved in dog fighting, I really began to dislike him. Now, after reading through what he has done, my hate for Vick is off the charts.
The question now is what happens to Vick next. He will have to go through the legal process, which already will interfere with his football schedule. Next week he is set to be in court on July 26 at 3:30 p.m., which is a half-hour after the Falcons' first practice of training camp begins.
We have already seen a few suspensions made by Roger Goodell due to bad behavior off the field, but what will happen to Mike Vick? Being indicted on charges involving dog fighting certainly would be enough to suspend someone in my mind, but it all depends on what Goodell thinks. Remember, Vick met with Goodell at the draft in April and basically denied knowing anything about this whole situation, so it turns out he lied to the commissioner.
Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports wrote yesterday that Vick is "expected to be suspended."
While Goodell was not reached for comment, two sources said the commissioner has been monitoring the Vick case since April, when investigators initially found evidence of dog fighting at a home Vick owned in Smithfield.
"Where (Vick) is in the most trouble is that he lied to the commissioner," a league source said. "He told (Goodell) in April that he didn't know anything about this. The commissioner gave (Vick) every chance to come clean, be straight about what was going on. Instead, he just kept denying it."
That is one side of the story, but the NY Daily News on the other hand says that Vick won't be suspended.
Personally, I think Goodell should suspend Vick right now. Vick obviously has lied about this and very well knew about what was going on considering the indictment alleges he was involved in it heavily. The legal process will have to play out on its own, but he should not be on a football field this season as far as I see it.
This is probably going to be one of the hardest decisions Goodell will have to make as commissioner. Laying down the law with Adam "Pacman" Jones, Chris Henry, and Tank Johnson wasn't that tough because they were in trouble more than once. With Vick though, Goodell might have to let the legal process play out before suspending him. He can do what he wants, and all I can say is that this story won't be going away anytime soon. If I were a Falcons fan there would be no way I could ever cheer for Vick considering how bad of a person he is. After a game when the Falcons lose, do they execute Vick? No, but that's what he and his buddies involved did to the dogs that they fought, and it is worthy of being suspended.