After being backed into a corner, Falcons quarterback Mike Vick has decided to plead guilty to federal dogfighting conspiracy charges. Vick and his attorney negotiated a plea deal that will leave the quarterback facing jail time that ranges from 12 to 18 months.
Before even getting into what this means for his NFL career, don't think that Vick will only be in prison for the time mentioned above. Although spending more than a year in jail seems like more than we would've expected a few months ago, it could be a lot more. Consider the fact that the state of Virginia has decided to pursue charges as well. Those would be separate from what he is already facing, so in reality, Vick could be going away for a lot more than 18 months.
Getting to the football side of this issue, there is no doubt that Vick will be suspended indefinitely once everything becomes official. Roger Goodell will not have to worry about how long the suspension is right now considering Vick is facing jail time, but you do start to wonder if he will ever play in the NFL again.
Once Vick gets out of jail, whenever that may be, will any team give him another chance to play? The answer to that is probably yes, because as long as Vick still has enough talent to play, a team will likely take a chance on him. There is no doubt that it would cause a stir and rub a lot of people the wrong way, but you can bet it would put butts in the seats.
Getting away from the NFL, I'm 100% certain that Vick will find work in football somewhere. Arena football comes to mind first simply because there are so many leagues around of that sort out there. I'm not specifically talking about the AFL persay, but any of the minor leagues to that would gladly take him.
Something else that is interesting to consider is if Vick ever could end up in a league like the one that Mark Cuban was trying to help build. You can bet that a league like that, which is trying to compete against the NFL, would bring Vick in as soon as possible. That would be one of the best ways to get exposure, and although it may not be the best thing to do morally, I'm sure the folks behind it wouldn't care as long as money is flowing in.
On a personal side, I don't ever want to see Vick play in the NFL again. I really don't ever want to hear about him again unless it has to do with how long he is in jail, but I know that won't happen. If Vick ends up in another football league down the road, fine. But as far as the NFL goes, they should do away with Vick for good.