Vick playing football at Leavenworth

[banyon]

Michael Vick playing prison football
Updated Monday, April 7th 2008, 12:46 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/fo...ll.html?page=0

Feld/AP

Michael Vick is playing prison football at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan.



Atlanta Falcons' owner Arthur Blank and Vick have been communicating through letters.
Michael Vick has a new job and is playing football again. The money is not quite the same and the records of the players are a bit different, too.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank has been communicating by letter with Vick, who is at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., incarcerated at the facility's minimum security satellite prison camp.

Blank told the Daily News that Vick writes that he is washing pots and pans for 12 cents an hour. He was sentenced to 23 months in December after pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges.

And in a scene straight out of the Longest Yard, Blank says Vick is playing football at Leavenworth. That's one way to pass his time and keep his arm loose. He's likely the first player picked when the inmates are choosing up sides or the guards are choosing up sides for them. Vick's sprinter speed surely comes in handy just in case a dog-loving inmate thinks it's cool to sack an NFL quarterback and break his shoulder.

"He is staying in shape,” Blank told The News. "Apparently, there was a prison football team and he played quarterback for both sides.”

That's only fair.

Blank, a Flushing product, says Vick wrote to him first and they've now opened a dialogue by mail. He also says that Kevin Winston, the Falcons' senior director of player development, has visited Vick several times in prison. Blank says he has no plans to visit Vick.

"He's written me a couple of times,” Blank said. "I've written him back, he's stayed in touch.”

Vick's life has taken quite a nosedive from his days as a superstar quarterback. He can be comforted financially by Judge David Doty's ruling in Minneapolis in February that he can keep $16.25 million of the $20 million in bonus money the Falcons were trying to recoup. The NFL is challenging the ruling.

Even if Blank feels betrayed by Vick, whom he signed to a 10-year, $130 million contract in 2004, he still clearly has a place in his heart for him, if not on his team.

"I just try to be supportive and as understanding as I can be,” Blank said. "He talks about the process he is going through and what he has learned, the lessons of life, how he's going to come out a different person. He's sorry he has affected so many people in a negative way — the league, our club, our fans. He feels awful about that. The letters sound quite sincere to me. From a mental standpoint, he sounds good.”

What does he write to Vick?

"I told Michael I'll do whatever I can to be helpful to him personally. Nothing to do with the Atlanta Falcons,” Blank said. "He's a human being and I would like to reach out and if I can be productive to him in some way, I would be happy to do that.


"I'd love to see him playing again in the NFL. I would love to see him back in society where he can make a difference and go back to some of these communities and talk to some of these young folks about the impact of choices — choices he personally made about people he was with and choices he made about his own actions. That would be important.”

It will take an owner secure in his own community to sign Vick, knowing there will likely be protests and a public backlash.

It's inconceivable Vick could ever play for the Falcons again. They are moving on. There's a good chance they will make Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan the new face of the franchise and select him with the third pick on April 26.
When asked if he could ever see Vick returning to the Falcons, Blank said, "I don't know that. Right now, he's in a federal penitentiary.”

Blank said Winston told him Vick is "doing well.” Asked if the inmates were giving Vick a hard time, Blank said, "I have no idea. He seems to be okay.”

Blank, who is starting all over with a new coach (Mike Smith), general manager (Thomas Dimitroff) and surely a new quarterback, says he's excited about the team's future. After Vick set his franchise back years, Blank had every reason to throw Vick's letters in the garbage. Instead, he's been glad to hear from him.

"He doesn't want anything,” he said. "He's just talking about his journey, his life and where he is. I was happy to respond to him and give him my thoughts on that. I do wish him the best.”

Vick's trial on state charges in Virginia was pushed back to June 27. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, his projected release date on the federal case, which includes the potential to have his sentence reduced by 90 days for good conduct, is July 20, 2009. That's right before training camps open.

He has been indefinitely suspended by Roger Goodell, who told The News last week he will meet with Vick before determining any further suspension once the quarterback gets out of prison. Goodell likely will suspend him for one season after he is released. If Vick is out next July 20 and Goodell doesn't suspend him for the '09 season and if he doesn't get further jail time — he faces two state felony counts each punishable by up to five years in the Virginia case — then he could be back on the field for the '09 season. And he will be only 29.

But for now, it's pots and pans and playing quarterback for two prison teams in the same game with teammates who have criminal records, not touchdown records. Vick has traded in his No. 7 jersey for a Federal Bureau of Prisons register number with eight digits

[HypnotizedMonkey]

hey have they been communicating by letter? I still don't know.

[MOhillbilly]

Originally Posted by banyon

I would like to add that animal cruelty is one of the key indicators that shows a propensity for violence in the future. Many violent offenders started off on animals. Who knows, if not addressed, he might have taken on bigger prey as well.

psychobabble

[Adept Havelock]

Originally Posted by MOhillbilly

psychobabble

Maybe, but it's accurate psychobabble. Case studies of many serial killers have established a link.

Why is it hard to believe the kid that grows up torturing dogs, cats, or other critters would end up with a warped attitude towards inflicting pain or death on a human being as an adult?

[suds79]

I heard something funny on Colin Cowherd's show the other day in talking about this.

He said, "So Michael Vick is playing football in Leavensorth Kansas... This just in, his quarterback raiting is hovering around 68. lol

[alanm]

Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter

'

With the lawyers he is able to pay, I suspect he won't serve the full two years. However, Goddell will see to it he won't step foot on an NFL field before the 2010 season....IMO. Guess we will see.

Wrong. Let me restate this. He's in a FED pen. He does the full two. Once he steps in the door it's too late for lawyers.

[milkman]

Is it "Touch" football?

[Halfcan]

Chiefs should get a contract ready-Vick would run wild behind this shit line.

[Mojo Rising]

Originally Posted by alanm

Wrong. Let me restate this. He's in a FED pen. He does the full two. Once he steps in the door it's too late for lawyers.

I though that once he gets into the drug treatment program his sentence will be cut in 1/2. From what I've read he's admitted to the program but hasn't started it yet.

[Skip Towne]

How long has he been in?

[Rain Man]

You gotta figure that Rae Carruth is really ticked that he's not the first pick any more.

[Rain Man]

Oh, look. The wardens are getting him an offensive line. It seems like they're doing a better job than Carl Peterson.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...harpe0412.html

Ex-Cardinal Sharpe pleads guilty to drug charges
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 11, 2008 03:17 PM

Former Pro-Bowl Lineman Luis Sharpe pleaded guilty in Maricopa County Superior Court on Thursday to drug charges stemming from three separate arrests in 2007 and 2008.

According to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Sharpe faces up to six years in prison for four drug-related charges.

Sharpe, 47, played for the Arizona Cardinals from 1982 to 1994. He has been in and out of treatment and trouble since 1995. He has been shot twice and arrested numerous times for drug and assault charges, and in 2000, he was ordered deported.

Sharpe was born in Cuba, but left that country at age 6 for Michigan, where his family still lives. He never became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In July 2000, after another drug conviction, he was ordered deported by federal officials. But since the U.S. has no diplomatic relations with Cuba, he could not be sent there, and was held for several months in prison in Florence.

In November 2004, he was sentenced to 2½ years in prison on other drug charges, and there was a possibility of deportation again when he got out. His 23-year-old daughter was murdered last June.

The current charges stem from arrests for possessing crack cocaine in July and November of last year and February of this year.

[alanm]

Originally Posted by Mojo Rising

I though that once he gets into the drug treatment program his sentence will be cut in 1/2. From what I've read he's admitted to the program but hasn't started it yet.

Let me restate this once more. He's in a FEDpen.
Once he steps in the door he's in for all day.

[Mojo Rising]

Originally Posted by alanm

Let me restate this once more. He's in a FEDpen.
Once he steps in the door he's in for all day.

Thanks for repeating. However, there is a loophole in the FED system that you are un-aware of.

I wonder if his lawyer advised him to fail the drug test so he could qualify for the program. If so, great legal advise!

I can see it now.

Mr. Client, in order to cut your sentence in 1/2, it is advised that you pull bongs.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3282176


Michael Vick's days as a minimum security inmate at a federal prison camp in Leavenworth, Kan., feature leather craft, ceramics and foosball. But, so far, they don't include the classes in a drug program that could result in his early release.



Vick is still waiting for admission into the federal prison system's Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP), according to a prison spokesperson. Unless he gets into that program, he will be locked up until at least June 2009. If he makes it into RDAP, he could be transferred into a halfway house (known in prison patois as a "community corrections center") as early as January. And, for Vick, that small step into a halfway house could be a giant leap back to the NFL.




[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Steve Helber, POOL

Vick, shown entering court last August, is still waiting to start a drug treatment program that might help with early release from prison.
To qualify for the halfway house, Vick must be employed. If the NFL ends his indefinite suspension and an NFL team is willing to sign him, he may be able train and prepare for the 2009 season from the halfway house, according to experts of federal prison programs.


"It's entirely possible that a professional athlete could work at his job while finishing his sentence," said Ed Eckhaus, a former federal probation officer who now helps people convicted of federal crimes and their attorneys work through the complexities of the federal sentencing system. "The usual pattern is 12 in and 12 out -- 12 hours in the facility and 12 hours out of the facility each day -- and the 12 out could include working at a job approved by the prison system."



Although Vick gained a head start on his prison time by reporting to a local jail in Virginia even before he was sentenced, he continues to wait for a decision on the drug program. U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson of Richmond, Va., took the first step for Vick when he included in his Dec. 10, 2007, sentencing order a provision that Vick was eligible for "substance abuse treatment." Vick tested positive for marijuana during the weeks before his sentencing on a federal dogfighting conviction.



In addition to the recommendation from the judge, Vick must qualify at the Leavenworth prison camp.



News reports and statements from his attorney in early January indicated that Vick was being transferred from Virginia to Leavenworth to enter the drug treatment program. But he hasn't yet started it. Billy Martin, Vick's lead attorney, did not respond to phone calls and e-mails requesting comment on Vick's situation.



"He is not in drug treatment at this time," said Kevin Johnson, the institution's executive assistant and public information officer.



Asked whether a determination had been made on Vick's eligibility, Johnson said, "You'll have to talk to Dr. [Christy] Collins," who is in charge of RDAP at Leavenworth. Collins did not respond to a series of telephone messages from ESPN.com.




[+] EnlargeAP Photo/Orlin Wagner

The U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth offers foosball, but not football for Michael Vick.
It is possible that Vick is on a waiting list for RDAP, a common situation in the 60 federal prisons that offer the program. But the Leavenworth camp is now at only 80 percent of its capacity, with 390 inmates.


If Vick makes it into RDAP, he would attend 500 hours of classes, counseling and group therapy over a period of nine months, an average of 14 hours of class per week. The classes include occasional drug tests, and the program includes 12-step meetings.



After satisfying RDAP's requirements, Vick would be eligible for early release into the halfway house. If, then, he gains admission into RDAP next month, he could complete the program in January.



In the halfway house, Vick would be under strict supervision with specific travel limits and curfews.



"If there was any violation of any kind, the offender is back in the penitentiary," Eckhaus said.



"It would be a demanding process to match placement in a community center [halfway house] with a job in the NFL," said Jim Tibenski, another "mitigation specialist" who guides people through the prison and probation system. "The system does its best to place people in their normal work."



The federal prison drug program has been in effect for 10 years.



"It is based on the recognition that many offenders have drug or alcohol problems, and that treatment of these problems can greatly reduce recidivism [repeat offenses with a return to prison]," said Herb Hoelter of the National Center for Institutions and Alternatives, a think tank that focuses on incarceration and probation issues.



All three experts told ESPN.com that Vick appears to be qualified for RDAP, even though his only reported drug problem was the test he flunked in the weeks before sentencing.



"Any documented history of drug use, even marijuana, is enough if it has had an impact on the course of the offender's life," Hoelter said.



If he is not admitted into RDAP, Vick will continue with the daily life of a minimum security inmate. He can make phone calls with a debit card to as many as 30 people approved by the warden. He can spend up to $290 each month in the prison commissary. And he is allowed 24 hours of time with visitors each month.



And, of course, he has access to the leather craft, the ceramics and the foosball.