MICHAEL VICK DID HIS TIME, SO HE DESERVES TO PLAY

In April 2007, Michael Vick's football career was in jeopardy after allegations surfaced about his role in a dogfighting ring. What would follow would be a guilty plea in August 2007 and the beginning of his 23-month jail sentence in December 2007, and the knockout blow in his fall from grace after being an icon from 2001 to 2004.

Even before the trials, Vick's questionable moves have ranged from receiving a civil lawsuit in 2005 after a female contracted an STD from him to flipping off the Atlanta Falcon faithful after a 2006 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Those moves, including a paltry completion percentage and a "look at the tight end, and he's not open, then run like hell" mentality, questioned many sportswriters on will Vick ever be a "prototypical" quarterback like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. This was two years after the Falcons went all the way to the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles, and four years after he became the first visiting quarterback to defeat the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field in a playoff game.

However after his guilty plea, Vick lost EVERYTHING. Endorsements from corporations such as Nike and EA Sports were dropped, he was ordered to pay back some of his signing bonus money to the Falcons, and he was suspended indefinitely by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He even lost fan support as Atlanta became a city divided, and eventually after the Falcons selected Matt Ryan third in the 2008 NFL Draft, that support became further suppressed as slowly but surely Ryan won the hearts of Atlanta fans.

With that being said, Vick became the MC Hammer of this decade by essentially dropping from millionaire to bankruptcy, but yet he could face another four-game suspension from the league? This man deserves to play again and deserves to make enough money in order to get out of debt. Plus, I believe that even the HINT of a possible suspension would be unfair. When former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue gave Ricky Williams a four-game suspension in 2004 for violating the substance abuse policy, Williams retired and missed the 2004 season. However, when he came back in 2005, the suspension was upheld. The difference between Williams and Vick though, was that Williams ran away from the punishment and Vick met his crime head-on from the law. Besides, don't you think two years is enough for someone to think about what he has done? One thing will be true though, some team will pick him up amidst the negative fan reactions, work him into the system, and try to pick up the pieces of a broken Vick as he heals his wounds.