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| Birth Name(s) : Michael Vick |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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| Profession:
Athlete |
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Full Michael Vick Biography
Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a National Football League (NFL) quarterback under suspension from play from his Atlanta Falcons team contract and partial home confinement from a federal pre-sentence probation violation. Well-known for his 2001 NFL Draft pick from Virginia Tech, league records, and lucrative endorsements, his ban from the Falcons team in 2007 was due to involvement with illegal dogfighting and gambling activities and garnered him notoriety outside professional sports. A subsequent indictment, guilty plea and subsequent federal felony conviction have also brought renewed national attention to pitbull dog fighting and controversy over relevance of animal cruelty laws to society and their purposes in relation to potential violent criminals.
As he grew up, Michael Vick, who went by "Ookie" back then, also learned a lot about football from a second cousin 4 years older, Aaron Brooks. Vick and Brooks both spent a lot of time as youths at the local Boys and Girls Club. As a 7-year-old throwing three touchdown passes in a Boys Club league, his apparent football talents led coaches and his parents to keep a special watch over Vick.
At Warwick High School, under Coach Reamon's tutelage, Vick was a three-year starter for the Raiders, passing for 4,846 yards with 43 touchdowns during his career. He once ran for six touchdowns and threw for three touchdowns in a single game. He also added 1,048 yards and 18 scores on the ground and accounted for ten passing and ten rushing touchdowns as a senior as he passed for 1,668 yards.
Vick led the NCAA in passing efficiency that year, setting a record for a freshman (180.4), which was also good enough for the third-highest all-time mark (Colt Brennan holds the record at 185.9 from his 2006 season at Hawaii). Vick was awarded an ESPY Award as the nation's top college player, and won the first-ever Archie Griffin Award as college football's most valuable player. He was invited to the 1999 Heisman Trophy presentation and finished third in the voting behind Ron Dayne and Joe Hamilton. Vick's third-place finish matched the highest finish ever by a freshman up to that point, first set by Herschel Walker in 1980 (Adrian Peterson has since broken that mark, finishing second in 2004).
Vick made his NFL debut at San Francisco on September 9, 2001, and saw limited action. He completed his first NFL pass with an 18-yard strike to WR Tony Martin in the second quarter vs. Carolina on September 23 and first NFL touchdown on a two-yard rushing score in the fourth quarter to help the Falcons to a 24-16 victory. Vick made his first career start at Dallas on November 11 and threw the first touchdown pass of his career on a nine-yard toss to TE Alge Crumpler in a 20-13 victory. In his two starts of the eight games played that season, Vick completed 50 of 113 passes for 785 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions, including accounting for 234 of the team's 255 yards at the team’s season finale at St. Louis on January 6, 2002. He also rushed 29 times for 289 yards (9.9 avg.) and one touchdown.
Before the 2007 season, just hours after Vick pled guilty in the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting investigation, the NFL suspended Vick indefinitely without pay. In a letter to Vick, Commissioner Roger Goodell said that Vick had admitted to conduct that was "not only illegal, but also cruel and reprehensible." While Vick is technically a first-time offender under the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy, Goodell handed down a harsher suspension because Vick admitted that he provided most of the money for the gambling side of the operation. The NFL does not allow its players to be involved in any form of gambling, and even first-time offenders risk being banned for life. However, Goodell did leave open the possibility of reinstating Vick depending on how well he cooperates with federal and state authorities. Earlier, Goodell had barred Vick from reporting to training camp while the league conducted its own investigation into the matter.
On August 27, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a press conference that the Falcons will seek to recover a portion of Vick's signing bonus. He also said the team had no immediate plans to cut ties with Vick, citing salary-cap issues. It had initially appeared that Goodell had cleared the way for the Falcons to release Vick, since he ruled that Vick's involvement in gambling activity breached his contract. On August 29, the Falcons sent a letter to Vick demanding that he reimburse them for $20 million of the $37 million bonus. However, many experts familiar with NFL labor matters suggested that the Falcons will wind up with far less than that, and the matter will almost certainly go to arbitration.. On October 10, an Arbitrator ruled that the Falcons can recoup $19.9 million in bonus money from Vick.
Huss, who is a Professor of Law at Valparaiso University School of Law in Indiana, has a Master of Laws in International and Comparative Law from the University of Iowa School of Law and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Richmond School of Law. In a statement released by Valparaiso University, she said:"As someone whose academic endeavors focus on the legal status and value of animals in our lives, I am honored to represent the interests of those at the heart of this case, the dogs." |
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