The Twisted World of Michael Vick: Dogs, Drugs and Death

The National Football League lost a talented player, this year. Michael Vick, the man behind name that has taken the sports news world by storm, but, not in the same way that he did back in 2001.

Now, Vick's road to freedom will give him bars to sit behind, to think about all that he has lost along the way. To those who have followed Vick's career, his history is one that some may think is the stuff that dreams are made out of. Vick grew up in an underprivileged setting and moved forward to capture his dreams. From the age of three, his father saw greatness in him and nicknamed him 'The Bullet' for his speed. As he grew older, the nickname 'Ookie' stuck with him, even to today. Through humble beginnings he played for the Boys and Girls Club and got noticed by coaches when he threw three touchdown passes at the age of seven.

Through everything that he had to endure, he still moved up to the ranks of the NFL. His history is outstanding, amongst players, in all that he earned during his football career. Even before High School, Vick showed promise in three sports: baseball, basketball, and football. Through adolescence he became a disciplinary problem for his teachers, so his MOTHER got him involved in after school activities. As Vick grew older, high school was just the beginning of his amazing career. As a matter of a fact, Football is the only thing mentioned about Michael Vick in High School, which shows some of his most memorable written history.

Vick was a three year starter at Warwick High under the guidance of Coach Tommy Reamon. He was listed as the nationwide number 5 quarterback prospect by BOTH Super Prep and PrepStar. The National Recruiting Advisor gave him post-season A-A honors. There, he was ranked Number 5 for a pass/run quarterback. He had many other honors, as well, including being selected as the number 3 prospect in Virginia, by the Roanoke Times. After an outstanding high school career, he attended Virginia Tech until he was a sophomore, then proceeded to the NFL.

At Virginia Tech, Vick was a redshirt freshman. Just as in High School he began to shine on the football field again for Virginia Tech, even being on the cover of an ESPN "The Magazine". He lead the NCAA in Passing Efficiency hitting the third highest all time mark and was awarded an ESPY Award for being the nation's top college player. Numerous other awards lead him to the NFL Draft as a first overall pick.

When he was drafted, HIS REAL troubles began. DURING THE COURSE OF 2001 his criminal history became almost as big as his professional career. STARTING the 'Bad Newz Kennels', WAS HIS BIGGEST MISTAKE (perhaps the name should have been a clue, as to where this business was going to go...).

There are also a few other crimes that have gone unspoken. Before the news broke of his practices of gambling, housing, training, and eventually destroying dogs, Michael Vick had other potentially damaging problems.

In 2004, there were two men arrested for distributing marijuana with Michael Vick's truck. The incident allowed Dan Reeve to lecture him about being a reflection of the team. It was also reported in that year that a watch had been taken from Alvin Spencer during a security check at the Hartsfield International airport.

Things just continued to get worse for Vick, as criminal charges were brought up against him by Sonya Elliott, claiming that he gave her genital herpes in the autumn of 2002. He was aware of his condition and the case was settled outside for an undisclosed amount.

In 2006, it was found out that Vick was paying taxes for the state of Illinois instead of Georgia or Virginia. In that same week, he was fined $10,000 by the NFL and donated $10,000 to a charity as a consequence of obscene gestures made on the field towards fans.

In January of 2007 one of the final criminal activities he participated in was attempting to take water bottle through the Miami International Airport security that had a hidden compartment, a police report states, "The concealed compartment contained a small amount of dark particulate and pungent aroma closely associated with Marijuana. After which, for Vick, the "Bad Newz" just kept rolling in.

In August 2007, he plead guilty to federal level charges of running an unlawful interstate dog fighting ring. He is also being sentenced on the case brought by the Virginia Grand Jury for animal beatings & killings, in addition to the dog fighting charges. He then tested positive on September 13 for marijuana use.

Warwick High School pulled the Jersey that Michael Vick wore after his admittance of wrong doings. Virginia Tech has also kept its distance in this process as well.

Sentencing for some of the charges is to be held on December 10th, for everyone keeping close tabs on this "dog day" story.

As if things could not get worse, Mr. Vick is also being sued by three banks for monies owed on outstanding loans, and the Falcons are asking for their $22 million back.

One last drop in the bucket for Vick: he is being sued on a civil case, again, by an inmate in South Carolina for a dog that was used for breading, but never returned.

To top it off, in September of 2007, during the investigation of Roy 'Bud' Melton, police found evidence linked to dogs which were owned by Vick, when he owned the Bad Newz Kennels. So as you see, things could get much worse for Mr. Vick depending on the outcome of the investigation into Roy Melton's death in April of this year.

Micheal Vick has put his house up for sale to pay back some of his debts, it is to bad that his bad that his debt to humanity is non-transferable.

Wow, and you thought you had dog day afternoons...