NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ordered Michael Vick not attend the Atlanta Falcons training camp, slated to start on Thursday. Interestingly enough, Thursday is the day Vick is to be arraigned in Federal Court on the dogfighting charges.
Goodell wrote Vick a letter which said that "While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy."
Vick is innocent until proven guilty, but the NFL has been enforcing its conduct code and benching players who are in legal trouble before convictions are issued by the Courts.
Thus, the sticky wicket all sides find themselves stuck in. What to do that is (1) fair to Vick, who is merely accused of a crime (2) fair to the league who is interested in law-abiding competitors and (3) fair to fans who are both for and against punishment at this point?
Vick should go to camp. And he should get "hurt" at camp. {By this I mean he should not actually be hurt by someone, but that he should announce his knee's injured or something similar - with the blessing of the NFL & team, naturally}. Is this lying to the public? Maybe, but with Vick's leg problems, it is possible that he could even have a legitimate injury or surgery to fall back on.
It is the best of both worlds for everyone involved - the NFL and Falcons do not have to punish him, and Vick doesn't lose face by being sat by either the Commish or the team. Both sides can then wait until the federal case is resolved to decide what is next. The player's union does not have to get involved, and no horrible precedent is set for the next time someone is federally indicted.
Yes, Michael Vick should go to camp, with Goodell's blessing. It may be his best shot to save his career.
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