Groh uses vacation to scout altitude
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
July 20, 2007

Some call it vacation. For Al Groh, it was more like a study of nature and wildlife.

With the start of football season creeping closer, Virginia’s coach and his wife, Anne, spent six days in Wyoming, the same state that hosts the Cavaliers’ season opener on Sept. 1.

The trip, which came following an invitation from a “dual resident” of Virginia and Woming, included several unforgettable moments.

“We saw elk, moose, bald eagles in flight, antelope, buffalo and bear while we were there,” Groh said.

The excursion also included a ride in a hot air balloon, a 10-mile river float and hiking on mountain trails, among other events.

More importantly, Groh walked away with a better feel for the altitude ands its potential impact for his football team.

Virginia fans have grown curious about the effects of playing the season opener at more than 7,000 feet above sea level against Wyoming.

The Cowboys’ home stadium, Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium, is the highest Division I-A football venue at 7,220 feet above sea level.

“I did work out while I was there and I was able to have an impression of it,” Groh said. “I didn’t really notice a significant effect.”

He added that former Virginia basketball star Barry Parkhill, who accompanied Groh on the trip, echoed those thoughts.

Groh also cited trips with NFL teams to play against the Broncos as a reference point.

“In teams that we’ve been part of that have gone out there to play in Denver, which isn’t as high, we never really noticed a significant effect,” Groh said.

At higher elevations there is less oxygen in the air, as in Wyoming, but studies have shown that oxygen levels impact running and cycling events far more than it does football players, who rely more on power.

Groh said on Wednesday that his team would leave for Wyoming two days prior to the game, a day earlier than usual, but the departure time has more to do with the length of the cross-country flight.

 

Sneak peek at Pittsburgh
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
July 20, 2007

Pittsburgh at Virginia

Sept. 29, TBA (TV - TBA)
At Scott Stadium - Charlottesville

The Panthers:
2006 Record: 6-6, 2-5 Big East (6th)
Coach: Dave Wannstedt (13-10, third year)
Stats: Rushing Offense – 78th nationally; Passing Offense – 20th; Total Offense – 37th; Rushing Defense – 107th;
Pass Efficiency Defense – 68th; Total Defense – 87th.

Flashback: After destroying Virginia in the season opener, Pitt appeared primed for a big season that included a bowl game. The crystal ball told the same after the Panthers raced out to a 6-1 start, the best for the program since Dan Marino led Pitt to a 7-0 mark in 1982. The offense was surging, averaging 35 points per game, and the defense was wreaking enough havoc. A season of promise, however, spiraled quickly. A five-game losing streak can do that. Sure, the skid came against some of the Big East’s best teams, such as Louisville, Rutgers and West Virginia, but success on offense was spoiled by a defense that surrendered 139 points in the last three games and struggled to stop opposing running backs. The team was eligible to play in the postseason, but the call never came. Quarterback Tyler Palko was the biggest star and finished with 8,529 career yards of total offense, the second-best mark in program history. Linebacker H.B. Blades enjoyed a stellar season and wrapped up his career with 434 tackles and cornerback Darrelle Revis played well enough to forego his senior season and land as a first-round pick by the Jets in the NFL Draft.

Fast forward: The mission for the coaching staff is simple: Get Pitt back in a bowl game. The program has not played in the postseason since 2004 and if the Big East preseason poll is any indication, a trip seems unlikely. The Panthers were picked to finish sixth in the league, ahead of only UConn and Syracuse. The team does have 14 starters back, including most of the offensive line, but Wannstedt and offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh must fill the void left by Palko’s graduation. A three-man battle to become quarterback should be interesting. Junior Bill Stull, who has passed for 86 yards in six appearances, will look to hold off redshirt freshman Kevan Smith and true freshman Pat Bostick. The winner has solid wide receivers, a group led by Derek Kinder (57 rec., 847 yds., 6 TDs), and tailback LaRod Stevens-Howling (893 yds., 9 TDs) to fall back upon. The Pitt defense returns its defensive line in tact and Wannstedt has praised the options in his secondary. There are major holes to fill at linebacker, a position that should have gained speed. The season likely hinges on the ability to improve against the run.

Key player: LaRod Stevens-Howling, a senior, finished last year with decent stats. They might have been a tad misleading since he rushed for 221 yards against Syracuse, one of the nation’s worst against the run. Wannstedt demands consistency from a running game and the offensive line should be in place to make that happen. The pressure is on Stevens-Howling to provide it.

Inside the game: Virginia will play the first of three straight non-conference games and its first against a non-ACC foe at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers lining up on defense will be thankful that Palko is gone. Those in the stands may say the same about Christian Olsen, who got the nod for UVa at quarterback last year against the Panthers. Call it a win-win situation.

Cavaliers going outside Va. for talent
Experts consider in-state class 'solid'
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
July 21, 2007

Al Groh has a playroom inside the McCue Center that would put most NFL War Rooms to shame.

One of the features inside the private room is a large board with names of high school prospects that the Virginia football program is or was pursuing.

Those recruits are moved around the board like puzzle pieces as verbal commitments are obtained at UVa or opposing schools.

To help in the process, the coach said in-state recruits are labeled in orange. Yet despite landing 12 commitments for the Class of 2008, those orange tags have landed in the loss column or remain in limbo.

While Virginia is not expected to go empty handed in the commonwealth, the situation has created quite a stir on message boards and local talk radio shows. Perhaps compounding the problem is the success that Virginia Tech has enjoyed with in-state talents - the Hokies have 13 commitments, nine of which are from Virginia.

Groh recently shed some light on the situation.

UVa, the coach pointed out, has not altered its in-state recruiting plan. They are merely searching for players with “character and personality” and for “the type of student that will fit into this student body and this academic circumstance.

“The path that we are on is to recruit to the profile that will create the successful student and football player at Virginia and wherever those people who exemplify that model are, that’s what we are after,” Groh added. “If they are all in Charlottesville, Richmond and Roanoke, that would be what’s best. If those players are in the state of Virginia, that is just that much better for us.”

The tricky world of recruiting, however, changes annually. The talent inside the state lines fluctuates, and Groh hinted that there were fewer targets for his program inside the state this year.

Recruiting experts agree with Groh - at least to an extent.

“I would say at the top it is not as good as the past couple of years,” said Chris Horne, the recruiting analyst for TheSabre.com and TechSideline.com. “In my in-state rankings, I don’t have any 5-stars right now, but I do have six 4-stars.

“I would characterize this as a solid in-state class, but I wouldn’t say it is a down year by any means. I think ‘solid’ would be the word for me with this class. There is solid depth throughout the class, but it is not the deepest class for the state, for sure.”

Chris Wallace, publisher at CavsCorner.com, agreed and said the in-state “talent pool for the Cavaliers is as small as it has been” in years.

“I think it’s a good class this year but not a great class in Virginia,” Wallace said. “It also mirrors the class of 2006 from the standpoint that many of the elite players in the state look like they could be headed out of state.

“Additionally, a high number of these year’s D-I prospects are academic question marks in terms of their ability to qualify. UVa, specifically, has chosen not to pursue a handful of players that they otherwise might have had an excellent chance at landing.”

Given those factors, Groh said landing players from outside the state was a no-brainer.

“If they are not here [in Virginia], then we still have to have those players on our team,” Groh said. “If they are not in Lynchburg, but they are in Harrisburg, [Pa.], we need to get them out of Harrisburg.”

There are numerous examples, some of whom Groh pointed out, for what he is looking for in a student-athlete.

“We would like to recruit Brad Butler every year,” said Groh, referring to the former offensive line that plays in the NFL for Buffalo. “We need Brad Butlers on our team.”

Former tight end Heath Miller, now with the Pittsburgh Steelers, current tight end Tom Santi and defensive lineman Jeffrey Fitzgerald were also cited as examples of players fitting the mold of what Groh desires in a college football player.

“That’s the profile that we think will make this team successful on the field as defined by our terms of success,” Groh added.

 

Cavs' Long looking out for his future
Daily Progress sports editor
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
July 22, 2007

PINEHURST, N.C. - There’s no surprise that senior All-America defensive end candidate Chris Long graces the cover of Virginia’s football media guide, which will be distributed this afternoon at the annual ACC Kickoff at Pinehurst Resort.

Long, who was rated as a legitimate first-round draft prospect by several NFL talent evaluators last April, decided to return for his final season at Virginia. But this time, Long will be heavily insured.

The Charlottesville native who played at St. Anne’s-Belfield has a somewhat uniquely structured insurance policy should he suffer an injury that would affect his future draft status or end his playing career. Long’s parents, Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long and wife Diane, paid for the policy through Lloyd’s of London.

Many college seniors purchase insurance policies just in case they are injured.

Long said that the NFL can wait.

“God willing, I’ll worry about that next year,” the Cavalier star said. “My approach every year is that you have to prove something every day. My first goal is to win an ACC championship at Virginia.”

Several NFL officials told The Daily Progress last spring that they projected the UVa defensive end as high as 15th and as low as No. 40 in the April draft. Since then, Long has been named to the Playboy magazine preseason All-America football team.

In those conversations with NFL personnel, the phrases “best technique in college football,” and “best motor in college football” kept popping up about the Cavalier standout.

Yet, he decided to finish out his senior season in his hometown.

“It was entirely Chris’s decision,” Howie Long said. “It was never about the money. It was about goals and respect.”

Long, who was second-team All-ACC as a junior, has proven to be a highly motivated player for coach Al Groh and a key component of defensive coordinator Mike London’s 3-4 scheme.

“I want to establish myself as not being a disappointing player, but rather being a guy who lives up to the hype,” Long said. “I don’t want to be one of those guys that disappears. I want to be one of those guys that helps our team win and get down to Jacksonville (site of the ACC Football Championship game).”

All 12 of the conference’s head coaches and two players from each school will arrive today for the annual interview sessions with hundreds of media members. Media will vote on the preseason ACC standings and all-conference teams during the event, which ends Tuesday.

 

Sneak peek at Middle Tennessee State
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
July 21, 2007

Virginia at Middle Tennessee State

Oct. 6, 6 p.m. (TV - TBA)
At Floyd Stadium - Murfreesboro, Tenn.

The Blue Raiders
2006 Record: 7-6 overall, 6-1 Sun Belt (T-1st)
Coach: Rick Stockstill (7-6, 1 year)
Stats: Rushing Offense – 56th nationally; Passing Offense – 106th; Total Offense – 104th; Rushing Defense – 99th; Pass Efficiency Defense – 108th; Total Defense – 105th.

Flashback: The Blue Raiders were one of the best stories in college football last year. Picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference before the season, the program and first-year coach Rick Stockstill exceeded those expectations. In fact, Middle Tennessee State shared the Sun Belt Conference crown with Troy and earned an invitation to the Detroit-based Motor City Bowl. The schedule offered some easy wins and some eye-opening defeats against BCS schools - Louisville, Oklahoma and South Carolina beat Middle Tennessee by a combined total of 121 points. Regardless, those contests were chalked up as learning experiences. Stockhill was named the league’s best coach and attendance soared at home games in the stadium that seats just over 30,000 (Note: Middle Tennessee averaged 22,077 for its five home games). The offense relied heavily on a ground game that featured Eugene Gross and backup DeMarco McNair and finished tops in the league in scoring. Quarterback Clint Marks, a mainstay on the field, wrapped up a solid career passing for eight scores and almost 2,000 yards. The offense, however, was overshadowed by a defense that led the Sun Belt in rushing defense and created scores of sacks and tackles for a loss. Safety Damon Nickson, an All-American, flourished on defense and special teams. He averaged 28.8 yards on kickoff returns, made 61 tackles and picked off five passes.

Fast forward: Having played in a bowl game, sneaking up on teams will be a tougher task. Replacing a quarterback, running back and a couple of linebackers may be just as tricky. Stockstill and his staff have talent back, but the biggest concern lies in issues with depth. Joe Craddock, a junior, appears to have secured the starting job at quarterback during spring drills. Standing at 5-foot-11, Craddock is classified as a scrambler with a solid arm. The top pass-catchers are back, which includes tight end Clint Corder. McNair, after waiting in the wings, will start the season as the top tailback but may be pushed by sophomore Phillip Tanner by season’s end. A physical runner, McNair gained 586 yards and scored seven TDs a year ago. The offensive line has two starters and some part-time players returning, but does not have the promise of their defensive counterparts in the trenches. The top eight defensive linemen, players with proven ability, are back. The unit, which includes seniors Tavares Jones and superstar Erik Walden, will be asked to provide added support against the run while a group of linebackers gain experience. The secondary, which includes Nickson and cornerback Bradley Robinson, has two vacancies. The return game should be solid again, but a host of kickers, including two transfers, will battle to replace Colby Smith, who handled all the kicking chores. The schedule includes a pair of short weeks and early-season dates with Louisville and LSU. Avoiding injuries against those BCS powers could determine the end result.

Key player: Nickson is a game-changer. Walden will likely play on Sundays in the future. McNair and Tanner should be successful moving the ball on the ground. Getting the ball to Desmond Gee, however, is a must. The speedy all-purpose threat can line up at tailback or in the slot and demands attention. Last year, Gee scored a touchdown in the final six games.

Inside the game: Typically, a visit by an ACC school to this comfy stadium would turn heads in the state. This one will lose some of its luster with Tennessee and Georgia meeting in a key SEC game on the same day just down the road. As Maryland can attest, the Blue Raiders cannot be taken lightly. The Cavaliers’ offensive line will face a good challenge in this one.

 

A sneak peek at Connecticut
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com
July 22, 2007

The game
Oct. 13, TBA (TV - TBA)
At Scott Stadium - Charlottesville

The Huskies
2006 Record: 4-8 overall, 1-6 Big East (T-7th)
Coach: Randy Edsall (41-51, 9 years)
Stats: Rushing Offense - 13th nationally; Passing Offense - 110th; Total Offense - 73rd; Rushing Defense - 105th; Pass Efficiency Defense - 72nd; Total Defense - 82nd.

Flashback
Only once last year did Connecticut celebrate a win in Big East Conference play - the Huskies beat Pitt in double overtime. Sure, the powers in the league were sensational, but late-season losses to Syracuse and Cincinnati hurt.
“Disappointing, frustrating - probably those two,” said UConn coach Randy Edsall about the 2006 campaign. “Disappointing because we couldn’t finish games and frustrating because it was very difficult to get [the players] on the same page and understand that the team is more important than ‘Me’ or ‘I.’
“I think those were the two things. I took a long hard look and did some things to alleviate that frustration and disappointment.”
The Huskies enjoyed great success on the ground, gaining almost 2,200 yards (that was almost 1,000 more yards than what Virginia
mustered). Running backs Donald Brown and Terry Caulley, a senior, posted solid numbers out of the backfield. The other parts of the offense, namely the quarterback play, left plenty to be desired. In fact, only nine Division I-A programs averaged fewer yards through the air. D.J. Hernandez (849 yards) and Matt Bonislawski (843) combined to toss 12 interceptions.
The defense, which excelled against the pass, allowed a ton of points late in the year, sending UConn to losses in five of its last six games.
Larry Taylor was a special teams star for the Huskies, posting lofty averages on punt and kickoff returns. Edsall used three placekickers during the season - and for a good reason. The Huskies missed at least one field goal in seven games.
Fast forward
After rocky times in regards to off-the-field issues in 2006, Edsall enjoyed a relatively quiet summer. That new focus has the coach excited about the newest model.
It may not matter in the long run. The Huskies were picked to finish seventh in the Big East in a recent media poll, but the Huskies coach brushed it off.
“That is based on what you did last year and what you have coming back,” Edsall said last week. “I don’t worry about those things. I worry about where we are at the end of the season.”
Fourteen starters are back, but the coaching staff has made it known that it will give new faces a chance to earn added playing time.
One of those newcomers, quarterback Tyler Lorenzon, a junior college transfer, is expected to battle sophomore Dennis Brown for the starting spot under center.
“We don’t need our quarterback to be Superman,” Edsall said.
“We just need a quarterback who can make big plays and a quarterback who has the ability to finish things off in the fourth quarter.”
Seven offensive linemen with starting experience are back to buy the starting signal-caller time in the pocket, and tailback Donald Brown returns as the team’s biggest weapon. Finding viable pass-catching options should be easier since Hernandez was shifted to wideout.
Jarrell Miller, who played at Fork Union last year, could be an instant star. The linebacker, who was pursued by Virginia after voiding a verbal commitment to play at North Carolina, joins a defense that should boast tons of speed, especially in the secondary. The defensive line, which was awful against the run last year, must replace two defensive ends, but tackle Dan Davis is back and vying for the Outland Trophy.

Key player
Only one freshman earned a spot on the All-Big East team. That player was wearing a Connecticut jersey. Tailback Donald Brown, easily the No. 1 option in the backfield, averaged 134 yards a game in his five starts. With some veterans back in the trenches, Brown should eclipse the 1,000-yard mark.

Inside the game
If only this was a men’s basketball game. On the gridiron, however, this contest lacks some luster and should be a tough sell at $35 a ticket. It will mark the final time that Virginia plays a non-ACC foe this season. The Huskies might offer UVa a stiff challenge in the return game in Storrs, Conn., a year later, but this one should be lopsided. Of course, games last year with Wyoming and Western Michigan were expected to go that way and UConn has a bye week to prep for the Cavaliers.

 

U.VA. NOTES
Saturday, Jul 21, 2007 - 12:07 AM

LACROSSE GETTING ASSIST FROM DUKE?
Peter Lamade, a standout midfielder for the Duke lacrosse team, has applied to graduate school at the University of Virginia and is likely to play for the Cavaliers in 2008.

Lamade, who's from Chevy Chase, Md., was a senior at Duke in 2006-07 and graduated this year. The NCAA awarded an extra year of eligibility to members of the Blue Devils' 2007 team after criminal charges against three former players were dismissed this spring.

A second-team All-American in 2005, when the Devils were NCAA runners-up, Lamade shared the ACC's rookie-of-the-year award with teammate Matt Danowski in 2004.

Lamade had 11 goals and 14 assists this year for Duke, which lost to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA title game. In his Duke career, he totaled 42 goals and 35 assists.

His brother, Ted, is a former Virginia lacrosse player who took a medical redshirt one season. After earning his bachelor's degree at U.Va., he transferred to Georgetown, which offered a graduate program that interested him. Ted Lamade played his final season for the Hoyas.

U.Va. should be well-stocked at middie in 2008. Coach Dom Starsia's returning midfielders include Brian Carroll, Jack Riley, Will Barrow, Max Pomper, Steve Giannone, Mike Thompson (Collegiate) and George Hugueley. Among the highly regarded freshmen in the Cavaliers' incoming class are midfielders Garrett Ince, Chris Clements and Shamel and Rhamel Bratton, twins from Long Island, N.Y. Groh learns from 2006 recruiting situation

Al Groh wasn't shocked that eight of the 24 football players who signed with Virginia in February 2006 failed to gain admittance. Groh expected that many of them would have to take a detour to prep school before coming to Charlottesville.

Of those eight, however, only two - Billy Cuffee and Ras-I Dowling - ended up signing again with U.Va. this year. In retrospect, Groh said Wednesday, Virginia probably shouldn't have allowed some of the weaker students to sign letters of intent in 2006.

"Frankly, some of those situations were not as strong as we thought they were, in terms of what could be accomplished during the course of the player's senior year," Groh said. "We don't get everything right, either, and we learn along the way, and probably we learned some things in that circumstance. As optimistic as we want to be, there probably might be some circumstances where we don't give it a shot again."

All of the 24 players who signed with U.Va. this year have cleared admissions. Former Cav Husted likes what he sees in punter

After seeing Matt Zubyk punt and then learning more about the San Diego schoolboy, Michael Husted recalled, "I just felt like naturally he'd be a great fit for U.Va."

So Husted, a former Virginia kicker who had a long NFL career, contacted his alma mater. The Cavaliers' coaches agreed with Husted's assessment and offered a scholarship to Zubyk, a 6-4, 180-pound rising senior at Francis W. Parker School. Zubyk committed to U.Va. last month.

Zubyk took part in the Kicking.com combine series for kickers and punters that Husted started with another former NFL kicker, Doug Brien.

"He performed really well at last year's event [in San Diego], and it caught my eye," Husted said of Zubyk. "He's got your prototypical punter's body."

During Groh's tenure, punting has been a weakness for the Cavaliers, which doesn't surprise Husted.

"Kickers are a dime a dozen," said Husted, who punted and kicked at Hampton High. "It's really hard to find a quality punter coming out of high school."

U.Va.'s top two punters, Ryan Weigand and Chris Gould, are seniors, so Zubyk's college debut could come in the 2008 opener against Southern California in Charlottesville. - Jeff White
 

The love is gone
Weeks ago, Michael Vick still felt the love from fans. Maybe not anymore.
David Squires
July 19 2007, 10:39 PM EDT

Michael Vick never has heard boos like this. Perhaps no athlete has.

Since a federal indictment Tuesday alleged that the Newport News native and Atlanta Falcons quarterback has been involved in dogfighting, more than 600 responses -- overwhelmingly negative -- have been posted on dailypress.com.

The comments not only stress the cruelty of dogfighting, but they point to the alleged brutality of dog owners who killed losing animals by drowning, electrocution and body-slamming.

One comment read:

"For all the poor dogs who suffered untold pain and horrific deaths due to sick Vick & friends, I pray the 4 of them are convicted and spends some quality time in prison …Come on NFL, do the right thing and cancel Vick's contract ASAP."

Another read:

"Regardless of what he accomplished throughout his high school, college or even now, the core of this problem is that he obviously doesn't respect nature or even what it offers. Not only did he morally disrespect these creatures, he also shone a new light from a new perspective on his career and his "accomplishments." Thank you Vick, for allowing this humiliating act of violence to stain the children's minds all over the world. For once can we get a responsible "celebrity."

Other comments allude to race -- Vick is African-American -- and used such terms as "thug" and ghetto."

So we are officially light years from a few weeks ago when Vick told a television reporter that "everybody loves Michael Vick."

People in the past might have felt this deeply about other athletes' connections to heinous crimes, but today's news consumers have more interactive tools at their disposal – to talk back to the news organizations and other news consumers – than in any time in history.

Also, because of the Internet, news organizations today have more sophisticated ways of receiving, displaying and broadcasting content.

Marilyn Watkins, athletic director at Warwick since Vick's senior year, saw parts of the indictment in a television broadcast. She said the accusations bore no resemblance to Vick, whom she first met when he was an eighth-grader at Ferguson High. Watkins was then a physical-education teacher.

"Honestly, no," Watkins said. "That doesn't sound like the person I knew in high school. ... It does not sound like Michael would do something like that.

"In high school, Michael was always friendly to all students. He had good rapport with all students. He had good rapport with fellow teammates, and he had good rapport with teachers."

Watkins paused when she was read some of the comments by Internet posters.

"I really don't have any comment to that," she said. "I just feel the judicial system needs to go through its process, and hopefully he will be cleared of all charges in the end."

But before a legal conclusion, expect more piling on in these sound-bite crazy times.

In a statement released Thursday, Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, had this to say:

"Michael Vick is no hero. A string of dead, wounded and suffering animals has been left along the Eastern Seaboard as a consequence of this dogfighting ring. Federal authorities have charged Vick with felony offenses. This is no moment to tell America's youth to look up to such a man."

Rob Dixon, program director at WHOV at Hampton University, has grown frustrated for weeks over the attention of the dog-fighting allegations – particularly in relation to other social ills.

"To me, it's amazing that folks have gotten this upset over dogs," Dixon said, "and people don't pour half the emotion for the kid who got shot in Newport News last night."

Dixon has been waging a battle on that issue on the dailypress.com forum, the LC, but since the indictment, he is seeing the other side more clearly.

"I might have come to the realization in the last couple days – conversing with some of these folks in chat rooms – that people love their dogs, like their children.

"So for someone to do to an animal, to someone they feel like was their best friend, this is personal for them."

Dixon, who is the radio voice of the Pirates for HU athletics contests, said the criticism also "does have some racial overtones," because "there's a difference in the way the media and the public treats black athletes."

To him the criticism might be less harsh were Vick white -- because race is an incendiary element thrown into any controversy.

On the other hand, one national columnist, Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star, pointed out that activist Al Sharpton and Hip Hop mogul Russell Simmons joined PETA in criticizing Vick in a letter to the NFL.

"True, the letter wasn't all that harsh," Whitlock wrote, "but the fact that Sharpton would in any way publicly hold a black person responsible for any action is historic."

So forget race as an overriding factor.

The issue here is man's best friend, and right now, he's not named Mike Vick.

In game of life, Vick blitzed by trouble
By ALAN JUDD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/22/07

Michael Vick joined the Atlanta Falcons a month shy of his 21st birthday, a naďf whom his new team would shelter from the bright lights of the big city.

Or so the Falcons thought.

Shielding Vick from temptation quickly gave way to protecting his image. Long before a grand jury indicted him Tuesday in a federal dogfighting case, Vick's performance on the football field often competed for attention with his conduct outside the arena.

But repeatedly during the past six years, Vick's celebrity, his money and his value to his team helped insulate him from public censure for his actions.

Vick settled a lawsuit last year by a former girlfriend who said he knowingly gave her a sexually transmitted disease. But the case was closed in such secrecy that the woman's lawyer can't even say why he can't comment on it.

Vick surrounded himself with unsavory associates, two with criminal records for drug trafficking. After two friends with Vick pocketed someone else's fancy watch at the Atlanta airport, the owner said a Falcons executive offered him money to keep Vick's name out of a police report.

Even the contents of Vick's water bottle raised questions. Vick gave contradictory explanations about a bottle with a secret compartment that police confiscated in January in the Miami airport. Police said it contained suspected marijuana; five days later, authorities said no drugs were found. Vick later claimed he kept jewelry in the compartment, and that police tried to frame him.

How the Falcons, Vick and his fans responded to those episodes illustrates the incredible leeway afforded talented sports stars, according to sports psychologists and others who study the actions of elite athletes.

"To some degree, there is a sense of entitlement and a sense of things get overlooked and things get taken care of and the rules don't apply," said Jonathan F. Katz, a psychologist in New York who consults with professional sports teams.

"It's like a parent," Katz said. "If there's tacit approval of misbehavior and there are no consequences, the message on some level is it's OK.

"We're all complicit in that," he said. "People are still going to pay for their cable television and their Falcons tickets and things like that."

Whether the team or the National Football League will discipline Vick remains up in the air. It's clear, however, that the Falcons missed several opportunities to curtail Vick's erratic behavior, from his brushes with the law to his obscene gesture directed toward booing fans last season.

Vick, though, long had lamented what he considered excessive scrutiny.

"I ain't got no control over what people are going to say about me or write," Vick told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2005. "That's the worst part of my life right now."

Entourage

Dan Reeves, Vick's first coach with the Falcons, called his quarterback into his office in February 2004 to discuss a troubling news report.

In Vick's hometown, Newport News, Va., police had charged two men with drug trafficking after finding marijuana in their pickup truck. Actually, it wasn't their truck. It was Vick's.

Reeves saw the episode as a teaching opportunity. He lectured Vick on the importance of reputation, on choosing the right friends, on staying out of trouble for the good of his team.

"You are an Atlanta Falcon," Reeves says he told Vick. "Whatever you do is going to be a reflection on all of us, not just you."

"He wasn't in the car," Reeves recalled last week, "and he didn't have anything to do with it. But he was the one responsible — it was his vehicle. He understood that."

Yet, Vick continued spending his free time with the same friends, engaging in the same activities. Like Vick, many came from a rough section of Newport News.

There was Quanis Phillips, a high school classmate of Vick's. He served brief jail terms on drug charges, including possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

There was Tony Taylor, who came to Newport News after serving two years in prison for drug trafficking in New York.

There was Davon Boddie, Vick's cousin and cook. Boddie's drug arrest led to the April 25 police search of Vick's house in Surry County, Va., allegedly the base of a dogfighting organization called Bad Newz Kennels.

Phillips and Taylor, along with Purnell Peace, were indicted with Vick last week. Prosecutors allege they conspired to sponsor and participate in illegal dog fights and to transport animals across state lines to engage in fights. The charges carry maximum jail terms of six years and fines as high as $350,000.

In the 2005 interview, Vick defended his friends, whom he described as his "crew."

"We all grew up tight," he said. "We all stuck together before I was Mike Vick ... before the fame and stardom, before the money. There's not one new guy in my circle. Everybody I have around me is out for my best interests."

Two members of that circle traveling with Vick through the Atlanta airport in October 2004 seemed to have other interests in mind.

According to Atlanta police records, a security camera caught Phillips and another man, Todd Harris, picking up a Rolex while passing through a security checkpoint with Vick.

The watch belonged to Alvin Spencer, a security screener. After seeing the video, Spencer went to the airport police to file a report.

Spencer later said a police detective, promising that Vick would return the watch, urged him not to file a report. The detective hadn't talked to Vick, though, records show. He had called the Falcons.

The fixer

Billy "White Shoes" Johnson was a star receiver and kick returner for the Falcons in the 1980s. Four years after retiring, he returned as coordinator of player programs. His duties include helping rookies adjust to professional athletics and, since 2001, keeping the Falcons' best-known player out of trouble.

In January 2002, for instance, Vick had twice failed to appear in court for a parking citation. A Clayton County judge threatened to jail him if he didn't show up a third time.

So Johnson took him to court. After Vick paid a $260 fine, Johnson acted as his spokesman, telling a reporter the case was "bogus." He suggested Vick was treated more harshly because of his celebrity.

"It happens all the time," Johnson said of the charge. Afterward, the near-jailing of the Falcons' highest-paid player received little news coverage.

The day that Vick's friends took Spencer's watch at the airport, a police detective called Johnson. According to police records, Johnson offered to have Vick bring back the watch the next day and to pay Spencer $450 for "any inconvenience he may have encountered." Phillips and Harris, Johnson told the detective, grabbed the watch because they thought it belonged to Vick.

The next day, Vick didn't show up with the watch. But Johnson met with Spencer and police officers. Spencer, who could not be reached for comment last week, later said he felt pressured to not file a police report as Johnson tried to negotiate a payment to him.

Johnson did not respond to several messages left at his office by a reporter last week.

Spencer later said that Johnson and the officers kept him in a room for several hours, apparently less interested in retrieving his watch than in protecting Vick. He said Johnson asked him "what would make me happy." At one point in the conversation, records say, Johnson offered Spencer as much as $1,000.

"He's got Billy in there blocking for him and he probably has no intention of returning my watch," Spencer later said. "I felt betrayed by the whole process."

Spencer filed a complaint with Atlanta police over the handling of the case. When investigators submitted written questions to Vick, Johnson e-mailed back: "Mike will not participate in the investigation under advisement from his attorney."

The detective said Spencer tried to get as much as $20,000 from the team and that he didn't submit a formal report because "Mr. Spencer stated he and Mr. Johnson could settle this matter."

Ron Mexico

Vick settled another matter under the shroud of court-approved secrecy.

A former girlfriend sued Vick in March 2005, claiming he had failed to tell her he had genital herpes. A few days after they had sex without a condom for the first time, the lawsuit said, the woman experienced pains and went to a hospital emergency room. A doctor diagnosed genital herpes.

The woman called Vick, the lawsuit said, but he wouldn't return her calls for several weeks. When she did reach him, court records say, "he would be very short with her while continually denying that he knew anything about what she was saying about herpes."

Finally, the lawsuit said, Vick "confessed" that he had known he had herpes when he had sex with her.

In court filings, Vick's lawyers denied he had herpes at the time. If he did, they said, he was unaware of it.

A year after the woman says she contracted the disease, Vick was tested under an assumed name: Ron Mexico.

The results do not appear in the court file. But Vick's lawyers described the test as "unreliable."

The woman's lawyer took sworn statements from Vick, his friend Quanis Phillips and his doctors. But in April 2006, with the case headed to trial, the woman asked a judge to dismiss her lawsuit. She and Vick had reached a settlement. Its terms and several thick files, including Vick's deposition, were permanently sealed.

The settlement also precluded the woman and her lawyer from saying anything about the case, or Vick.

"No comment," her lawyer, Cale Conley, said recently. "Those are the only two words you're going to hear from me."

'Lesson learned'?

The incidents surrounding Vick have followed a consistent arc: Public embarrassment; followed by private talks with team officials, often described as "stern"; and concluding with Vick's pledge to do better.

In his only statement on the dogfighting case, he acknowledged in late April that he needed to make changes in his life.

"It's a call for me to really tighten down on who I'm trying to take care of," he said. "When it all boils down, people will try to take advantage of you and leave you out to dry. Lesson learned for me."

But even some of Vick's strongest supporters now wonder what he has learned.

Reeves, the former coach, said the Falcons investigated Vick's background before drafting him in 2001. And team officials were candid then about the extra care they were taking to shield Vick from bad influences.

After the drug incident involving his truck, Reeves said, he took Vick at his word that it was an isolated incident. But he said he found last year's obscene gesture at the Georgia Dome troubling, and the dogfighting allegations stunning.

"It disappoints me, but more it surprises me how he could be associated with something like that," Reeves said. "It's not the Mike Vick I'm acquainted with. He was just a really good person."

Psychologists suggest tougher responses to the earlier incidents — by Vick's teammates, his coaches, even his fans — might have prevented the current troubles.

"Individual behavior does not occur in a vacuum," said Colleen Hacker, a sports psychologist who teaches at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., and is the school's former women's soccer coach.

"The environment you put yourself in influences who you are. The people who are an ongoing part of your life influence who you are."

— This article contains quotes by Michael Vick from an unpublished article by staff writer Matt Winklejohn.