Make no mistake about it, the Green Bay Packers have done enough
research on controversial quarterback Michael Vick to decide
whether he would be a good fit for their team.
By Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GREEN BAY, Wis.
Make no mistake about it, the Green Bay Packers have done enough research on controversial quarterback Michael Vick to decide whether he would be a good fit for their team.
But researching him and signing him are two completely different marks on the level-of-interest scale and, as of right now, sources say, the Packers are in a holding pattern, intrigued by the possibility of adding a premier athlete but nowhere near the stage where they feel it necessary to pursue him.
Like a handful of NFL teams, the Packers have dug fairly deep into Vick’s background – reportedly even interviewing him – following commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to conditionally reinstate him to the league on July 28. Vick, who served 23 months in a federal prison for conspiracy to run a dogfighting ring and was suspended from the NFL for two years, can participate in any team’s training camp and its final two exhibition games if signed.
After that Goodell will decide no later than Week 6 of the regular season whether he should be fully reinstated.
According to league sources familiar with the Packers’ interest in Vick, there’s no reason to believe they will do anything beyond discussing the pros and cons of bringing in one of the most dynamic offensive players of his time.
But if later they think the two quarterbacks behind starter Aaron Rodgers aren’t performing up to snuff or they feel they need someone of Vick’s explosive ability someplace other than quarterback they will have already studied the risk-reward factor with signing him.
Among the considerations general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy would have to consider is how much of a distraction it would be to have Vick at training camp. Not only would the national media converge on this football-crazy hamlet, there would be potential for disruptive demonstrations by groups that think Vick shouldn’t be in the spotlight after being responsible for the death and injury of so many dogs.
“We’re built for distractions with what we went through,” cornerback Charles Woodson said after practice Friday, referring to the media circus that took place last year before the Brett Favre trade. “Of course, A-Rod is our quarterback. You don’t want that being a competition. But what he has (athletically) can only make you better.”
Woodson said he does not condone what Vick did, but he said he has no preconceived notions about what kind of person he is or whether he would be poison in the Packers’ locker room. As a player who was outspoken during the offseason about adding free agents, Woodson said he would support adding Vick to the roster.
Though Vick’s career completion rate of 53.8 percent and running style don’t fit the West Coast offense McCarthy runs, there are many who think he would be dynamic in the occasionally used “wildcat” scheme, a trendy change-of-pace look in which a runner takes a direct snap from center and has the option of handing off, running or throwing.
The better the athlete, the more options available. In his last season with the Falcons, Vick, now 29 years old and out of the NFL since 2006, threw for 2,474 yards and ran for 1,039. Among the factors the Packers researched is Vick’s physical condition.
Under no circumstances would he be given a chance to unseat Rodgers.
“Aaron’s our leader,” receiver Donald Driver said. “This is his team. There’s no debate about that.”
Still, Driver said he didn’t think there was any danger in bringing in Vick, especially given his potential. He did not see a reason why he wouldn’t fit in with the players in the Packers locker room.
“I think guys would open their arms up to him and respect him like a normal man,” Driver said. “I don’t know if you can worry about all the issues that would happen behind it because you can’t predict what will happen. I don’t think it’s a risk. If he’s a great player, you bring him in, and if it works out, it works out. If it doesn’t, you move forward. We’re going to keep playing football regardless of the situation.”
Thompson and McCarthy would have to consider the circus atmosphere that would envelop Ray Nitschke Field. There are scores of Internet sites campaigning for Goodell to ban Vick from playing again in the NFL.
One of the most fervent anti-Vick organizations has been People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which picketed the Falcons’ training camp and NFL headquarters in New York after news of Vick’s involvement with dogfighting became known. PETA has used provocative tactics to get its message across, and the potential for disruption at training camp is something for which the Packers would have to prepare.
“The question you have to ask is does rewarding this guy with a multimillion dollar contract and the opportunity to serve as a role model for young kids out there really send the best message,” said Dan Shannon, director of campaigns for PETA. “Obviously, we have to see what happens. We haven’t taken anything off the table.”
During his prison sentence, Vick met with the president of the Humane Society of the United States and has said he plans to work with HSUS in a program designed to steer inner-city youth away from dogfighting. He has apologized for his actions, but some wonder if he did it simply to get reinstated in the NFL.
Shannon said PETA recognizes that Vick served his punishment, but it would like the NFL to add animal cruelty to its player conduct policy so that players know if they are caught engaging in the dogfighting business they will either be fined or suspended. It intends to keep pushing Goodell for that change.
How aggressive PETA might get should Vick wind up in a Packers uniform is unclear. It could go to great lengths to disrupt the continuity of training camp to spread its message about the evils of animal cruelty. Would Thompson and president Mark Murphy have the stomach to handle such activity?
“It’s going to come down to this,” said linebacker Nick Barnett, who is in favor of bringing in Vick. “Are you going to give him a shot regardless of what PETA people are going to be out there? Ted is no (coward). There were a lot of people protesting Brett Favre not being back and he pulled the trigger. He did what he believed in, and we’ve got A-Rod as our quarterback. A great quarterback.
“He’s going to make the right decision. He’s not going to shrimp out because of someone else’s opinion. If he thinks it’s going to help this team, he’s going to pull that trigger.”
