By Dena Potter
Associated Press
November 27, 2008 05:15 am SUSSEX, Va. — Michael Vick knows this time next year he will be a free man. What he doesn't know is if he'll get another shot at being an NFL player. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge Tuesday, the first step in a possible comeback. The move allowed him to avoid additional prison time, clearing the way for his early release from prison and possible transition into a halfway house. But there's no guarantee when or if he'll get into a halfway house, and a messy bankruptcy case is just beginning to make its way through the court. Once the NFL's highest-paid player, the 28-year-old Vick has lost nearly all the record-breaking $130 million from a 10-year deal he signed with Atlanta in December 2004. Although NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't ruled out reinstating Vick, he hasn't said he will. "Mike takes full responsibility for his actions and is ready to move forward and will let his actions speak for him," Vick's agent Joel Segal said outside the courtroom. He wouldn't talk specifically about Vick's NFL future. Vick is serving a 23-month sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., on federal charges of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in eastern Virginia's rural Surry County. He also admitted to participating in the killing of several underperforming dogs. Vick is scheduled for release in July 2009 and will serve three years' probation. As part of Tuesday's plea deal, the prosecutor dropped an animal cruelty count. Surry Circuit Judge Samuel Campbell accepted the plea agreement and gave Vick a suspended three-year sentence — far less than the maximum 10-year term. Vick apologized to the court, his family and "to all the kids who looked up to me as a role model." Afterward, his lawyer, Billy Martin, said Vick already had paid dearly for his mistakes. "He knows what he did was wrong. He knows that cost him his job at the time in the NFL; it cost him a contract worth multiple millions of dollars," Martin said. "Most importantly, it took Michael away from his family." Vick's mother, Brenda Boddie, brother Marcus Vick and fiancee Kijafa Frink sat behind him in the gallery. After the approximately 20-minute hearing had ended, Michael Vick turned to his young daughter and winked. Vick appeared as trim Tuesday as when he entered prison a year ago. Although he might be physically able to return, it's uncertain whether a team would be willing to take a risk on him. Atlanta still has Vick under contract, but Falcons owner Arthur Blank made clear late last month the three-time Pro Bowl selection won't wear that team's uniform again. Others have said they would rather not face the wrath of pet lovers and groups such as PETA, which has been a constant fixture at Vick's hearings. Martin said Vick's legal team hasn't been involved in any preliminary steps to revive the suspended player's career, focusing instead on ending his incarceration as soon as possible. "Michael as a human being is clearly somebody that we want to salvage," Martin said. "Michael as a football player is somebody that down the road may get a chance to look again." Associated Press writers Larry O'Dell and Hank Kurz Jr. contributed to this report.
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