In autobiography, Michael Vick reflects on path of self-destruction

Said Vick of the humiliation of prison, "You're nobody. You don't have no existence to the world at all. You're just a guy with a name and a number." (See Vick describe prison in the video below.)

His bounce-back season last year, when he leaped past Kevin Kolb on the depth chart to become the Eagles' starter and finished second in MVP voting, has restored the all-star flair with which Vick once played. And Vick has attempted to atone for his crimes by working with the Humane Society to inform young people about the evils and cruelty of dogfighting.

But the memories of his path of deception and bad decisions still haunt Vick.

Vick, 30, hopes he can impart the lessons he learned confined inside a lonely prison cell to young people who might now be damaging their own lives. They are lessons that Vick regrets that he, at age 26, was too naive to absorb.

"My propensity for trying to lie my way out of trouble only made my consequences more severe," he wrote.

Vick admitted that not only was he lying to police investigators, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Falcons owner Arthur Blank about his involvement in dogfighting, he was also lying to his own defense attorney, Billy Martin .

Wrote Vick:

"When the dogfighting allegation surfaced, my lawyer told me, 'If you were involved, you need to tell me you were involved.' That's when it was on the state rather than the federal level. I kept telling him, 'No, no, I wasn't involved, no, no.' The whole time they were building the case, my lawyer was saying 'no' but he was seeing all this evidence saying 'yes.' If I had just told the truth, maybe I would've received a smack on the wrist instead of a lengthy sentence.

"So now that I think about it, I believe it was the Lord. It was God saying, 'Kid, I gave you a chance to get this thing right.' It was like, 'Carry your ass to jail.' I know He didn't say it like that, but it was like, 'Go on. You need to do some time. You need to learn a lesson.'

"He gave me a chance. He gave me three months – April through July – to go to all these people and say, 'Look, I was wrong,' and to get the correct advice, and to use it correctly. But I didn't do it.

Plaxico Staying in the East? » Eagles Gab

            Plaxico Burress was released from prison this morning after serving his 22 month sentence on a weapons charge. He emerged from behind the chain-link fence wearing none other than a Philadelphia Phillies baseball hat. After the past few weeks of speculation let’s take a look at the possible teams that Plax could end up on and where he is most likely to end up.

            The teams that have been mentioned in the running for Burress include teams like the Jets, Rams, Eagles, and Plaxico’s agent Drew Rosenhaus will not rule out the Giants.

            The New York Giants released Plaxico Burress on April 3 , 2009, five months after he accidently shot himself in the leg. Brandon Jacobs’ has ruled out Burress’ return to the Giants. While Brandon Jacobs is not in the front office, he has been a frequent visitor to Plaxico during his time in prison. The Giants have no need for Plaxico anymore, they have since replaced him. Hakeem Nicks has stepped up as the number one wide receiver in the Giants offense with a solid corps behind him with the likes of Steve Smith and Kevin Boss at tight end.

            New York’s other team will also explore their options with Plaxico as well. The Jets have three unrestricted free agents at the wide receiver spot; Braylon Edwards, Brad Smith, and Santionio Holmes. Brad Smith and Santonio Holmes are the most likely of the three to be signed. Brad Smith is such a well rounded athlete that the Jets will not want to lose him in the Wildcat offense and in the return game. Rex Ryan is in love with Santonio Holmes and the fact that he is arguably the most clutch player in the league. This leaves Braylon Edwards, the 6’3” power receiver in the Jets’ offense looking for a job. If the Jets decide to sign this combination and move on without Edwards, 6’5” Plaxico Burress has a very good chance of landing back in the Meadowlands.

            Another highly talked about landing spot for Burress is in St. Louis with Sam Bradford and his corps of youth at receiver. Right now, the average height of starting receivers in St. Louis is 5 feet, 11.6 inches. Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson, and Donnie Avery make up one of the smallest receiving groups in the league. Bringing in Plaxico seems like it could be a fit to balance out the lack of height. But St. Louis has transferred from the days of Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt to a smaller, younger, faster offense. The Rams just drafted 6’2” Boise State receiver Austin Pettis and have high expectations for him, as well they should.

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