By Charles Robinson
Today, Michael Vick(notes) begins the rest of his life.
That’s what friends and associates close to Vick have told Yahoo! Sports during the past few weeks, after spending time with the quarterback since his release from Leavenworth prison for his role in a dogfighting ring. The former NFL quarterback has spent the past two months in home confinement, where sources say he has been working in earnest to repair almost every phase of his life – re-establishing bonds with his family, mending fences with his community, and rebuilding his body in hopes of once again capturing a job in the NFL.
Vick at home following his release from Leavenworth.
“What has impressed me the most, Michael told me, ‘I’m ready to start the second half of my life and I won’t make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past,’ ” said Tom Shaw, considered by many to be the preeminent trainer in pro football. Shaw has known Vick since his days at Virginia Tech, and has spoken with him regularly since the quarterback was released from prison. “Nike, that whole [contract], he was making so much money. But he realizes that he made mistakes, and he’s ready to start the second half of his life. He’s not bitter. It’s not anything like that, where he’s saying, ‘Man, I can’t believe they did that to me.’ I think he’s accepted it. … He’s beyond humbled. You could not imagine the feeling that this guy has had.”
Vick has yet to speak publicly to the media, but he faces one of the steepest climbs imaginable in the coming days – both in public perception and in the world of pro football. With his estate in bankruptcy and his NFL career on indefinite hold, he is quietly awaiting judgment on whether he’ll be allowed to play in 2009. READ
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