Mike Vick in bankruptcy court today

AP

Lawyers are facing off today in a Virginia courtroom over the former Falcons quarterback’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is in federal court this morning, where teams of lawyers are facing off over his plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

The suspended NFL star’s plan partly depends on him rejoining the league. Vick, nearing the end of a 23-month federal prison sentence for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy, hopes to earn as much as $10 million a year or more, according to court filings in his bankruptcy case.

Under the plan he submitted to the court, Vick would keep the first $750,000 of his annual income over the next five years. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale.

Supporters of Vick’s plan include a committee of his unsecured creditors, including Radtke Sports, Royal Bank of Canada, Wachovia Bank and 1st Source Bank.

“The plan should be approved because it provides substantially all the benefits of the liquidation of Vick’s assets,” said Ross Reeves, one of the committee’s attorneys, “and offers the potential of recovering lots more money in the event Vick is able to rehabilitate his career and go back and play football.”
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Mike Vick must pay his way

Fallen NFL star Michael Vick must appear at a bankruptcy hearing next month but should pay his own way from the Kansas prison where he is serving time for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy, a judge ruled Wednesday.

At an hourlong hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank J. Santoro rejected the government’s suggestions that he either postpone Vick’s April 2 bankruptcy confirmation hearing or allow the suspended player to testify by video hookup from the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kan.

“I’m not going to be put in a position of determining credibility or demeanor over a television,” said Santoro, who has insisted since Vick filed for bankruptcy in July that he would have to testify in person.
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With the exit of DeAngelo Hall, Warrick Dunn, Alge Crumpler, and Mike Vick, who’s our star player now.

If you are a Falcons fan, you sitting in your house with your season ticket renewal forms thinking to yourself what in the hell should I do. Of course you love your team, but after a season like the 2007 season, how much can you really take.  Since Dimitroff has arrived, he’s found a way to get rid of any of Mike Vick’s friends that included Dunn, Crumpler and fellow VT player D. Hall.  It’s only a matter of time before they release Vick.  But who’s that player do we have that gets us excited again?  Who’s gonna help get the Dome back rockin like it was during the 2002 - 2006 seasons?  Is it Michael Turner?  Don’t know about that, I wasn’t jumping up and down about a back up running back being brought in for that amount of money.  Or is it someone in the draft?  It won’t be McFadden, hello, we just paid a boat load of cash to Turner.  Matt Ryan?  May be a good QB, but no one to get excited about. 

Who’s out there to take over that role?  The one who will help the Falcons get talked about again.  I don’t think that person is on the team now, but where is he?  Mr. Blank, you’ve cleaned house, now its time to redecorate.

Falcons to trade D. Hall for Raiders’ second-round pick in ‘08 draft

The Atlanta Falcons have reached an agreement in principle with the Oakland Raiders to trade cornerback DeAngelo Hall for the Raiders’ second-round pick in the 2008 draft, pending the Raiders finalizing a contract with Hall, according to a source close to the Falcons.

Hall is close to agreeing to a contract with the Raiders that will pay him just below what Asante Samuel signed with the Eagles, according to the source. Samuel signed a six-year deal worth a reported $57 million, with $20 million guaranteed.

Hall is a former first-rounder taken with the eighth pick in the 2004 draft.

Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN

Mike Vick’s Virginia trial postponed

Michael Vick’s trial on state dogfighting charges in Virginia was set for April 2, but will be re-scheduled, according to the Surry County prosecutor’s office. A continuance has been granted, but a new date for the jury trial has not been set.

The Virginia indictment charges Vick with one count of torturing and killing dogs and one count of promoting dogfighting. Each carries a maximum five-year prison term.

Vick is currently serving a 23-month sentence in federal prison after being convicted for dogfighting related charges.

Calls to Vick’s attorney, Billy Martin, were not immediately returned.

Petrino getting roster in focus. Vick 65% Completion Percentage, Jimmy Williams at corner, return of Finneran

New Falcons coach Bobby Petrino says second-year defensive back Jimmy Williams will enter the team’s first minicamp in April as the starting right cornerback. That strengthens the possibility that Atlanta could choose a safety — LSU’s LaRon Landry is the most highly regarded — with the No. 8 overall selection in the April 28-29 NFL draft.

At Wednesday’s league meetings, Petrino offered more insight into the team’s personnel decisions, including the fact that Chauncey Davis is the likely replacement at defensive end for Patrick Kerney, and that Petrino hopes to limit the number of times quarterback Michael Vick runs with the ball.

Here’s a look at how some players and positions will be affected:

• Jimmy Williams: Very little thought has been given to moving the Falcons’ top pick last season to safety, Petrino said. Having scouted Williams in college and watched film of him in limited action last season, Petrino determined early that Williams, down to 207 pounds from 215 as a rookie, would play right corner, opposite former Virginia Tech teammate DeAngelo Hall.

“We’re excited about him,” Petrino said. “He’s been working hard. He’s got a lot of energy. It will be fun to get to know him and see exactly how he operates at corner. We drafted him as a corner and we need a corner, and that’s what he’s played. He didn’t get a lot of opportunities last year. I try to take last year and put it aside and evaluate from this point on.”

With the draft a month away, the decision to play Williams at corner could be a sign that the Falcons are targeting Landry or Florida safety Reggie Nelson with the top pick. Incumbent free safety Chris Crocker was solid against the run last season, his first with the Falcons, but a liability in deep coverage and could be replaced.

What becomes of last season’s starting right cornerback, Jason Webster, remains to be seen. Petrino saying there was a need for a right cornerback could signal his eventual release before the season.

• Michael Vick: “What I would like to change about Michael is his first instinct, when he decides to take the game over and go win it by running the ball,” Petrino said of Vick, who became the NFL’s first 1,000-yard rushing quarterback last season.

“I would like to have him say, ‘OK, I’m going to take the game over, we’ve got to win this, but I’m going to utilize my receivers, my running back, my tight end,’ and build that trust within everybody so he understands we’re going to get it done but we’re going to utilize the players around him,” Petrino said. “He’s still going to have the ability to take off and go. We’d like that to be his third instinct instead of his first.”

Petrino said he’s established a goal of Vick completing 65 percent of his passes. Vick has never completed more than 56.4 percent. Last season, he completed 52.6 percent.

• Chauncey Davis: Davis has started 18 games in his first two seasons, so serving as Kerney’s replacement at defensive end would not be a surprise. Davis is solid against the run but is still evolving as a pass rusher.

This doesn’t mean the Falcons won’t draft a defensive end. They could opt for Arkansas’ Jamaal Anderson with the first pick, or use one of their two second-round picks on a defensive end, with Georgia’s Charles Johnson a possibility if he slips that far.

• Brian Finneran: The veteran wide receiver, who missed all of last season after tearing knee ligaments, is on track to be ready for training camp, but there is still some uncertainty about his health, Petrino said.

Petrino thinks the receivers, with the addition of veteran Joe Horn, have the capability to do well but must prove themselves.

“We’re waiting to see,” Petrino said. “They’re committed and excited that we’re going to spend a lot of time practicing the passing game and going through the progression that I believe in, and that’s learning the game together; everybody putting all the parts together.”

This could still be a position addressed in the draft.

• Daniel Fells: Backup tight end Daniel Fells made the Falcons roster as an undrafted free agent last season, and early evaluations are positive. Petrino said he is looking forward to seeing Fells in action, particularly in sets where an H-back is utilized.

The optimism around Fells (6-4, 252) might not be a good sign for veteran Eric Beverly, 33, who was used exclusively as a blocking tight end.

Grady Jackson not closing door on Falcons. Wants to play for Falcons despite lawsuit.

Despite filing a lawsuit against the Falcons, including three team officials, defensive tackle Grady Jackson said he hopes to remain with the team.

“I’d love to play in Atlanta,” Jackson said by telephone from Jackson, Miss., Wednesday. “I like playing there. Atlanta is good. I had fun playing with the Atlanta Falcons, and hopefully I can continue being an Atlanta

Jackson was a free agent coming off a $10 million contract with Green Bay when he visited the Falcons and took a physical last March, according the complaint.

Jackson alleges that a medical exam by the team’s doctor, Scott Gillogly, was reported to team trainer Ron Medlin and that the team’s director of player personnel, Les Snead, released erroneous information to some media outlets that Jackson had failed his March 24 physical. Gillogly, Medlin and Snead are named in the lawsuit.

The Falcons later signed Jackson in August to an incentive-laden three-year contract. He received a bonus of $300,000 and played for the league veteran minimum of $710,000 last season. Jackson is scheduled to make base salaries of $1.5 million in 2007 and 2008.

Falcons general manager Rich McKay was in Arizona for the NFL owners meetings and refused to comment on the lawsuit. The Falcons contended in a prepared statement Tuesday that Jackson just wants to re-negotiate his contract.

The lawsuit contends that Jackson was given an Echo Scan, a heart stress test, using a machine not made for a person of his size, and therefore the results were not reliable. The Falcons list Jackson as 6 feet 2, 345 pounds on their Web site.

Jackson has been a no-show for the team’s voluntary offseason workouts. As a player under contract, he would be required to attend the upcoming mandatory minicamp in April.

“I’m working out in Atlanta, but I won’t be going to the facilities,” Jackson said.

If the information about a “failed” physical had not been released, Jackson contends, he could have signed a bigger contract.

The lawsuit alleges that reports of Jackson’s failed physical were released to a reporter from KFFL.com, an Internet site that covers the league, and to the Sporting News magazine, and it was repeated and further published by the national media.

The lawsuit alleges that the information was released in order to enhance the Falcons’ leverage in negotiating a contract with Jackson, “to chill any interest by other NFL teams in signing Plaintiff Jackson and to reduce and impede … Jackson’s marketability in the free-agent market so that … the Falcons would later be able to sign … Jackson for considerably less money than his true market value.”

Jackson also says the Falcons might have limited his playing time and kept him from reaching a $500,000 bonus that required him to play nearly 60 percent of the snaps.

“If a player is performing up to his capabilities then you can’t say he’s not valuable or can’t play a lot of snaps,” Jackson said. “Everybody is using seven or eight defensive lineman now. Nobody plays the whole game. That I’m old, that’s a bunch of B.S. If you still got it, you’ve still got it.”

In Wednesday’s interview, Jackson did not accuse the Falcons of cutting his playing time to keep him from the bonus.

“I kind of feel like it, but it’s hard to say,” he said.

Jackson, 34, played in all 16 games last season and helped improve the Falcons’ run defense. He made no qualms about not being pleased with his contract.

“I look at it like this, I played the whole season, and it’s not about age,” Jackson said. “I still do what I do. I’m still playing great ball, and I feel like it’s [not] about age.”

Falcons to host Colts on Thanksgiving Night

The Falcons will participate in the national tradition of Thanksgiving football as they will host the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 22 at 8:15 p.m. ET in the Georgia Dome.  The game, which will be televised by the NFL Network, will be the third of three games that day as Green Bay will travel to traditional host Detroit at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the N.Y. Jets will go to Dallas for a 4:15 p.m. ET showdown on CBS.

“We are excited to be part of the Thanksgiving Day tradition,” said Falcons President and GM Rich McKay, who is attending the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz. “Anytime you can play a game on national television, its great for our organization and the city of Atlanta.”

Atlanta will become the second new city in as many years to host a Thanksgiving Night game as Kansas City hosted the 2006 nighttime version.

It will be the second Thanksgiving Day game for the Falcons in three years. Atlanta went on the road to Detroit and beat the Lions, 27-7 on Nov. 24, 2005.

The Thanksgiving Day schedule was among eight national TV games announced by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The remainder of the 2007 regular season schedule will be announced by the league sometime in April.

Falcons deny taunting Pittsburgh QB

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger must have been dreaming about a Falcons player taunting him, which very well could have been the case since he was knocked woozy when the jaw-jacking took place, Falcons players said Thursday.

Defensive ends Patrick Kerney and Chauncey Davis and linebacker Michael Boley, all involved in a third-quarter hit that knocked Roethlisberger out of Atlanta’s 41-38 victory over Pittsburgh last Sunday, rebutted Roethlisberger’s claims that a player told him they were targeting his face, which was damaged in a motorcycle accident in June.

“That’s a pretty good memory for a concussed man,” said Kerney, who denied saying anything or hearing any of his teammates say anything.

Said Boley: “I was right there on the play when he got hurt. I didn’t hear anybody say anything to him. If they did it had to be one of those things where somebody went up to him and whispered in his ear. I don’t think anybody on this team would say anything like that.

“That was just something good to print. That was just something that he wanted to say. I guess after being knocked out like that he just wanted to get something out there in the paper.”

Davis, who appeared to deliver the main blow that left Roethlisberger motionless for several minutes, said Big Ben must have been imagining things.

“I didn’t say it and I didn’t hear anybody say anything,” Davis said. “That’s not me. I don’t talk on the field. I’m not a dirty player. I was right there until the play was over and I didn’t hear anybody say anything. So where he got that from, I don’t know.”

On Tuesday, Roethlisberger to the Associated Press that, “One of their players said something to me and that’s the last thing I remember.”

He did not disclose the player but said, “I’ll remember his number.”

Coleman, Forney return to practice

Defensive tackle Rod Coleman (turf toe) and starting right guard Kynan Forney (shoulder dislocation) returned to practice Thursday, although both are listed questionable for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati.

“I want to see how [Coleman] feels [Friday],” coach Jim Mora said. “He didn’t leave the field and he did everything we asked him to do, so that’s a real positive, a real positive for us. We need him.”

Coleman did not play last Sunday against Pittsburgh after suffering the injury against the New York Giants on Oct. 15. With defensive end John Abraham (abdominal surgery) out, Coleman’s return would give Atlanta’s pass rush a boost.

Coleman’s backup, Jonathan Babineaux (heel) did not practice and is listed as questionable. Darrell Shropshire would move into that tackle spot from nose guard if needed.

Forney’s possible return would keep the offensive line intact. If Forney can’t play, Tyson Clabo would move from left guard to right guard. Quinn Ojinnaka or recently signed P.J. Alexander would start at left guard.

Falcons plan for receiver Henry

Falcons players and coaches said they expect the Bengals to activate troubled wide receiver Chris Henry, who has missed the past three games for team- and NFL-ordered discipline.

“We’re assuming that he will [play],” Mora said of Henry. “It’s going to be a real challenge for our whole group.”

Falcons re-sign receiver Jerome Pathon

The Falcons re-signed free agent wide receiver Jerome Pathon on Tuesday, a move that adds experience to a unit lacking in depth, coach Jim Mora said.Pathon, an eight-year veteran who played for the Colts and Saints before signing with the Falcons during the 2005 season, is expected to participate in the team’s minicamp, which runs Saturday through Monday. Pathon saw action in eight games with Atlanta last season, mostly on special teams. He had one catch for 18 yards.

Roddy White and Michael Jenkins are the starting wideouts, with Brian Finneran the third receiver. The Falcons drafted Adam Jennings out of Fresno State in the sixth round to compete for the No. 4 position. All the other wide receivers with the Falcons are free agents trying to earn a roster spot.

— Steve Wyche