August 23, 2007 @ 5:43 pm

NFL Update: Michael Vick, Jerome Bettis

Prosecutor to seek state charges against Vick; Marbury's interception; Bettis faked injury. Stranger than fiction.

Even in the off season, professional sports stays high stakes. Today Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick - expected to plead guilty in dogfighting charges on Monday - was further targeted by prosecuting attorney Gerald Poindexter, who said he would seek Virginia state charges in addition to the county-level ones Vick currently faces. Poindexter told the Washington Post he would make a move at the next local grand jury hearing on September 25, declaring, "My intention is to vindicate the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the people of Surry County based on what we believe happened in Surry County."

Vick's charges are related to the "Bad Newz" Kennels, a dogfighting operation out of Smithfield, Virginia, located on property allegedly owned by Vick. He is expected to plead guilty to a single count of conspiracy, possibly racking up to 18 months in prison. His lawyer, Billy Martin, said Vick would "take responsibility for allowing any and all of this to happen."

In addition to a potential conviction, Vick faces possible permanent suspension by the NFL. His fate in pro football has yet to be decided, but  the NAACP has issued a plea to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, requesting the star player be rehabilitated, but not permanently banned. "As a society, we should aid in his rehabilitation and welcome a new Michael Vick back into the community without a permanent loss of his career in football," the NAACP's R.L. White told the Associated Press. "We further ask the NFL, Falcons and the sponsors not to permanently ban Mr. Vick from his ability to bring hours of enjoyment to fans all over this country."

* And in non-Vick NFL news: Jerome Bettis, former running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the number five rusher in NFL history, said he faked an injury at training camp in 2000 so his team wouldn't cut him. Bettis confesses to his fib in his new book, The Bus: My Life in and Out of a Helmet. He writes, "I wasn't faking that I had an injury. I was just faking that the injury happened on that short-yardage play. I had to fool the coaches and the team's medical department into thinking the injury had occurred on that play. Otherwise, the Steelers would have had their reason to cut me and my salary." The NFL is not allowed to cut a player from training camp until a settlement is reached. Right or wrong, you have to respect a man's hustle.

Article tags: Jerome Bettis, Michael Vick, Naacp, Stephon Marbury 

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