Don't chew what?!?

If throngs of animal rights activists line up outside of Main Street’s Butler Sport Cards doors to protest Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick’s autograph signing on June 19, store owner Jeff Robbins said he’ll be ready for it.  Eagles star quarterback Michael Vick will be appearing at Butler Sport Cards on Main Street in Butler on June 19, and the appearance has already drawn the ire of local animal rights activists, who are preparing to rally during the signing.  Eagles star quarterback Michael Vick will be appearing at Butler Sport Cards on Main Street in Butler on June 19, and the appearance has already drawn the ire of local animal rights activists, who are preparing to rally during the signing.

Armed security guards will be on site, and the Butler Police Department has been made aware of the potential for problems that might stem from the controversial football player’s appearance; already, opponents have created Facebook groups that are trying to “spread the word” about the signing and attempt to gather protestors.  Vick, who is among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, accepted a plea deal in 2007 in relation to running a dog fighting ring that put him in jail for just over 18 months.  Since his release in 2009, the quarterback has clawed his way off of the bench and back to prominence, and is now the Eagles’ leader and franchise player. Some fans say that between the prison sentence and his restart at the bottom, he’s paid his debt to society.

To others, specifically dog-owners or animal rights activists, Vick’s debt will never be repaid.
“Michael Vick has a lot of audacity to show up in the good state of NJ to make more money than he already has at an autograph signing!” cries the Facebook page “Sick Vick the Dog Abuser Coming to Butler NJ.” “If you have waited for your chance to let Michael Vick know what you think, this will be your opportunity to have your voice heard!”

About 50 people have replied that they’ll be “attending” the protest.  To Robbins, however, it’s just business, even if he thinks what Vick did was wrong.  “He’s the most desired autograph in all of sports…and Michael Vick has fans, period,” he said.  Robbins said that he respects the right of the people to protest, and agrees with them that what Vick did was “100 percent wrong,” but he’s got the right to have Vick come to his store and sign autographs.

“This is what I do for a living, this is how I pay my bills and support my family,” he said.  “Whether it’s Vick, or Eli Manning, or any other player in any sport, what they do in their personal life is what they do in their personal life. It’s not my concern, and if a player is desired…that’s what I’m paid to do.”  Robbins said that he’s done numerous signings with Vick already, and that to him, it’s clear that the 30-year-old star has matured far past what he was.  “In my eyes, he’s a different person. He never used to want to be bothered, but now he’ll stand there and take pictures with his fans, talk with his fans…he’s not doing the wrong things that he used to do,” he said.

Robbins, who is a season-ticket holder and diehard New York Giants fan, has already had Mario Manningham in for an autograph session, and plans on having Giants running back Danny Ware in store on June 3.  However, he has to pertain to the fan base, and there are a lot of Eagles fans. He expects around 200 people to come in for autographs on helmets, photos, and jerseys, on that Sunday afternoon, tickets for which start at $90.

There will always be people who hate Vick for what he did, and that’s fine, Robbins said. He even applauded the animal rights activists for caring as deeply as they do about their cause, but he is worried that someone might take things too far, especially when attempting to interrupt the signing.  “(The protestors) think they’re going to block the entrance to my store, and stand on the sidewalk… the Butler Police have said that cannot and will not happen,” he said.
He’s heard enough of it from the countless phone calls he’s been getting at his business, on his cell phone, and at home- but there’s “not one chance in hell” that he’s going to cancel the appearance.

“I have people mailing things in from California to be signed…I’m here to make my customers happy, not to argue with protestors,” he said.  Robbins said that it’s also likely that he’s going to donate 5 percent of the total made from the session to charity, although he isn’t sure which one yet. It may end up being an animal rights group.  “These people will never forgive Michael Vick, and that’s their opinion,” he said. “In my eyes, he changed, and everybody deserves a second chance.”

Whether local animal rights activists will see it the same way remains to be seen.

I appreciate your interest.

Source: northjersey.com/community/122618949_Vick_coming_to_Butler_Sport_Cards_shop.html?page=all

Mike Vick Chew Toy Commercial

Michael Vick can lay off the load for Steven Jackson.

Michael Vick was also the first quarterback ever to have more than 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. This is what you call, my friends, talent.

Michael Vick: 71 touchdowns and 52 interceptions, 75.7 rating

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With apologies to Harper’s Index …

Amount jailed star quarterback Michael Vick spent from July ’06 to July ’08, according to recent bankruptcy papers: $17.7 million.

Amount of that time he was in prison: 8 months.

Total amount of checks he wrote his mother, Brenda Boddie—not counting all her bills he paid—even while in prison: $21,400.

Amount he donated to her church: $327,900.

Amount he gave her for an Easter egg hunt: $700.

Number of Reese’s Chocolate Easter Eggs that would buy: 5,259.

Amount of the check he wrote to Boddie labeled “chump change”: $1,000.

STICKER PRICE OF THE ’07 INFINITI VICK KEEPS IN LEAVENWORTH FOR HIS FIANCÉE’s VISITS: $65,000

COST OF A CAB FROM THE KANSAS CITY AIRPORT TO THE PRISON: $60.

Amount Vick was sentenced to pay to house and care for the 47 pit bulls he and his buddies didn’t drown, strangle, hang, shoot, or electrocute for not winning fights: $928,073.

Average pay, per hour, of Vick’s pit bulls’ caregivers at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah: $14.

Pay, per hour, Vick gets for washing pots and pans at Leavenworth: 12 cents.

Cost of a bottle of Shelter Blend Flower Essence aromatherapy used for “anxious, worried or easily stressed” dogs at the sanctuary: $27.50.

Number of hours Vick would have to work to afford a bottle of Flower Essence: 230.

Cost of a bottle of “Vicktory” wine with a painting of one of the rescued dogs on the label: $40.

Cost of a tin of tuna at some federal prison commissaries: 23 cents.

Number of cars Vick owned at one time: 9, including the ’07 Land Rover for his fiancée; the ’07 Cadillac Escalade for his fiancée’s mother; the ’07 Land Rover for his brother Marcus; the ’08 Mercedes Benz for his financial advisor, David Talbot; the ’06 Cadillac DTS for his pal Rodney White; and the ’07 Ford F-150 he drove himself.

Ironic name of the Lincoln Mercury dealership Vick continues to make car payments to, despite sitting in jail: Freedom.

Sticker price of the ’07 Infiniti Vick bought for his fiancée to keep in Leavenworth so she has something to drive while visiting him in prison: $65,000.

Cost of a cab from the Kansas City airport to the prison: $60.

Odds of seeing this ad soon on eBay—Like new 2007 Infiniti truck. Only driven by girlfriend twice a month on prison visits. Honest!: 1-1.

Amount Charles Reamon, Jr., a friend Vick put in charge of his finances while in prison, went through: over $3 million.

Percent of that money accounted for: 0.

Amount New York bankruptcy attorney Peter Ginsberg alleges Vick’s business manager Mary Wong “wrongfully removed” from Vick’s accounts: $900,000.

Percent of that money accounted for: 0.

Number of Vick’s financial advisors who wound up being charged for fraud in unrelated cases: 1.

Number of boats Vick owned at one time: 2.

Number of racehorses he had an interest in at one time: 5.

Number of his racehorses that died of colic: 1.

Money invested in that horse: $60,000.

Name of man who takes care of his horses: Unknown to Vick.

Amount he’s paid man who takes care of his horses: $0.

Amount mysteriously categorized as “miscellaneous” over two years: $3.5 million.

Number of fake Dasani water bottle “safes” with hidden compartments that would buy: 116,861.

Amount Vick took as “cash out”: $1,112,664.

Number of $400 ATM withdraws, including $2.50 service charge, that would require: 2,764.

Number of ATMs in Leavenworth penitentiary: 0.

Amount of deal Vick signed with the Falcons in 2004, making him the highest paid player in the league at the time: $130 million.

Monthly average salary in the Arena Football League, where Vick will probably end up playing when he’s released on July 20: $7,000.

Vick’s ongoing cost to support his fiancée, their two daughters, his brother, his mother, a former girlfriend and his son with her, per month: $20,000.

Amount Vick still owes banks in Toronto, South Bend, and Charlotte, for loans he took to invest in a car rental franchise, a wine store/restaurant, and other businesses: $6 million.

Total amount listed as “loan payment” over two years: $33,523.

Amount of judgment against Vick that he still owes former agent Andrew Joel: $4.5 million.

Amount Vick still owes the Atlanta Falcons from his signing bonus: $3.75 million.

Amount the NFL attempted to recoup from Vick’s bonus money: $16.25 million.

Useful name Vick might need when he’s released: Ron Mexico.

Number of homes Vick owned at one time: 4.

Number he lives in now: 0.

Unfortunate name of the investment firm Vick sunk $245,000 into: Leake

Essential question about Vick now after ruining his life—with bountiful help from leaching family, friends, advisors, agents and his own Hindenburg instincts: Can the chump change?

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Brought to you by: Michael Vick Dog Chew Toy

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.”

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Associated Press Writer Larry O’Dell and AP Sports Writer Hank Kurz Jr. contributed to this report.

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