Goodell Reinstates Vick Much Too Soon

So just like that, quicker than you can electrocute an underperforming fighter dog, Michael Vick is officially back in the NFL. What should have been a step-by-step, multi-week process -- you know, to make sure he truly is rehabilitated after 18 months in federal prison -- instead became a puzzlingly mad rush to reinstate him to an active roster. He'll return to the Philadelphia Eagles for their Week 3 home game against Kansas City, meaning he'll be an integral component of a contending team and the core focus of a regular season that should center around more triumphant stories.

Tell me: What happened to Commissioner Hammer, anyway? Since when did Roger Goodell become Vick's guardian angel? Wasn't this supposed to happen as late as Week 6? Couldn't this have happened next offseason so as not to engulf Tom Brady's comeback from knee surgery, Brett Favre's latest drama in Minnesota, Jay Cutler's arrival in Chicago, the Mark Sanchez experiment and other developments?

"I was surprised, but I'm just blessed to have an opportunity," Vick said after his spotty quarterbacking performance in the Eagles' final preseason game. "If it was a six-game suspension, and if that was the ruling and the final verdict, I would have been happy and just would have said I had to work on personal development and perfecting my game. It's still somewhat like a dream when I step out there on the field, coming where I came from two years ago and where I've been. I just try to enjoy the moment. I can't complain about anything.''

Complain? Vick has been placed on a fast track to mass popularity, a favor we never would have envisioned when his dogkilling activities were revealed. Goodell's aggressive stance against the league's criminal element has been the landmark achievement of his early tenure, and while Vick did pay his debt to society at Leavenworth Penitentiary, Goodell also should have stayed true to his Personal Conduct Policy and made him wait the entire six weeks. Somewhere along the way, the commish got caught up in a goodwill deed of enabling Vick's return to a normal life. "I said to Michael repeatedly, we're looking for a success story here," Goodell said. "We would like to see him be successful, and this is a transition to hopefully maximize the opportunity for him to be successful."

That sounds more like Florence Nightingale than a man protecting the image of America's most important sports league. Allowing Vick's comeback after only two weeks off doesn't jibe with Goodell's words just a few weeks ago, when he was much harsher in a letter to Vick. "I accept that you are sincere when you say that you want to, and will, turn your life around, and that you intend to be a positive role model for others. I am prepared to offer you that opportunity," he told the ringleader/bank roller of Bad Newz Kennels. "Whether you succeed is entirely in your hands. Needless to say, your margin for error is extremely limited. I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career.''

Suddenly, barely a month later, Goodell has seen enough to grant that big break? In my mind, the six-week period away from the regular season would have been the ultimate test of Vick's so-called new lease on life. How would he handle his days and nights while waiting for late October? We'll never know. "I think he's making real progress," Goodell said. "I think he has a better feel for the challenges ahead of him.''

It's as if the league loves the story line, the relentless ESPN updates. By reinstating Vick for Week 3, Goodell gives the Eagles a chance to incorporate him into game plans pretty much all season. And don't you think a few teams are ticked off right now of the expedited return date? Had they known Vick would be ready long before Week 6, my guess is more teams would have shown interest than the Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals.

If nothing else, at least Vick's first extended performance at quarterback should remind the fickle Philly fans that Donovan McNabb is the starter at that position, period. Vick struggled against the New York Jets' second- and third-stringers, throwing an interception, losing a fumble, taking four sacks for 40 yards and posting a dismal 29.7 passer rating. The Eagles should be using him as a situational weapon this season, nothing more, and maybe now, coach Andy Reid will abandon the urge to prepare Vick as a quarterback. The new plan should be to employ Vick in moderation and exploit his legs, which are fresh after two years away from the game and can be of better service than his skittish arm.

"There were a lot of things I could have done better, but it was good to get out there and play some quarterback on a consistent basis and shake off the cobwebs," Vick said. "It's what I want -- to get hit a little bit and get a feel for the game and get chased around. I still think I'm a couple of weeks away. I'll take this time to get myself in shape, build my endurance, continue to strengthen my legs and to work my mind with the offense."

Said Reid: "I think he got a chance to see that he has a little juice in those legs. He turned it on a couple of times there. I'm sure he'll be a little sore. That's OK. He'll have a couple of weeks to recover from it."

Reid has a man-crush on Vick. He'd like to think he has a younger McNabb in his arsenal, a McNabb who can run instead of staying in the pocket. Reid has a man-crush on Vick. He'd like to think he has a younger McNabb in his arsenal, a McNabb who can run instead of staying in the pocket. Granted, it's breathtaking to watch Vick operate on the run, such as when he bolted up the middle off a play fake and scored a 2-yard touchdown, his first since the 2006 season unless we're counting his prison intramural games. "I didn't even know what to do with myself," he said. "I always told myself I was going to keep the ball, hand it to an offensive lineman, spike it. I got up and I just lost it. My mind went blank. I just ran off the field like nothing happened."

So off he goes for a couple of weeks, giving ESPN's Sal Palantonio a chance to breathe on the Vick beat. When he returns, the Eagles need to focus on Vick's past as a QB -- lowly 53.8 percent completion percentage, more career 100-yard rushing games than 250-yard passing games, 52 interceptions opposed to 71 TD passes -- instead of force-feeding him. That way, they keep the peace with the sensitive, controversy-prone McNabb. "Just play football. That's over,'' McNabb said of his frustration with Vick-related gadgetry, which he now says is old news. "You have to understand with everything that's going on right now, everybody is making a big deal out of our whole situation. We communicate every game. We communicate in practice. We communicate here in the building. So it's no different than what we've done in the previous years. Now I know that with everything going on people are searching trying to find something.''

"There's no rift between Michael and Donovan," Reid said. "Michael is just happy to be back in the league right now and just kinda building a foundation here for down the road in his career. He's not looking to dethrone Donovan McNabb, that's not what he's looking to do."

"I just don't think that's going to be an issue," said NBC analyst Tony Dungy, the former Colts coach who has counseled Vick. "And I don't think that Michael is going to be a guy that's going to go in there and try to split the locker room." The Eagles should thank their lucky stars that Goodell has taken a liking to Vick, though he really shouldn't be personally involved. "We thought that if Michael did the right things, probably one to three weeks would be the likely outcome. So this is certainly in the range we expected," team president Joe Banner said. "We appreciate the commissioner's thoughtfulness and I think this is a good outcome and we look forward to having him."

The commissioner's "thoughtfulness'' conveniently overlooks obstacles that could have warranted a ban until Week 6. Remember when Vick lied to Goodell two years ago about his involvement in the dogfighting ring? For that reason alone, he could have kept holding Vick's feet to the fire. But he didn't. "I don't like being lied to, like anyone else, but we have to move forward,'' Goodell said.

Who knew he had such a heart? For that matter, who knew that animal-rights activists would be so quiet in Phllly? So far, the presumably reformed dog killer has caused no problems off the field. "We have spent an awful lot of time talking and meeting," Goodell said Thursday after meeting with Vick. "We have given him mentors in Tony. He's got a great organization that he's with that has given him a lot of structure and resources, and a lot of the players have been very helpful to him, which he expressed this morning. He's demonstrating -- which is the key thing to me -- he's demonstrating his commitment, he's demonstrating he's going to use better judgment going forward, and I want to encourage that."

Gee, if I ever get busted for murdering dogs, I hope my boss is half as understanding.