Posted on 12/18/2007 6:26:42 AM PST by MplsSteve
Five Atlanta Falcons players have been fined a total of $47,500 by the NFL for uniform violations that stemmed from demonstrations of their support for banished quarterback Michael Vick during the team's loss to the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 10.
Several hours before the game, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in an illegal dogfighting ring that was centered on property he owned in Virginia.
Cornerbacks DeAngelo Hall and Chris Houston, wide receiver Roddy White and tight end Alge Crumpler each were fined $10,000. Wide receiver Joe Horn was fined $7,500.
It is not yet known if any of the players will appeal the fines.
Hall brandished a poster of Vick as he ran onto the field for pregame introductions. He later taped the poster to the back of the Falcons' bench, but it was subsequently removed by a member of the club's public relations department.
Both Hall and Crumpler wore the message "MV-7," Vick's initial and uniform number, on their eye-black patches for the game.
After White scored on a 33-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter of the 34-14 loss, he pulled up his game jersey, with an assist from Horn, to unveil a T-shirt that read "Free Mike Vick."
It is not clear why Houston was found to have violated the uniform policy.
But I did see one small segment where they showed a close-up of a player who had "MV-7" on his eye-black patches.
What don't these players understand?
Vick was convicted of at least one felony. He lied to the NFL, he lied to the team owner, he lied to the coaches, he lied to his fellow players and he lied to his fans.
I'm glad the NFL fined these players. I'm not sure the players still understand what Vick did or what they were doing by trying to support a POS like Vick. I only wish Arthur Blank had fined the players to.
Comments or opinions - anyone?
It isn’t considered bad form to lie to the Man.
He was set up by The Man to keep him down. Vick meant to work at the soup kitchen helping the people but accidentally started a dog kennel for fighting dogs.
Personally, I found the display kinda funny in an SNL kinda way.
What they should have done with these overpaid morons is suspend them for the balance of the season and along with their fines, fine the club a half million bucks.
Thugz-R-Us.
Big whoop. $10,000 is pocket change to those guys. Fire their butts and never let them back on the field again. Whatever happened to the athlete being a hero to young boys? They’re all druggies, wife beaters, and dog killers. Yep, really something their mama’s should be proud of.
Gangsta ball!
YEAH. ALL OF THEM. Even the ones that aren't.
Please Football Gods, do not let this team draft Matt Ryan.
No fines were imposed for uniform violations when the players honored that washington player who had been murdered.
But because they chose to support Vick, they were fined.
I find that heavy handed and reprehensible.
No I don’t think Vick is some sort of hero, but these players made a small unobtrusive show of support. I would not have done it...but fining them for doing it?
No.
Who in their right mind would want to coach Atlanta?
They should have suspended them all for the remaining games of this season.
Ok, not all. However, there isn’t a day that some bone head isn’t being brought up on criminal charges for one thing or another.
I lost interest in all professional sports when they let Dennis Rodman wear a wedding dress. He killed basketball and now football is buried in dead dogs. Yikes!
Bobby Petrino did the right thing in leaving that dump.
Grab Pat White in the draft and I’ll do it. Screw the West Coast Offense. Run the spread.
Bobby Petrino should be coach of the year for getting the #ell out of there when he did. Good for him!
It’s so nice to see them using a “Free Michael Vick” t-shirt thus equating them and him to the “Free Mumia” movement -Philly Cop Killer Mumia Abu Jamal.
Arthur Blank should blow up the team and start over.
I think I've got this to say about Roddy White and his "Free Mike Vick'' T-shirt: Grow up, Roddy White. Michael Vick is not a man who was entrapped or screwed by the system. He's a man who knew he was doing wrong, lied to tried to hide it and was caught and found guilty. Then, after being told he needed to walk the straight and narrow, tested positive for marijuana, and was sentenced to 23 months in jail for dog fighting. Perhaps a bit heavy-handed, but 18 months, 23 months ... what really is the difference? You did the crime, you do the time.As far as the T-shirt goes, you save those kind of slogans for people who have been truly wronged by the system, who have been jailed without cause or had their human rights violated heinously -- not for a multi-millionaire who thought he could break the law and abuse animals because he was a famous athlete.
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