Old Pal Joey Might Benefit From Vick's Troubles

Lord help Michael Vick.

Lord help him if the charges that are brought against him are true -- that he presided over and encouraged the mutilation and killing of dogs trained to fight on the grounds of his mansion. Lord help him if he's innocent -- that despite all the evidence to the contrary, he is either a clueless pawn or a framed sap.

I don't think I can ever look at Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, the same way again, even if he's somehow proven innocent. He had SOMETHING to do with the dog fights on his property; I think only an eternal optimist -- or a damned fool -- could believe his hands have no canine blood on them.

But guess who's waiting in the wings if Vick's NFL career is unable to continue this season?

Pal Joey Harrington, the erstwhile Lion and latter day Dolphin.

Harrington signed with the Falcons last winter after being let go by Miami, who had Daunte Culpepper. But then the Dolphins signed Trent Green, and the unhappy Culpepper was let go yesterday.

Who would have figured that, a week before training camp, Harrington would be employed and Culpepper wouldn't? You gotta love the NFL.

It's still unclear how the feds will proceed against Vick and the others indicted along with him. It's unknown how it will affect his being the Falcons' starting quarterback when the curtain rises on the 2007 season. If convicted, Vick could receive up to six years in prison. He can't throw any footballs to his receivers from the pen.

So conventional wisdom says that Joey Harrington will be the Atlanta Falcons' signal caller in their season opener in September. It might be the big break that he's needed in his six-year NFL career. And it would be appropriate -- the squeaky-clean Harrington, piano player extraordinaire, taking over for the decidedly less clean Vick.

What's more up in the air, though, is how the Falcons' offense will handle switching from the nimble-footed, elusive Vick to the happy, nervous feet of Harrington. Michael Vick makes things happen with his cleated feet; Joey Harrington makes other stuff happen with his -- stuff that usually attracts flies.

But what's certain is this: Vick is probably not the answer for the Falcons in 2007. Even if he plays, the distraction of his mere presence on a football field while federal charges and court dates swirl around him might prove to be his team's undoing.

The NFL might step in, too -- and declare Vick ineligible, pending his legal drama playing out. There's not much precedence for this situation.

Training camp starts next week and Joey Harrington SHOULD start it as the #1 QB on the Atlanta Falcons' depth chart. He started there once, in Detroit -- when the weight of 45 years of no NFL championships weighed him down.

The Falcons, in their 42-year history, have never won the big one.

The more things change....