CPD
1/12
Column: Someone will take chance on Vick
<table class="byln" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="428"> <tbody><tr valign="bottom"> <td class="byln" width="328">1/12/2006, 4:07 a.m. ETBy TIM DAHLBERG
The Associated Press</td><td width="3"> </td><td width="97">
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> (AP) — Lawrence Phillips thought his chances would never run out, until he drove a car into some guys he had been playing touch football with and ended up with multiple counts of assault.
Maurice Clarett likely put an end to his chances, too, when he was charged with robbing two people outside an Ohio nightclub.
Marcus Vick isn't quite there yet, but that's only because the bar is set high for athletes with talent. Because of that, some NFL team likely will still take a chance on Vick, even when history shows it's not usually a good idea.
<script **********"**********"></script> <noscript> </noscript>In the end, it seems, bad character always seems to triumph over great talent.
The St. Louis Rams couldn't figure that out when they drafted Phillips sixth in 1996 even though he beat up an ex-girlfriend while in college and drove drunk. Their faith in his legs over his character was rewarded when he lasted 25 games before being released for insubordination.
No problem, though, because the Miami Dolphins were ready to give him another chance, one that lasted until he was accused of hitting a woman in a nightclub.
When you're a star, extra chances come with the territory. Coaches and general managers will rationalize almost anything if it gets them a player who can win games.
And, really now, doesn't everyone deserve a second chance?
Clarett could have made a case for just that before he allegedly approached two people outside a bar, showed them a gun in his waistband and told them to empty their pockets.
Unfortunately for Clarett, he's well-known in Columbus, Ohio, which led to this exchange between the 911 dispatcher and one of the victims.
Dispatcher: "Ma'am, can you tell me what he looked like?"
Victim: "Oh, yeah. Maurice Clarett, I guess."
Vick will get another chance, too, even though he was charged with pointing a gun at some teenagers he thought insulted his girlfriend. Unless a judge decides a jail cell will be a better place for Vick than a football field, the NFL will come calling.
<script **********"**********"></script> <noscript> </noscript>Virginia Tech finally washed its hands of Vick even before the latest incident, cutting its ties to him just four days after he stomped on the left calf of Louisville's defensive end Elvis Dumervil in the Gator Bowl.
But Vick should have been gone a long time ago. This was a player who was charged at various times with marijuana possession, furnishing alcohol to minors, having sex with a 15-year-old girl, and reckless driving.
This was also the most valuable player of a highly ranked team. And, because Vick was such a talent, Virginia Tech kept him even after he made an obscene gesture to fans at West Virginia in October and was caught driving with a suspended license in December.
If anything, Virginia Tech should be embarrassed it used Vick for its own purposes, waiting until after he helped the Hokies win their biggest game of the year before dumping him.
Vick's latest encounter with the law was his most serious. He wasn't going to be a top draft pick. Now, he may not be drafted at all and will have to wait for an invitation to a training camp.
He'll get one. He has too much talent and, besides, he's Michael Vick's brother. Maybe the Atlanta Falcons could use a good backup quarterback.
You can't help wondering, though, how badly this story will end. Will Vick spin even more out of control or will someone, maybe his brother, manage to convince him that even the most talented players have to follow society's rules.
Phillips never learned to do that.
Last August, he went to his former Nebraska coach, Tom Osborne, and asked for help in making it back to the pros.
Osborne said he told Phillips, who starred on the Huskers' 1994 and '95 national championship teams, that he probably had used up all of his chances.
<script **********"**********"></script> <noscript> </noscript>"I think he pretty well had run the string out," Osborne said.
Because he's a talent, Marcus Vick still has some left.
At the rate he's going, though, they may not last long.
<noscript>
