NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to announce this week when Eagles quarterback Michael Vick will be permitted to play during the regular season. Shortly after Vick was released from federal prison, after 18 months on dogfighting charges, the commissioner conditionally reinstated Vick. That allowed Vick to play in the final two preseason games. His upcoming decision will determine when the speedy lefty is back for good. Earlier, Goodell said he might not permit Vick back until the sixth game of the regular season, which means that the Philadelphia Eagles would be compelled to put him on the exempt list. This would preclude Vick from practicing and thus retard his flow back into productive, full-time pro football. The Philadelphia Eagles, which must cut its roster to 53 players by Saturday evening, say it is imperative to know when Vick will be allowed back. The team signed the former Atlanta Falcon to a two-year contract, worth close to $7 million. However, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello denied ESPN reports that the commissioner would decide this week. “I don’t know when the commissioner will make his decision,” Aiello said. “He hasn’t told me yet.” Vick will play in tonight’s final exhibition game, against the New York Jets, at Giants Stadium.

Quarterback-turned-convict-turned-quarterback Michael Vick apparently did enough to convince NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that he’s sorry for acts of animal cruelty that landed him in the federal penitentiary for nearly two years, but PETA isn’t buying it. Just moments after the Philadelphia Eagles announced inking a two-year deal with the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, the animal-rights group lashed out. “You’ve got to wonder what kind of message this sends to young people who care about animals and don’t want to see them be harmed,” Dan Shannon, a spokesman for the group said in a statement. “We hope Vick has learned his lesson, we hope he feels remorseful for his crimes, but there’s not a lot of public indication that that’s the case. At this point, only time will tell.”  PETA members weren’t the only ones expressing outrage. Sports-radio shows were clogged with callers blasting the Eagles’ organization for signing Vick to the deal, worth $1.6 million this year and an additional $5.2 million if the team decides to bring him back in 2011. But the 29-year-old lefty wasn’t without his share of supporters. Donovan McNabb, the Eagles’ quarterback for the past decade, said he actually pressed management to add Vick to the squad. “I pretty much lobbied to get him here, because I believe everyone deserves a second chance, and what better place to come [than] here,” said McNabb, contradicting early reports that he was averse to bringing in such talented competition. “I look forward to him joining us in the next couple days.” Coach Andy Reid said, “Michael has proven he’s on the right track,” Reid said. “I’ve had a chance to talk to Michael a few times to make sure I know exactly where he’s at, and he’s in a good place. …I’m very excited … to have a good football player. You’re talking about one of the top quarterbacks in the league when he was playing, and he’s familiar with our offense, having done it the last few years in Atlanta. It’s a very exciting thing. We feel very good about it.” Ironically, the last time Vick played an NFL Game, he donned a Falcons helmet and played against the Philadelphia Eagles. On Dec. 6, the Eagles face the Falcons.

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick can now move on with his life. After 23 months in prison for running a dogfighting operation, the 29-year-old ex-star can begin to work toward doing what he does best. He can now kick off his electronic ankle bracelet, walk away from his Hampton, Va., home – where he has been jailed for the past two months – and step up his efforts to convince NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that he should be allowed to return to the league. While the Falcons released Vick in June, the baller’s representatives have said that Vick most assuredly will take snaps – or passes or punts or carry the ball – for another team who can appreciate what the speedy player has to offer. “Michael did an egregious thing,” Goodell told The Associated Press in April. “He has paid a very significant price for that.” Whether he has remorse is “something [Vick] has to prove to myself and the general public,” Goodell said. Vick, who was compelled to serve at least 85 percent of his term under mandatory sentencing laws, spent the first 18 months in the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan.; he was then transferred to home confinement in May. During the past two months, Vick’s salary – $10 per hour for construction work – was a far cry from the $100 million contract he enjoyed as a Falcon. He is now on probation for the next three years.

A woman reported she was raped at a party at the Buford home of Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas, Gwinnett police said.

A young woman reported being raped at the Atlanta-area home of Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas, police said Thursday, noting that the NFL player is not a suspect in the case. The woman, in her 20s, told investigators that she had gone to a party at Douglas’ home on Wednesday night, got tired and fell asleep in one of the bedrooms. “She was then awoken by a male who was sexually assaulting her,” according to a statement from the Gwinnett (Ga.) Police Department. Read the rest.

Vick Released From Federal Prison, Wants to Help Eradicate Dogfighting

Suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who has spent nearly two years behind bars for running a high-dollar dogfighting ring, was released from federal prison in Kansas early this morning, according to reports. Vick will travel to Virginia to serve home confinement for two months, reports The Daily Press of Virginia. According to his attorneys, he would like to spend his days  helping the Humane Society of the United States steer inner-city youths away from the violent illegal sport. “Michael is very interested in putting this together,” said one of Vick’s attorneys, Billy Martin. Wayne Pacelle, president of the group, said that he met recently with Vick at the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan., and that Vick expressed an interest in the program. Read more.

Clippers Net First Pick in the NBA Draft
The Los Angeles Clippers may not be the winningest team in NBA history, but it sure has a knack for cracking the lottery. For the third time since the NBA lottery was instituted, the lowly L.A. squad has landed the No. 1 pick. That doesn’t mean the franchise has been lucky when it comes to making that pick productive. In 1998, it blew the first overall pick on a straight-up dud, Michael Olowokandi. A decade earlier, the Clips picked forward Danny Manning, definitely no dud, but no dynamite either. Now, with this top pick, at least there’s nobody who knows anything about basketball who would disagree that All-American forward Blake Griffin is a man among boys. He’s not only an athletic specimen to behold, but he appears ready to dominate immediately. The question is, will he be enough to help a team that has been in the draft 20 times and still come up short?

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has big plans after prison. Among them is a triumphant return to the NFL, where he will rake in at least $10 million a year. This sum, according to papers he filed with bankruptcy court, would allow him to pocket $750,000 over the next five years while paying off his creditors, based on a sliding scale, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Read the rest.

Jailed Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick illegally transferred $1.3 million in pension funds for personal use, which included paying for fines assessed for his role in dogfighting, according to federal labor officials. The improper withdrawal was from MV7, a celebrity marketing company owned by Vick, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Read the rest.

 Former Atlanta running back Jamal Anderson was jailed Sunday after a police officer allegedly found him snorting coke in the men’s room of a suburban Atlanta bar. Police say that a patron at the Peachtree Tavern in Buckhead told an off-duty officer that there was some illegal drug activity going on in the bathroom at about 3 a.m. When the officer responded, he found Anderson, 36, and another man, 20-year-old Mark Daniel Hudson, in the same bathroom stall sniffing powder cocaine off the toilet tank, according to police spokesman Otis Redmond. Get more details here.

Serena Advance in Australian Open
Serena Williams, who has won the Australian Open in alternate years since 2003, had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Yuan Meng of China in 75 minutes in the next match on center court. Williams endured excruciating heat and blinding sun at one end of the court. She let several service tosses drop during one game before shortening her motion, costing her some speed.

NFL Veteran Found Dead
Ten-year NFL veteran Shane Dronett, who was a member of the Atlanta Falcons’ 1998 Super Bowl team, was found dead at his home on Wednesday. He was 38. Officers were called to Dronett’s home near Atlanta on Wednesday morning in response to a possible suicide, according to a statement from the Gwinnett County Police Department. Police spokesman Illana Spellman confirmed Dronett’s body was found at the residence. The medical examiner’s office was examining the body to determine the cause of death. Dronett played at the University of Texas and was a second-round pick by Dan Reeves and the Denver Broncos in 1992. “As a coach, your players are your extended family, and anytime you lose someone it is like losing a loved one,” said David McWilliams, who coached Dronett at Texas and is now director of the Longhorn Letter Winners Association. “I will always remember Shane’s wry smile, his laughter, and the fact that he seemed so full of life. He was a great player, and was one of those rare guys who even liked practice. “It is a shock and a tragedy to lose someone so young.”

Arthur Blank would love to see imprisoned ex-quarterback Michael Vick in a NFL uniform again – so long as it’s not a Falcons jersey. Atlanta’s team owner says he’s heard from Vick, who’s serving a federal prison sentence for illegal dog-fighting, but has not interest in re-hiring the disgraced player. “He’s written me and I’ve answered him,” Blank tells ESPN.com. “I certainly wish Michael well in the future. I believe in second chances. I believe in third chances. That doesn’t mean I believe in forever chances.” He adds that Atlanta has “turned the page” and has a “franchise quarterback” in Boston alum Matt Ryan. Get more at Playa Hater.