When the Philadelphia Eagles take the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars tonight, fans – as well as the anti-fans – will witness the second coming of Michael Vick. Word is, dog lovers will throw a tailgate party for the “2nd Chance Dogs campaign to put a spotlight on the dogfighting scourge and to prompt folks to adopt formerly abused pit bulls. As this group’s members are happy to point out, these canines, like Vick, deserve another chance. Ever since the Eagles announced that it had signed Vick, following an 18-month stint in federal prison for dogfighting, the critics have been out in force. The City of Brotherly Love is no place for the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback, who committed such egregious acts of cruelty at his Bad Newz Kennels in Virginia, the critics claim. And the fact that the speedy, lefty provides the Super Bowl-starved team with another weapon in the battle for a championship is immaterial, argue opponents like Sue Cosby, chief executive of the SPCA. “As a lot of people have pointed out, (Vick’s) animals never got a second chance,” Cosby said. “We need to speak for them.” It only remains to be seen whether others will follow through with a promised boycott of the Eagles – and whether it would have any impact if they did. Meanwhile, the NAACP and Black Clergy of Philadelphia are planning protests of their own. Both groups contend that Vick has paid his debt to society and deserves an opportunity to work in his profession, which happens to be an NFL quarterback.

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Michael Vick, signed last week to a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles after spending nearly two years in prison, said that he cried his eyes out after being locked up – and not because he had lost the most lucrative contract in the NFL. “When I was in prison … I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals,” Vick told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in his first interview since being released. “I deserved to lose the $130 million. “Why would a guy who was making a $130 million … on the flip side … killing dogs … he don’t deserve it.” Last week, Vick, who is now millions of dollars in debt, signed a one-year contract with the Eagles worth $1.6 million; if the team decides to keep the speedy, left-handed quarterback for a second year, it must pay him another $5.2 million. When he completed the 23-month prison sentence — 18 months of which he did at the federal penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas —NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed him back into the league, after a six-week suspension. Vick told “60 Minutes” commentator James Brown that he understood why people are still angry at him, even though he has paid his debt to society. “I understand why,” Vick replied. “And I’m going to say it again. Sickens me to my stomach. And it was, you know, the same thing that I’m feeling right now. …I could’ve put a stop to it. I could’ve walked away from it. I could’ve shut down the whole operation.” All it would have taken, Vick said, is for him to have stood up to the buddies with whom he ran Bad Newz Kennels. His mistake, he said, was “not being able to say, or tell … certain people around me that, ‘Look, we can’t do this anymore. I’m concerned about my career. I’m concerned about my family.’”

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.

This week suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is wasting no time moving from the prison yard to the football field. Winding down his 23-month sentence for dogfighting, the 28-year-old superstar will begin football-related workouts with a trainer this week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. On Wednesday, Vick will leave the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., wrapping up his period of confinement in home detention in Hampton, Va. But Vick’s workout is an exercise in faith, since NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not yet decided whether he will even allow the troubled baller back into the league. In recent weeks, Goodell said that Vick must show genuine remorse before he will be reinstated. Exactly what that means is unclear. “[Vick’s] been doing a lot of running, a lot of cardio work in prison, so he didn’t really lose his conditioning,” Chip Smith, founder of the Atlanta-area Competitive Edge Sports, told the Journal-Constitution. “I don’t think he threw at all. The only thing he was able to do was run sprints, do some distance work when he had recreation time.”

Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, who has been in Virginia over the past several days testifying in his bankruptcy case, must go back to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan. The embattled star had hoped to stay in Virginia to develop a new bankruptcy plan – the judge rejected Vick’s original plan – and to avoid going back to Leavenworth to finish out his 23-month sentence for financing a dogfighting enterprise. There has been a public outcry in recent days over reports that Vick would get to spend the remainder of his sentence at his luxury home in Hampton, Va. At the time of his arrest, Vick was the highest-paid player in the NFL, earning some $130 million over 10 years.

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.

Vick Wants to Auction His Home
Former Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick wants a bankruptcy judge to let him sell his huge home near Atlanta at auction. Vick has been trying to sell the eight-bedroom mansion for more than a year. It lists at $4.1 million. Read more here.

The Eagles’ Westbrook is Gimpy
Philadelphia fans are likely trembling amid reports that Eagles running back Brian Westbrook is nursing a sprained ankle. He did not practice on Wednesday, which could mean that he is questionable for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants in the NFC divisional playoffs. Since Westbrook is the most lethal weapon in Philly’s arsenal, most football experts say that the star running back is crucial if the Eagles stand a chance against the defending Super Bowl champs in the frigid Giants stadium. “The good thing is that I didn’t tweak anything against the Vikings,” a hopeful Westbrook told ESPN.com. “I took a pounding on the turf but I didn’t re-injure anything so I’m not starting from in a hole this week.” Westbrook will reportedly take some anti-inflammatory medication on Saturday night and Sunday morning to prepare for the game. In the Eagles’ 26-14 victory against Minnesota last week, Westbrook finished with three receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown and 38 rushing yards on 20 carries. During the regular season, Westbrook rushed for 936 yards and had an additional 402 receiving in 14 games. He also scored 14 total touchdowns.

Michael Vick’s sentence is reduced. Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty Tuesday in a Surry, Va., court to a state dogfighting charge, a move that could make him eligible for early release from prison and a quicker return to pro football. Vick, 28, also pleaded not guilty to a count of cruelty to animals, but that charge was dropped under his plea deal. He received a three-year suspended sentence – significantly less than the maximum of 10 years he could have faced. For now, Vick is serving a 23-month sentence in Leavenworth, Kan., on federal charges of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at the home he owned in eastern Virginia’s rural Surry County, southeast of Richmond. He also admitted to participating in the killing of several underperforming dogs.