Vick barking up right tree

I have to admit I had mixed emotions about Michael Vick's return to the NFL.

On one paw, the one-time star quarterback deserved a chance to come back after serving 18 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting ring. Vick also paid a hefty price in terms of lost salary (he had signed a 10-year,  $130 million contract in 2004 with the Falcons), and lost endorsements as well as his reputation.

On the other paw, Vick's actions -- and initial denials -- were poster  material for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's attempts to clean up his sport from the thugs and miscreants who have been making far too many headlines for their illegal and indecent actions off the field. Goodell initially suspended Vick indefinitely, then modified the sentence to where Vick is now playing football again -- and not for his prison team.

On Tuesday, Vick's new team, the Philadelphia Eagles, unveiled a program called TAWK, which stands for Treating Animals With Kindness. The goal is to reduce animal abuse, encourage spaying and neutering and stop dog fighting through public education and awareness. The Eagles, who received criticism from animal rights groups for signing Vick, also awarded grants of $50,000 each to the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, the Humane Society of Berks County and the Humane Society of the United States.

According to a team spokeswoman, Vick is even working with children to discourage them from dogfighting.

I want to believe Michael Vick is going to do the right thing from here on out and even become a role model while he tries to resusitate his professional football career. He apparently has learned his lesson and he has Tony Dungy in his corner, and that's as good as it gets.

But it's going to take more than Vick being back on the fields of the NFL and the Eagles making nice to Animal Planet for the public to fully forgive Vick. A good example of that came a couple of weeks ago when the managing director of the agency that represents Vick said his client had a new deal with Nike.

Nike had terminated a very lucrative contract with Vick in August 2007 after he filed a plea agreement admitting his involvement in the infamous dogfighting ring. A day after the recent Nike comment, Nike said it DID NOT have a "contractual relationship" with Vick. The swoosh people said they simply had agreed to supply Vick, same as with hundreds of other athletes who are not under contract with Nike. Obviously, Nike prudently is keeping contact with one of its former stars to the bare minimum for the time being.

Just do it, indeed.