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A federal judge ruled today that former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is entitled to most of the $20 million in bonus money that he was paid by the team prior to his imprisonment on dogfighting convictions.

A special master had ruled in October that Vick had to return all the money to the Falcons. The NFL player’s union appealed that decision and U.S. District Judge David Doty of Minneapolis ruled that returning the money would violate the league’s collective bargaining agreement. He ruled that the league can only recoup bonus money, and only $3.75 million of the Vick money came from a signing bonus.

While the Falcons try to breathe life into their franchise, Vick remains in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan. No word on whether he was able to watch the Super Bowl.

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In today’s edition, the New York Times raises a very interesting point about Michael Vick’s future as an NFL player. It reports that among the new charges being considered by prosecutors are counts that involve gambling allegations.

Says the Times:

That is one reason Vick’s lawyers are considering a guilty plea that would avoid a new indictment. Whether or not Vick pleads guilty, his suspected connection to gambling could jeopardize his football career.

The N.F.L. prohibits any association with gamblers or with gambling activities. Such involvement may result in severe penalties, including “a suspension from the N.F.L. for life,” the league’s gambling policy states.

Tony Taylor, one of Vick’s co-defendants, said in a statement of facts that he signed when he entered a guilty plea July 30 that the “gambling monies” used by the suspected dogfighting ring run from Vick’s property “were almost exclusively funded by Vick.”

Taylor cited at least nine instances in which gambling took place on Vick’s property in Surry, Va., or in which Vick was one of the sponsors for a dog in a fight in which a purse was won.

The Times also reports that Vick is considering a deal that would probably mean one to two years in federal prison.

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Now that Adam “Pacman” Jones faces two felony charges stemming from a strip club melee in Las Vegas that preceded a triple shooting (which left one of the victims, a security guard, paralyzed), his career as an NFL cornerback is in serious jeopardy. As is his immediate freedom.

Obviously, Jones didn’t learn his lesson in Vegas — his crew was involved in a shooting incident early Monday morning at a strip club on Memorial Drive.

ESPN’s ever-present John Clayton says it may be a long time before Jones — already suspended for a year for conduct unbecoming a player — ever steps foot on an NFL field.

What has to be remembered about Commissioner Roger Goodell’s initial ruling is that Jones was given no assurance he would be allowed back into the league in 2008. It’s becoming more and more likely that Jones is going to have a difficult time being cleared of his legal troubles by November.

Jones’ most recent incident over the weekend illustrated the [Tennessee] Titans cornerback isn’t taking his situation seriously. Whether he was guilty or innocent of any crime, Jones was out with friends at around 4 a.m. and has knowledge of his friends having some involvement in a shooting incident outside of a strip club.

One of Jones’ conditions to get back into the league was promising to not be out past midnight. He’s violated that provision at least twice. Earlier this spring, he was driving without a license at 12:45 in the morning.

If convicted of the charges in Vegas, Jones faces up to 12 years in prison. According to police in Vegas, the melee there started when Jones was showering dancers with money from a black plastic trash bag. It’s a form of tipping referred to as “making it rain.” When two dancers began to fight over the cash, Jones allegedly grabbed one by the hair and punched her. Which brought security. Which escalated into gunfire.

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ESPN.com’s Tim Keown has a novel idea about Pacman Jones, the metro Atlanta native and Tennessee Titans cornerback … at least before he was suspended for the upcoming season by the NFL. Jones has been questioned by police 10 times since being drafted in 2005, including April of last year when police identified him from surveillance video diving for cover after shots were fired at a Nashville gas station.

Jones has been arrested five times. But the good news is this: Jones has not been convicted of any crimes since being drafted in 2005.

Just as Jones was saying he’d learned his lessons, etc., etc., he and his friends were allegedly involved in a fight inside a Memorial Drive strip club at 4 a.m. Monday that led to a shooting outside. Says Keown:

It’s time for the word “pacman” to become a verb. This latest incident, in which members of Pacman Jones’ entourage allegedly shot at another unknown entourage outside an Atlanta-area strip club around 4 a.m. Monday, clinches the deal. “To pacman” needs to become part of the lexicon.

“To pacman” means to repeatedly do a stupid thing while professing to understand its stupidity. For example: Dude pacmanned himself when he kept going to strip clubs with his gun-toting friends even after it cost him millions of dollars. Pacman Jones said he was going to change his life. That was a few weeks ago, and we have to be fair here — from the time he said he was going to change his life until the early hours of Monday morning, he wasn’t wanted for questioning by the police.

He is now, though, but there’s a positive spin here, too. Police say that Pacman wasn’t present when the shooting took place, so he’s just wanted for questioning and not for prosecution.

Call it progress. It just goes to show you the power of pacmanning. You have to wean yourself off. You can’t go cold turkey.

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In what has been an off-season from hell for Falcons QB Michael Vick, the star football player has found himself up the wrong shit creek this time, literally.

Both the AJC and ProFootballTalk.com have reported that as of early Thursday morning, Vick is yet to pay a fine that he was given for a misdemeanor trespassing citation back in February for fishing in the Western Branch lake in Virginia. He was due in Suffolk County Court today to settle the matter. Odd.

But even stranger is the new AJC story reporting that the charges have suddenly been dismissed. More odd.

The AJC reported that it is not known whether Vick or a representative appeared in court today, just that the court papers document the case has been dismissed.

This is really no big deal and just seems fishy. The strangest thing is, coming only a few days after Vick’s AirTran mishap, this has been an off-season full of headlines for Vick as he has found himself in small pieces of trouble far too often. He has never been convicted of any sort of violent crime, nor has he really done anything wrong, but his record of missing breakfast with Congress, giving the finger to the crowd and fishing in the wrong end zone just seems out of place for the Falcons QB — whose name usually only appears in box scores.

Opening day is just over four months away … how about laying low for a while, Vickster?

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The NFL just recently fined Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher $100,000 for drinking Vitaminwater and wearing a Vitaminwater hat during media day in the week that precedes the Super Bowl. Vitaminwater is not an official drink sponsor of the NFL — only Gatorade is the NFL’s official drink, hence the extreme fine.

Now, I don’t know what Vitaminwater is and I’ve never heard of it (but I think I might try some now), but this fine got me thinking about Atlanta sports figures and some of the fines they’ve been handed over the years …

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According to profootballtalk.com, Falcons guard Kyman Forney is upset about former offensive-line coach Alex Gibbs’ policies regarding his O-linemen’s bellies.

While there were other concerns voiced, Forney is most upset about Gibbs’ ideas regarding the players’ weight. He says the coach forced them to weigh-in under 300 pounds each week — somewhat light for an O-line — or face team sanctions.

“They would tell you that you have to weigh 295 so you’d be sitting up Wednesday and Thursday night starving sometimes.”

Three hundred pounds might not be an issue for you and me, but for these Goliath-like offensive linemen who are forced to block even bigger 340-pound defensemen like Green Bay Packer Gilbert Brown, this weight issue can be a struggle. Turn on the TV on any given Sunday in the fall and you’ll understand exactly what this whole thing is about. The line of scrimmage is about control. Ever played tug-of-war against a sumo wrestler? I think you get the point.

Forney says that Gibbs wanted the players light so they could better execute his zone-blocking scheme. Forney says that he and his teammates would have been better off at a more comfortable playing weight.

“You should be able to weigh what you’re comfortable playing at, as long as you can move and you’re strong. If you’re starving yourself, you’re burning up muscle and getting weak over the course of the season,” Forney said.

It’s difficult to take up argument with Gibbs, whose Falcons rush attack has led the league in yards gained for the past three years. I mean, let’s face the facts, the scale is tipped in Gibbs’ direction on that one.

But this issue is about more than yards gained and weigh-ins. For some time now, stories have been written and aired about the plight of linemen and their struggles with various diseases, such as diabetes and other ailments, all relating to their playing days at abnormally high weights. Some coaches prefer their linemen to be heavy, where extra pounds can often be the difference between an RB getting tackled at the line and breaking one for 20 yards. Coaches’ jobs depend on their ability to produce numbers, which are dependent on the players and their weights … it’s a vicious cycle.

Most linemen are upset because they have to maintain above a certain weight to play, not below. So on one hand, we have a coach demanding his players to stay light and quick against their will, and on the other is a guy saying he’d rather play at a more natural weight. Not an easy issue. I’m sure we’d all like to see these humans live long, meaningful lives after football — especially if that means losing some weight.

But Gibbs and Jim Mora Jr. are out, and Bobby Petrino and staff are in. So I guess we’ll have to wait a year to see how this plays out and how the 2007 Falcons will look in their uniforms. But as long as they lead the league in rushing, it’s all gravy.

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The Falcons’ 2007 schedule just came out and … that’s that. It’s no big deal, let’s not overanalyze — but it’s worth taking a look, right?

On first glance, what jumps off the page are the two Monday Night Football games the Falcons will play this year. The first is versus the New York Football Giants Oct. 15 and the second is versus the New Orleans Saints Dec 10. Not the two easiest games on their schedule, but both Monday-nighters are in the ATL and winnable games in front of the millions who’ll be watching.

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Excuse my favorite arcade-game reference; this is no childish matter.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came down hard on CB Pacman Jones today when it was announced the Tennessee Titans player would be suspended for the entire 2007 NFL season.

About the suspension, Goodell had this to say: “We must protect the integrity of the NFL. The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right. These players, and all members of our league, have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis.”

Georgia-born Jones attended Westlake High School in Atlanta and had a great on-field season in 2006 for the Titans, nabbing a career-best four interceptions while tying for the league lead in punt returns for touchdowns with three. But it was his off-field moves that had everybody talking.

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