LOS ANGELES, August 14 – Michael Vick will reportedly return to the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles and try to revive a career left in tatters by his role in a dog-fighting ring.
Sports website ESPN.com, citing Vick’s agent, Joel Segal, reported Vick had inked a two-year contract with the club.
Vick 29, hasn’t played in the NFL since 2006. He spent 19 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in August 2007 to federal dog-fighting charges.
He was released on May 20 and served two months of home confinement to complete his sentence on July 20.
Shortly after Vick’s guilty plea, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell imposed an indefinite suspension on the onetime Atlanta Falcons star.
Goodell conditionally lifted that ban in late July, making Vick eligible to sign with a new club.
Vick, who remains on probation for the next three years, was once the league’s highest-paid player and the face of the Falcons.
The three-time Pro Bowler twice led the Falcons to the playoffs, including a trip to the NFC championship game after the 2004 season.
But the details of the brutal dog-fighting operation saw his popularity plummet, and after Vick left prison the Falcons terminated his contract.
Kevin Kolb, Philadelphia’s second-round draft selection in 2007, is currently listed as backup to Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. But he sprained a knee ligament in practice last week.
