Michael Vick left a Kansas federal prison Wednesday to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement in Virginia, the latest step on a journey he hopes will lead to his return to the NFL.
Officials with the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to ESPN's Kelly Naqi that Vick was released from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., at about 5 a.m.
Larry Woodward, a member of Vick's legal team, told The Associated Press that Vick was happy to be starting the latest part of the process.
The Daily Press of Newport News, Va., which first reported Vick's release, said that according to sources at the scene, Vick left the prison before dawn, using an alternate entrance to evade cameras and reporters who had staked out the building ahead of his expected release this week.
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Vick is returning to his Hampton, Va., home, where he will serve the remainder of his 23-month federal sentence under house arrest. He spent the past 19 months in prison after pleading guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting ring.
Vick, once the NFL's highest-paid player, is expected to take a construction job at $10 an hour until July 20, when he is expected to be released from federal custody. He will be handed a new set of rules then, when he begins serving three years of probation.
Vick will be required to report to probation officials within 72 hours of his return to Hampton, and will be supervised out of the Norfolk probation office.
Vick's agent, Joel Segal, said Tuesday that the quarterback "will place football on the back burner" during his immediate home confinement and that there are no meetings scheduled with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss reinstatement for the 2009 season.
"Michael's looking forward to reacquainting himself with his family, his fiance, Kiafa, his children and his mom," Segal said. "When he gets home, that's his priority, along with reinserting himself into society and being a positive influence in his community. This is going to be a special time for him, just being around family."
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A chronology of events around Vick's troubles, ending with a guilty plea for dogfighting.
Goodell has said he would wait until the end of Vick's sentence to consider reinstatement. He has said Vick will have to persuade him and the public that he is genuinely sorry for his crime, that he has been changed by his experience and that he is committed to leading a different life.
Vick has said he wants to work with the Humane Society of the United States on a program aimed at eradicating dogfighting among urban teens, society president Wayne Pacelle said Tuesday. Pacelle said he recently met with Vick at the Leavenworth prison. Billy Martin, one of Vick's attorneys, said Vick requested the meeting.
Retired defensive tackle Warren Sapp, who played 13 seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders, is among those who believe Vick should be given an opportunity to resume his football career.
"We've always been a country of second chances. That's the essence of us, have some contrition for what you did, go pay your price and then come back and become a better person or a little different person, whatever it is," Sapp said last week. "We've never been one strike and you're gone. It's never been our mentality."
Even if he is reinstated, Vick's future in the league is uncertain. He and the Atlanta Falcons have parted ways, agreeing to a contract settlement that will allow Vick to sign with another team -- if there is one willing to endure the wrath of some fans in exchange for the services of a player who was perhaps the NFL's most electrifying performer.
A public backlash isn't the only risk. By all accounts, Vick has tried to stay in good physical shape, but there's no telling how much his skills have eroded after two missed seasons.
Vick said in bankruptcy court last month that he believes he can play another 10 to 12 years. The NFL career average is only 3.2 years, and Vick already has played seven.
One certainty is that he will not command the kind of money he once earned. Vick supplemented his 10-year, $130 million Falcons contract with several lucrative endorsements -- all lost because of the dogfighting. The minimum salary for a player with Vick's years of experience is $620,000.
Vick filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan that would have allowed him to keep the first $750,000 of his annual pay, with a percentage of any amount over that going to his creditors. A judge has rejected that plan, in part because of uncertainty about Vick's NFL future, and ordered him to submit a new one.
His bankruptcy lawyers have complained about the difficulty of handling Vick's highly complex bankruptcy case while their client was in prison 1,200 miles away. Having Vick back in the area should help them wrap up the Chapter 11 reorganization case.
"They won't even take his bankruptcy plan," said Sapp, now a television football analyst. "How much more have you got to do? I understand people love their dogs, and it was a horrible thing. ... But has he paid his debt? I would think so."
Vick's startling fall began in April 2007, when authorities conducting a drug investigation of his cousin raided the former Virginia Tech star's Surry County property and seized dozens of dogs, some of them injured, and equipment commonly used in dogfighting.
A federal indictment issued about three months later charged Vick and three of his "Bad Newz Kennels" associates with an interstate dogfighting conspiracy. Vick initially denied any involvement, and all four men pleaded not guilty. All four eventually admitted their crimes and were sentenced to prison. Vick's sentence was the longest.
The gruesome details outlined in the indictment -- dogs were hanged, drowned and electrocuted -- fueled public outrage but also brought unprecedented attention to the problem of dogfighting, prompting several states to tighten their laws.
However, some supporters also remained loyal to Vick, contending that while he made mistakes he was being singled out for harsh treatment because of his celebrity status.
Vick also pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge and was given a three-year suspended sentence.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank -- who once gave Vick a $130 million contract -- said Wednesday that the quarterback is taking positive steps by wanting to work with the Humane Society and making other changes in his life.
Blank, whose team still owns the player's contractual rights, said he has been in written communication with Vick since the sentence began.
"There's no question Michael's paid his debt to society, obviously," Blank said during a break at the NFL owners' meetings in South Florida.
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