For all the continued criticism that Michael Vick receives about his dog fighting past, one supporter and believer in his corner is commissioner Roger Goodell.
Goodell has been instrumental from day one in giving Vick the opportunity make a living, and do positive things in the process. The New York Post is reporting that Jets owner Woody Johnson admitted that he consulted Goodell before meeting and signing Vick.
As Johnson so eloquently put it, it was more about learning about Vick, and not neccesarily a character reference.
“We’ve checked — we’ve talked to everyone. Commissioner Goodell, I had one conversation with him about Mike,” Johnson said. “I think he’ll be a real positive to help us get better. Not only at the quarterback position but also as a team.”
“Not really character references but to see what he’s like and have a conversation,” Johnson said. “Quarterback’s a really important position so we’re going to do our due diligence.”
Johnson says it was more about Vick the man, and had less to do with his ability to spin the football.
“I spoke to him a while ago. I don’t remember exactly when,” Johnson said. “We didn’t talk about evaluating Michael Vick in terms of his throwing motion. Just in terms of [him as a] person. He was, very very supportive.”
Sounds more like Johnson wanted to make sure he had total knowledge of Vick and his history before naming such a polarizing figure his starting quarterback.
I know, it’s just merely speculation at this point.