Vick Under Different Kind of Pressure

ATLANTA -- July 18, 2007— -- During the first three months of an off-field soap opera that Tuesday afternoon was suddenly extended indefinitely, Michael Vick somehow managed to remain above the fray.

He was not oblivious to the fact his name was linked to a reprehensible and distasteful pastime said to take place on the property of a home he owned in Surry County, Va. But Vick was apparently impervious as federal agents dug, literally, into his past for links that might tie him to a dogfighting ring.

To a man, the people who sign his pricey paychecks and a new coaching staff charged with teaching Vick the third different offense in which he has worked in six years insisted that this was his best offseason ever. Vick was more diligent, worked harder on the field and in the classroom and took on a weightier mantle of leadership than he had at any previous time in his career.

Several teammates even wondered aloud, in conversations with ESPN.com, how Vick had managed to retain such remarkable focus in the teeth of a gathering storm. A few suggested that the team's complex in Flowery Branch, Ga., where Vick hadn't exactly been a frequent voluntary visitor in springs past, had become his sanctuary. The athletic arrogance that Vick had displayed so often in the past, which manifested itself in rumors that he really didn't feel he needed to be tutored on the game's finer points, was absent.

Humility and work ethic, it seemed, had become Vick hallmarks this spring.

Poised to enter the most critical season of his career on the field, even some internal detractors noted that Vick seemed to comprehend how crucial 2007 might be for him.

But now that Vick has officially been dragged into the fight, indicted on two felony counts by a federal court, one has to wonder about the unwavering focus he demonstrated during his tumultuous offseason. And moving forward into the 2007 season, provided Vick is permitted by commissioner Roger Goodell to continue playing while due process runs its course, the question of how he now responds on the field is a critical one here.