Vick makes quiet return to Georgia

DECATUR, Ga.—Michael Vick returned to the area that once celebrated his brilliant play on the football field, this time for the first of what he vows will be dozens of appearances around the country to urge low-income youths to avoid the tragic trail left by dogfighting.

Few got to hear the message, however.

Vick’s visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick’s handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. An Associated Press reporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.

Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick’s appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine.

“Not too many people knew he was going to be here,“ said Stan Sutton, who stopped by the New Life Community Center to pick up some clothes and wound up being one of the few invited inside to hear Vick speak. “There would have been a lot more people here than there are now. The whole Eastside would have been here.“

Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society, said the group wants to be transparent and reach as many people as possible with its anti-dogfighting message. But the tightly controlled appearance comes as Vick is trying to rehabilitate his image and ease his path back to the NFL. The former Virginia Tech standout is apparently planning to do his first major interview since completing a 23-month prison sentence with the CBS news magazine “60 Minutes,“ which sent a three-person crew to film the event.

“It was a controlled environment for obvious reasons: Vick is so high profile,“ Pacelle said. “We’re going to have plenty of opportunities in the future to have Michael to speak at community-based forums.“

A Vick representative said the quarterback would have no comment on the appearance.

Vick entered through a back door and spoke for about 12 minutes, Pacelle said. The small audience was moved by what it heard.

“He said he did wrong,“ 17-year-old Stanley Jones said. “Now he’s trying to come up with a smarter way to help the whole community, for young people like us, to make a change.“