Vick in Jail, Now Coach Will Bail

Married dad put lover, 25, on college payroll

(NEWSER) - Arkansas Razorbacks football coach Bobby Petrino has been canned after the married dad of four confessed to having a volleyball-playing lover half his age whom he put on the college payroll. Petrino's secret life came to light following a motorcycle accident earlier this month while he was riding with lover Jessica Dorrell, 25. Petrino, 51, suffered broken ribs, abrasions, and a cracked vertebrae in his neck. He didn't tell his bosses that Dorrell was with him at the time, but they quickly found out—and connected him to her hiring and a $20,000 payment to her. Athletic director Jeff Long slammed the coach, hired four years ago, for misleading his superiors and the public, and damaging the reputation of the football program. "Coach Petrino abused his authority when he made a staff hire that benefited himself and jeopardized the integrity of the football program,” said Long. More»

Atlanta QB, 3 others accused of running "Bad Newz Kennels," killing losing dogs

(NEWSER) - A federal grand jury formally accused Falcons star Michael Vick of sponsoring and governing a Virginia-based dogfighting ring, along with three other Virginia men. The operation was based on Vick's Surry County property, and the QB is alleged to have attended fights and personally overseen the execution of underachieving pit bulls by brutal means—including hanging, drowning, and electrocution. More»

Team shocked by Garrett Uekman's sudden death yesterday

(NEWSER) - The mysterious death of a University of Arkansas football player yesterday has the school in shock, reports the AP . Backup tight end Garrett Uekman was found unconscious in his dorm room yesterday morning, just an hour after his roommate had seen him playing video games. Emergency services workers said the 19-year-old was in cardiac arrest when they arrived; they rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead just after noon. More»

Redemption is there in spades, but little talk of horrid crime

(NEWSER) - Critics agree BET's The Michael Vick Project is conveniently focused more on the NFL star's comeback than on the horrid crime that laid him low in the first place. Still, some find the 8-episode "quasi-documentary" appealing:

• Vick presents himself as reformed, Robert Lloyd writes in the Los Angeles Times , but in visiting his old dogfighting compound, he " seems more nostalgic than contrite." No matter. "For many, his redemption will be strictly a matter of his playing football well. And if he doesn't, well, at least he won't be shot, drowned or hanged for it."

QB: 'I'm glad to have a second chance'

(NEWSER) - Michael Vick says he “won’t disappoint” as a player for of the Eagles, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. “I’m glad to have an opportunity at a second chance,” said the convicted felon and newly signed quarterback. He said at a press conference today he had “ done some terrible things, made a horrible mistake,” but “now I want to be part of the solution and not the problem,” the AP reports. More»