Vick left prison before dawn to begin home confinement

NFL quarterback Michael Vick served the past 19 months in a federal penitentiary. AP Poll Should Michael Vick be allowed to play in the NFL again? Yes No VOTE View Results

HAMPTON, Virginia (AP) -- Michael Vick is out of prison and headed home, broke and reviled for running a dogfighting ring, but hopeful for a second chance at his once-charmed life as a star NFL quarterback.

The suspended quarterback served 19 months in prison on the dogfighting conviction that capped one of the most astonishing falls in sports history -- one that stole his wealth and popularity.

"Football is on the back-burner for now," said agent Joel Segal, who negotiated Vick's 10-year, $130 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons but will be asking for substantially less if his tarnished client's indefinite suspension is lifted by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Vick deserves a second chance, but it won't be with Atlanta, which has severed ties with its former star.

Vick, who turns 29 in June, left the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas by car early Wednesday, undetected by hordes of reporters who had staked out the prison.

He was accompanied on the 1,200-mile (1,900-kilometer) ride by his fiancee, Kijafa Frink, a videographer and several members of a security team assembled by Vick's lawyers and advisers, a person familiar with the plans told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to comment on the matter. The person did not know the reason for the videographer.

Avoiding the media will be tougher in Hampton, where he will serve two months in home confinement. His five-bedroom brick house is at the end of a cul-de-sac, where at least a half-dozen satellite trucks and several reporters and camera crews awaited his return. Out back, between the house and a pond, maintenance workers got the swimming pool ready.

Vick was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for financing a dogfighting conspiracy. He won't be released from federal custody until July 20, but his departure from Leavenworth begins a new chapter.

His ultimate goal is a return to the NFL, but Larry Woodward, Vick's Virginia-based attorney, said Vick's first priority "is spending time with his children and his loved ones."

Chief among his challenges is rehabilitating his image and convincing the public and Goodell that he is truly sorry for his crime, and that he is prepared to live a different life -- goals that will depend more on deeds than words.

"It goes beyond, 'Has he paid his debt to society?' Because I think that from a legal standpoint and financially and personally, he has," Blank said at an NFL owners' meeting on Wednesday.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Vick doesn't deserve that chance until he passes psychological tests proving he is capable of feeling genuine remorse. However, the Humane Society of the United States said Vick met its president recently in prison and wants to work on a program aimed at eradicating dogfighting among urban teens. Billy Martin, another of Vicks' attorneys, said Vick chose to work with the animal protection group because it was one of his harshest critics before he was indicted.

First up for Vick is a $10-an-hour job as a laborer for a construction company. That job is part of his probation, and he will find out more about the restrictions he faces in home confinement when he meets with his probation officer this week. He also will be equipped with an electronic monitor.

Vick has many financial problems to resolve. He filed for bankruptcy last July, but his reorganization plan was rejected last month by a judge who ordered him to draft a new one. The judge was concerned about the feasibility of the plan, which is based largely on his return to the NFL.

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