Michael Ventre

In our justice system, a man is innocent until proven guilty.

But Roger Goodell operates within his own justice system.

The NFL commissioner’s way of doing things may seem autocratic, but remember, his power was attained through democratic means. The NFL Players Association signed off on a basic agreement that gives Goodell full authority to impose penalties against players who run afoul of the law and/or the rules. Not only that, but when there’s an appeal, Goodell decides the outcome of that, too.

So the next shoe you hear drop will be Goodell imposing a lifetime ban on Michael Vick. And he’ll be justified in doing so.

A lifetime ban rarely means lifetime. It means indefinite — and if a player wants to get back into the NFL, he has to keep his nose clean and then reapply for reinstatement. It’s a little like Imus — kicked out during a storm of outrage, then quietly allowed to return when it passes.

Goodell will impose a lifetime ban upon Vick because he has to. After all, he suspended Tank Johnson for eight games because the former Chicago Bear violated terms of his probation from a misdemeanor weapons charge. He handed down a one-year suspension to ‘Pacman’ Jones even though he was involved in 10 incidents in which he was interviewed by police, but was not convicted of anything.

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It may seem strange to suggest that Vick’s offenses are more serious than those of a defensive tackle who hoarded weapons and had to be Maced by law enforcement, or those of an elite cornerback who was involved in an incident at Las Vegas strip club in which a shooting occurred that resulted in a man being paralyzed.

Yet Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury. The prosecutors who sought the indictment aren’t bumpkins like Mark Hurlbert, who got an indictment against Kobe Bryant in Colorado only to see his case disintegrate under the harsh glare of public scrutiny, or even Gerald Poindexter, the local prosecutor in the Vick case who refused to serve a search warrant on Vick’s property because he didn’t like the way it was worded.

Federal prosecutors don’t seek indictments from a grand jury because they enjoy being held up to public ridicule when the case falls apart later. They seek indictments because they’re fairly certain they can get a conviction.

They needed some sort of smoking-gun evidence, and Tuesday’s indictment means they probably found it. That could include a person or persons involved seeking leniency in exchange for testimony about the extent of Vick’s involvement in the alleged dog-fighting ring.

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Whatever the evidence, the coming weeks and months will feature a gusher of bad publicity involving Vick, the Atlanta Falcons and the NFL. Details about the investigation will leak. More people will come forward about the extent of the despicable pastime allegedly perpetrated on Vick’s land. When the general public starts to hear gory tidbits about the savagery that was allegedly condoned by the Falcons’ quarterback, he will be persona non grata in society, let alone the NFL.

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