The NFL is the most popular sport in America because deep down we all appreciate the way in which these players put their bodies on the line to entertain us and provide an escape for fans who need a break from the daily lives.

I can’t remember another quarterback since Steve Young who had the ability to run like a running back and throw the ball 60 yards to an open receiver for a touchdown. I vividly remember Vick leading the Falcons to a 27-7 playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Jan. 1, 2003. He thus became the first quarterback to accomplish that at the most famed venue in NFL history. At that moment, I became a Vick fan and thought he would easily become a Hall of Fame player and win at least one Super Bowl.

Those dreams died for Vick and all of his fans each time he traveled to a dog fight and bet thousands of dollars on the outcome of a violent battle between two animals that had no choice but to fight for their lives.

Vick’s dreams of eventually gaining entrance into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio to stand alongside fellow African American quarterback Warren Moon died too. Everything collapsed when the people he trusted and funded in his dog fighting business turned on him and gave the United States government most of the evidence they needed to convict him if they ever ended up going to trail.

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As a parent of two young boys, I have never covered a story that so easily pointed out the difference between right and wrong. This clearly shows that poor decisions will follow you for the rest of you life and that you can’t hang around with people who can bring you down.

My problem is that my kids are only six and four years old and are too young to understand the despicable acts of Vick and his partners at Bad Newz Kennels.

I don’t want my kids to have nightmares, so I’ll wait a few years until they are old enough to understand the tragic fall of an athlete they probably would have loved to watch on Sundays.