“Mr. Vick in life had numbed himself to a lot of events around him. That was, in a sense, his way of surviving,” Martin said.

Outside court, Woodward said Vick didn’t want anyone feeling sorry for him.

“He just wants a chance to prove himself when all this is over,” he said. “But the other thing he said to me, which I also think is important for everyone to know, is that he understood that some of the things he was doing in life and off the field were dangerous, and he told me he feels lucky that he’s alive and not hurt and now it’s all about the future.”

That future now includes a stay at a still-undetermined federal prison. He has been held at a jail in Warsaw, Va., since voluntarily beginning his term.

In a plea agreement, Vick admitted bankrolling the dogfighting ring on his 15-acre property in rural Virginia. He admitted providing money for bets on the fights but said he never shared in any winnings.

The gruesome details about the dogfighting enterprise prompted a public backlash against the once-popular Vick and enraged animal-rights groups, which used the case to call attention to the brutality of dogfighting.

John Goodwin of the Humane Society of the United States called Vick’s sentence appropriate.

“People that are involved in this blood sport are on notice. You can throw your life away by being involved in this,” he said.

Along with the prison term, Vick was fined $5,000 and will serve three years’ probation after his release.

Two co-defendants were sentenced Nov. 30. Purnell Peace, of Virginia Beach, got 18 months. Phillips, of Atlanta, got 21 months. Another co-defendant, Tony Taylor, will be sentenced Friday.

All four men also are facing animal cruelty charges in Surry County Circuit Court. Trial has been set April 2 for Vick, March 5 for Phillips and Peace, and May 7 for Taylor.

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