Emotions Run High Outside Richmond Courthouse

Aug 27, 10:30 PM

Current Headlines: RICHMOND, Va. _ As the day began, Kim Graham of Hampton stood alone near the federal courthouse, holding aloft a sign that condemned Michael Vick an image of two dogs ripping apart a No. 7 jersey.

It was 7:15 a.m., and Vick wasn't due for three hours, but Graham would wait to see the Newport News native plead guilty to federal dogfighting charges. She shrugged off a question about paying one's debt to society.

"It's not society that I'm worried about," she said. "It's the animals. Society can take care of itself, but the animals are helpless."

As the day ended, Keion Carpenter stood in a hotel meeting room, surrounded by reporters, vigorously defending Vick, a former Atlanta Falcons teammate and still a friend.

"He's a young guy who made some bad decisions, some mistakes," Carpenter said. "But he's human and he has a chance to redeem himself."

Monday in downtown Richmond held little suspense for the dozens of people who gathered there. In between Graham's comments and Carpenter's impromptu press conference, Vick walked into U.S. District Court and formally admitted his criminal connection to a dogfighting operation that was centered in Surry County.

But if suspense was lacking, emotion was in good supply as both supporters and detractors of the 27-year-old football star waited hours for a sighting, then blasted out their sentiments in full volume.

He arrived at 10:20 a.m., 10 minutes before his scheduled court appearance with Judge Henry Hudson. As he walked up the ramp to the courthouse door, one group sang gospel songs and preached forgiveness, while another woman burst into tears and uttered an expletive as Vick came into view.

David Wauhop of Gloucester County burned his final day of vacation at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard to stand in line. He was there before 6 a.m. He didn't carry a sign, but his T-shirt read: "My dog hates Michael Vick."

"Michael Vick lied on his arraignment and he's a dog killer," Wauhop said. "He needs psychological help."

A few spots behind him sat Shawn Dotson of Lynchburg, who sported a Vick football jersey.

"He will play football again of course," Dotson insisted. He said the guilty plea was the result of Vick being "backed into a corner."

The most watched comments of the day came from Vick himself. Shortly after entering his guilty plea, he walked several blocks to the Omni Hotel to speak with reporters.

Appearing uncomfortable and halting at first, he spoke without the aid of notes and began: "For most of my life, I've been a football player, not a public speaker."

He went on to apologize to Falcons management and his teammates, said he would take full responsibility for what he did, rejected dogfighting as "a terrible thing" and said what upset him most was his image in the eyes of children who consider him a role model.

Vick did not take questions, but Carpenter did.

Carpenter, a standout football player at Virginia Tech, was a senior when Vick was a freshman. Both men went on to play with the Falcons. Carpenter just retired from the team, and he has been counseling Vick.

"We all have friends and everything is always good when the lights are going on," Carpenter said. "But you tell your true friends you can see who they really are in these types of situations. What I told him today, I said, `Look around, Mike. Look around. You see me. You see your family.' You know what I mean? And that's big. You're talking about a guy who's used to having 10 to 15 guys around him."

Carpenter said he sensed this was Vick's most difficult day.

"You're talking about a guy who is feeling embarrassed," he said. "He let a lot of people down. This is a humbling experience for him. For him to do that, that means he's learning. He's taking that one step of redemption."

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