Saturday, July 28, 2007


FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga., Jul. 28, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Dozens of Atlanta Falcons jerseys hang on the wall of Sports Fan Attic, a sporting goods store in a suburban Atlanta mall.

Six of the team's best players are represented -- from running back Warrick Dunn to linebacker Keith Brooking to defensive end Jamaal Anderson, the Falcons' top pick in this year's NFL draft.

One jersey is conspicuously missing: Michael Vick's.

His No.7 has been one of the NFL's best-selling jerseys since he entered the league in 2001. But Wednesday, Sports Fan Attic, a Southern chain, stopped selling Vick jerseys, as instructed by its corporate office.

The office offered no explanation, store manager Chris Williams said.

Yesterday, Reebok International Ltd. announced it was suspending sales of Vick jerseys. The company also is honoring retail cancellations of Vick merchandise.

Since his alleged involvement in dogfighting surfaced three months ago, Vick has become the most polarizing man in Atlanta.

Once, this city was a sea of No.7s, everyone paying homage to the quarterback whose elusiveness energized the Falcons -- long one of the NFL's lowliest franchises -- and reinvented his position in the process. A few hours before Vick was arraigned on dogfighting charges Thursday, Williams pulled the last remaining 7s off the clearance rack and tossed them behind the counter.

'I don't know that people would really buy it anyway,' he said.

When the Falcons opened training camp later in the day, Anthony Seals sat on a hill overlooking the practice field with his 7-year-old nephew, Jaden, and grandsons, Anthony, 2, and Antuan, 4.

Seals, who lives in suburban Atlanta, wore Dunn's No.28 jersey. He said the boys, none of whom wore Falcons attire, are too young to understand Vick's situation.

'I would not buy my grandson or nephew a Vick jersey,' he said. 'Not until this cloud is over with.'

Several fans among the few hundred at camp wore their 7s.

'I don't think he needs to leave this team because of this,' said Matt Jagger, of Atlanta, who wore Vick's orange Virginia Tech jersey. 'There are plenty of stars that have problems.'

Sitting a few feet away on the hill, Carlton Williams wore a white No.7. Williams, a lifelong Atlanta resident and eight-year Falcons season-ticket holder, supports Vick but remains pessimistic about his future in Atlanta.

'I think he's played his last down as a Falcon,' Williams said.

If Vick is convicted, Williams said he wouldn't wear the jersey anymore. He'll hang it in the back of his closet with jerseys of several retired Falcons.

Coley Works didn't wear a jersey when he brought his three younger brothers to camp. But Works, a tight end for Morehouse College's football team, said he wants to believe in Vick's innocence.

'We're trying to keep as much faith in him as we can,' said Works, born and raised in Atlanta. 'We want to stay behind him because he's God in Atlanta.'

Then he surveyed the practice field, where the Falcons were trying to move forward without their best player.

'Morale is real low for Falcons football right now,' he said.

The Thatcher family tried to keep its spirits up at training camp. No easy task, considering Mark, Kim and their 12-year-old son, Cooper, planned a weeklong vacation around spending Thursday at Falcons camp -- all so Cooper could see his favorite player, Vick.

They started driving from their suburban Cincinnati home Sunday, a day before NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ordered Vick to stay away from camp until the league completes an investigation into his alleged dogfighting ties.

'Very disappointed, because I wanted to get his autograph,' Cooper said.

Kim said the family didn't know much about the other Falcons but decided to stick with the vacation plan. Cooper even bought his first Vick jersey earlier Thursday -- a red one. The Thatchers stopped at a store that wasn't selling Vick jerseys before finding one at another store.

They sat near the top of the hill, Cooper smiling as he proudly wore his Vick jersey. He planned to wear it again for his upcoming first day of seventh grade. But if Vick is found guilty, his mother said she might intercede with him wearing it in the future.

'If he's convicted,' she said, 'I'd probably have a hard time with it.'

Contact Darryl Slater at (804) 649-6026 or  dslater@timesdispatch.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0177-18489656


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