No Vick, Different Vibe For Falcons Fans At Georgia Dome

ATLANTA (AP) _ Gwen Tucker stood outside the Georgia Dome with a blazing red boa slung around her No. 7 jersey. <br/><br/>She wasn't out of place. <br/><br/>In between small bands of dueling protesters

Monday, August 27th 2007, 9:19 pm

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ Gwen Tucker stood outside the Georgia Dome with a blazing red boa slung around her No. 7 jersey.

She wasn't out of place.

In between small bands of dueling protesters _ some there to support Michael Vick, others to heckle him _ plenty of Atlanta Falcons fans turned out at the first home preseason game wearing the disgraced quarterback's jersey.

Tucker was one of them, still clinging to hope that Vick may some day return to the Falcons after he serves his time for dogfighting.

``I don't see any reason why he shouldn't,'' she said, sipping on a Martini & Rossi. ``He's an electrifying player. He did bring a hell of a lot of excitement to this place. It's not going to be the same.''

About 9 1/2 hours before the Falcons kicked off against the Cincinnati Bengals, Vick walked into a Virginia courtroom to plead guilty to charges that likely will send him to prison for at least a year.

In between the plea hearing and the game, Falcons owner Arthur Blank summoned the media to his palatial corporate office to reveal he won't be cutting Vick immediately, though it's clear that would have been the preferred choice if not for the salary-cap implications.

``It would be a short-term fix at the expense of our long-term success,'' Blank said.

So, while Vick awaits his December sentencing and the Falcons try to recoup the $22 million in bonus money he got as part of his record $130 million contract, the team and its fans got a sampling of life without Vick.

There were plenty of empty seats at the 70,000-seat Georgia Dome, which appeared to be about half-full at kickoff.

``It's going to have a different vibe,'' said John Fox, who wore a jersey honoring former Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski. ``It's not going to be as exciting. I don't feel the excitement that I used to, and I've been a Falcons fan for 32 years.''

Fox owns a No. 7 jersey, and he actually thought of wearing it to the game with the word ``Con'' taped in front of Vick's name _ for ``Con-Vick.'' But the Falcons fan ditched that plan, partly because he was impressed with the quarterback's televised apology shortly after the guilty plea.

``He actually showed contrition and I felt pretty bad for him,' Fox said. ``Yeah, he did something stupid and ridiculous, but he did accept responsibility.''

For the most part, it seemed like just another game at ``Falcons Landing,'' a carnival-like area set up next to the Georgia Dome. Kids lined up to toss footballs through a target, while others went deep for passes spit out by a machine. A deejay sent out tunes over giant speakers, ranging from the Beatles' ``Twist and Shout'' to ``Hey Ya'' by local duo made good OutKast.

Nearby, at the entrance to a parking garage, about a dozen protesters stood behind metal barriers, waving signs such as ``Ban Vick Permanently'' and ``Bad Newz Vick Shames Atlanta'' at passing cars. Across the street, a group of about 10 Vick supporters barked out a much different sentiment, aided by a couple of megaphones.

``We love Mike! We love Mike!''

``We're going to miss Mike! We're going to miss Mike!''

``We all make mistakes! We all make mistakes!''

Things got a bit heated when a man walked toward Vick's supporters, hurling insults.

``Michael Vick is a liar,'' the man said, pointing his finger for emphasis. ``He's a sociopath.''

A policeman quickly stepped in and sent the man away. The pro-Vick group marched off in a different direction.

There was a smattering of claps when Vick's replacement, Joey Harrington, trotted out in front of the home folks for the first time. He was sacked on his very first snap, but bounced back to complete all six passes in the opening quarter.

The fans roared when Harrington hooked up with Adam Jennings on a 28-yard touchdown that gave the Falcons an early lead. Watching from his luxury box, Blank gave a thumbs-up.

``I think we're going to win a lot of football games this year,'' the owner said. ``I think we're going to surprise a lot of people this year.''

Blank, who once pushed Vick onto the field in a wheelchair after he broke his leg in a preseason game, shrugged off critics who say he coddled the quarterback and refused to recognize more subtle signs of trouble.

``I can say to you without any hesitation that if we had any idea, any inkling that this was going on, any sense of it, we would have confronted it and dealt with it immediately in the most appropriate manner,'' Blank said. ``Only he knows why he did what he did. At the end of the day, he put himself in this position. The responsibility of it rests on his shoulders.''

Vick was always a polarizing figure in Atlanta, attracting plenty of critics who said his brilliant running ability masked deficiencies in the passing game.

Adam Johnson, who attended the first preseason game wearing John Abraham's No. 55 jersey, looked forward to Harrington's more conventional style at quarterback.

``I never liked Vick anyway,'' Johnson said. ``I didn't think he was a good quarterback.''

Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL, though he vowed to redeem himself if given the chance. It will be up to commissioner Roger Goodell to decide if one of the league's most dazzling players ever suits up again.

``Oh, he'll probably play again. He's Michael Vick,'' Johnson said. ``But I'll tell you this: He'll never play with the Falcons again.''