Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

I’ve just returned, happily, from a barbecue. My friend was hosting one to celebrate the end of his degree. Mostly the day was spent lounging around relaxing, drinking and playing computer games, but part of the time – in fact, now that I think about it, quite a lot of the time – was taken up by him showing off his latest gadget.

I say “gadget”, because it really did feel like something out of James Bond. Very proudly, he told me that he uses it for Polycom audio conferencing, which seems a fancy way of saying video and voice conversations. I got a chance to test it out. Certainly, it felt official and professional, and it was good fun talking NFL with a friend up north. It was almost like something out of Jerry Maguire.

The topic of the day, as it were, was Michael Vick: he has been released from prison, allowed to serve the rest of his sentence at home. It’s a topic that has the entire NFL world abuzz.

We talked about why some teams will pass on him, should he complete the comeback, and why some teams will probably pick him up. And all the while it was quite surreal.

I’m personally of the opinion that he has done his time, from what I’ve seen and read, he has left prison as a man changed, and as Marshall Faulk has said, he should be given a second chance. And he’ll get a second chance, I think. Perhaps it will be through injury to another quarterback, or perhaps through posting up highlights in a different league, like the old Vick did so often, and if he does, he’ll generate interest. He’ll get his chance.

And when he does, I just hope he genuinely has learned from his mistakes.