From The Associated Press

ATLANTA — Michael Vick knows where he’ll be spending most of the next two years, locked away in a federal prison, doing his time for dogfighting.

Once he’s a free man — probably in the summer of 2009, assuming he gets time off for good behavior — what comes next? Will NFL commissioner Roger Goodell lift Vick’s indefinite suspension? How many seasons will the quarterback miss beyond this year and next, which are a given? Will another team be willing to take a chance on Vick? If he does get back on the field, will he still be the same electrifying player? Will he even be a quarterback?

“A lot depends on him and what he does with these next two years,” said Dan Reeves, Vick’s first pro coach with the Atlanta Falcons. “Either he comes out a better person or he comes out a bitter person.”

Most seem to believe Vick will at least get a second chance in the NFL, assuming he keeps his nose clean in prison and comes out with the proper amount of remorse for taking part in a gruesome dogfighting ring.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who gave Vick what was then the richest contract in NFL history near the end of the 2005 season, sounded as though the Falcons are moving on without any plans for bringing back No. 7.

He predicts Vick will miss three full seasons. After all, the quarterback still faces state charges in Virginia that could mean more time behind bars. And Goodell has not indicated when he will lift the suspension, which could run longer than any prison sentences.

Gil Brandt, who helped assemble the Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty, wonders if Vick might be better suited for another position when he comes out of prison. Perhaps wide receiver. Or maybe a slash-type player who lines up all over the field.

“If you’re a student and you drop out of school for two or three years, it’s really hard to reacquire the study habits that make you successful,” Brandt said. “I don’t think there’s any question, whether it’s 2009 or 2010, that somebody will take a chance on him. I’m not sure that somebody will take a chance on him as a quarterback. I think it would be a lot easier for him to come back at a different position.”

Looking back to World War II, when athletes went off to fight just like everyone else, Brandt remembers players such as 1940 Heisman Trophy winner Tom Harmon appearing to lose a step or two once they resumed their football careers.

Although Brandt doesn’t think a long layoff would be nearly as devastating these days because of improved training methods, he figures it will be impossible for Vick to maintain the same level of conditioning in a federal prison that he did while playing football.