Vick Denies Report He Spent First Night of Freedom With Strippers
Source: Vick, Goodell met Wednesday in New Jersey
By LARRY O'DELL and HANK KURZ JR.
Updated 8:30 PM EDT, Thu, Jul 23, 2009
RICHMOND, Va. -- Michael Vick's lawyer vehemently denied reports Thursday that the suspended NFL star spent his first night of freedom from federal custody at a Virginia Beach strip club.
"It is absolutely, categorically false," Lawrence Woodward told The Associated Press.
An Internet blog reported that Vick was seen at the strip club Atlantis on Monday night, hours after he completed his 23-month sentence for operating a dogfighting ring. Vick was not in Virginia Beach that night and has not been to any strip club, Woodward said.
"He has been spending time with his family and friends and working with his advisers on legal matters and trying to get back to playing football," Woodward said.
Vick also denied the reports in an interview with the Daily Press of Newport News.
"That's crazy," he told his hometown newspaper. "That is the last place on my mind. I was out of town. I guess it's just someone trying to be hurtful."
The blog thebiglead.com, which some newspapers referenced on their Web sites, quoted a DJ who refused to be identified as saying Vick was at Atlantis with NBA free agent Allen Iverson.
Leon Rose, Iverson's agent, said the basketball star hasn't seen Vick since the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback's release from prison.
The voice mailbox at Atlantis was full and unable to accept messages Thursday.
Michael Vick and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell talked Wednesday at a security firm in New Jersey, according to two people familiar with the meeting.
Vick and three members of his team, including agent Joel Segal, attended the meeting with Goodell, according to two people who requested anonymity because the NFL has not acknowledged the meeting.
SI.com first reported that Vick and Goodell had met.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello declined to confirm the meeting when contacted by The Associated Press on Thursday.
Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely after the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback admitted bankrolling dogfighting. Goodell has said Vick must show remorse and signs that he has changed before he would consider reinstating him.
Vick served most of his sentence at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., before being transferred to home confinement in late May. The electronic monitor he wore on his ankle during two months of home confinement in Hampton was removed Monday morning, freeing Vick from federal custody.
Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Jul 23, 2009 7:19 PM EDT
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