Bobby Petrino: DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler were right

Bobby Petrino.

The equivalent of the promiscuous girl of the coaching world. Always ready to listen to an offer. Often willing to put out. Quick to leave the groom standing at the altar.

Or in this case, cheat on the honey moon.

Petrino's stay in the ATL has been tainted almost from the start. He was unable to give tremendous, but wayward, QB Michael Vick the type of guidance a young man under considerable pressure could expect from a seasoned head coach/mentor. And quickly things fell apart.

Clearly, Vick didn't receive good advice from the organization and ended up responding to the early accusations with a dubious denial. Obviously, a caring and nurturing infrastructure would have given him the proper counsel necessary to take responsibility from the get go. Only after things spun out of control and Vick was able to separate himself from the organization did he come clean and accept responsibility.

So, the reality is that much of the distress caused by the Vick situation was a product of Petrino's botched leadership.

Certainly, Vick's team mates recognized this, and it compromised Petrino's ability to effectively be the man in charge of the team.

Early in the season, DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler received some negative press for openly wondering about Petrino's ability to lead an NFL team. For challenging Petrino's demands that the team buy into his system, but not providing any real leadership for the team.

The media seemed to enjoy painting Hall and Crumpler as out of line or disgruntled primadonas.

Well, vindication is sweet. And Hall and Crumpler were correct all along. Petrino gave up long ago and went through 3/4 of a season as a charade. Certainly he wasn't wooed by Arkansas between the Monday night game and the Tuesday announcement.

And, just as certainly, Hall and Crumpler's instinctual questioning of the validity and sincerity of Petrino and his 'system' was spot on the money. Petrino's 'system' was an empty shell that couldn't fool real NFL players. His leadership was a corrupt and cowardly masquerade.

And Hall and Crumpler should be commended for having the awareness, commitment and esprit de corps to put the teams needs ahead of their own and question the rotten smell emanating from the coach's office.

In this day and age of selfish players with agendas, it is refreshing to be able to look back on this and unequivocally state the players were one hundred percent correct and that the media owes them an apology.

Certainly this isn't the first time that a group of Negroes sensed and spoke out about the white man in the corner office using them for his personal gain. It just happens to be one of the times the media can't hide it.

Follow Up: Who Wins

Not long ago, we put forth an investigative piece searching for the answer to the question of 'who wins' in this Michael Vick debacle.

Our research clearly divulged that the ultimate winner in all this was Falcons' coach, Bobby Petrino.

And now, it seems, once again...the main stream media is a day late and a dollar short in jumping on the NOIS bandwagon.

From The LA Times:

There is evidence that the Falcons believed in Vick. They apparently felt good enough about him to trade talented backup Matt Schaub to Houston, and, of course, owner Arthur Blank delivered on that long contract extension. But sources around the league also say the franchise was already mulling the possibility of life without Vick -- even before his legal entanglements.

Really? So, possibly Vick's development thus far demonstrated - as we previously and investigatively reported - that he might be a square peg for the round hole that is Petrino's offense.

Although he was an incredibly gifted runner, one who could escape waves of defenders, Vick was nowhere near the quarterback many people thought he might become. There were persistent rumors that Petrino wanted to give Vick one season to prove how well he could run the offense, then make a decision whether to keep him or move in another direction.

Petrino was cool toward Vick from day one. Despite the giant contract and incredible physical talents, Vick was never the QB that Petrino envisioned running his offense.

However, despite all this.

Vick's dismissal from the game will make him the perfect scapegoat should Petrino's offense falter this season.

Coach Petrino hasn't been dealt a great hand this season. But, as far as things go, at the very least he has himself a push.

This season will be easy to write off.

Vick: Who Wins In This?

As Vick loses endorsement deals by the minute and as the league and the Falcons distance themselves further, let's take a moment to reflect on this situation and find out who is benefiting from Vick's career train wreck.

The list is short. But clear.

Coach Bobby Petrino.

Petrino has had a cool relationship with Vick from the moment he took over the helm.

And now, with Vick seemingly done, Petrino has himself a can't lose situation. If the team fails, Vick gets the blame. If the team does better than expected, then Petrino is a genius.

Let's face reality together here. Vick never was the QB that Petrino's offense needed. Petrino had wonderful offensive success at Louisville with an offense that featured an excellent mix of rushing and down field passing. While his QB's put up excellent numbers, the offense was not built around a 'franchise' type of athletic QB.

In the greater scheme of things, Petrino may now be in a better position than he was with the $130M square peg to his round hole'd offense.

So, is it any wonder that the Falcons and the NFL didn't stand up to the pressure of the indictment? Is it any wonder that they didn't allow the wheels of justice to run their course before deciding Vick's fate?

Certainly, the NFL, which in the past has allowed accused and convicted women beaters to dress on Sundays without so much as giving protesting women's advocacy groups the time of day, can't pretend to have been so intimidated by animal rights groups that this was strictly a public relations decision.

No, this was the Falcons decision.

A decision to opportunely cut losses and change directions.

We still don't know exactly what the outcome of the trial will be. Yes, the federal government has an almost perfect conviction record. There is no reasonable assumption that they would bring a case against Vick to federal court if they weren't nearly certain that they will convict him.

But still, as Americans, we owe each other the courtesy of waiting for the trial to conclude (let alone start) before our decisions are made.

There is no way around the fact that despite the indictment against Vick, he is a victim here.

The league, his team and his sponsors have all acted in such a way as to further the presumption of guilt that the media is so gleefully propagating.

For what?

To ensure that Bobby Petrino has the best chance to succeed with his offense.

The Falcons' playbook now supersedes civil rights.