Not that long ago, collectors would have been thrilled to open a pack of football cards and find Michael Vick waiting inside. Now it appears that won't be happening again any time soon.
The embattled Atlanta Falcons quarterback won't stand trial on charges that he participated in a dogfighting ring until Nov. 26, but he'll be gone from football cards well before then, as two of the three manufacturers of NFL trading cards announced Friday that they would remove Vick cards from their 2007 releases.
Texas-based Donruss Playoff acted first, telling Beckett Media on Friday afternoon that beginning with October's Donruss Gridiron Gear, Vick would not appear in any of the company's football card sets. According to the report on Beckett's Web site, Donruss owner Ann Powell - whose five dogs join her every day at work - was the driving force behind the decision.
"If anybody who knows about the current Vick situation knows Donruss, they know that this is a decision we had to make because of Ann and her love of dogs," Donruss communications manager Scott Prusha told Beckett.com. "This decision came straight from Ann."
Industry leader Upper Deck followed suit later on Friday evening, issuing a statement that Vick would also be absent from October's Ultimate Collection Football and all subsequent products.
In addition, the entire line of Vick autographed memorabilia that included footballs, helmets and jerseys had been pulled immediately from Upper Deck's online store.
Director of Marketing Kerri Stockholm sounded confident that football card collectors would back the timing of the move.
"Of course we appreciate the fact that Mr. Vick is innocent until proven guilty, but the allegations alone have resulted in an outpouring of very strong emotion within our organization and within the collecting community," Stockholm said in a company press release. "We believe collectors will agree and support this decision as being the best course of action for our football business."
Any collectors choosing to stay in Vick's corner will have few options for finding new cards come October. Only Topps, the industry's oldest producer of football cards, has yet to announce a Vick ban.
And that could still come, if the actions of other companies involved with the NFL are any indication. The Associated Press reported earlier this week that Nike was suspending its endorsement deal with Vick and that Reebok was halting sales of his replica jerseys - the first time the company has ever stopped selling an individual player's jersey.