"I know, as we all know, in the past I have made some mistakes," Vick told an overflowing media audience. "I have done some terrible things. I made a horrible mistake. And now I want to be part of the solution and not the problem."
When Vick, Reid and Dungy left the room, Jeffrey Lurie entered and went into a 13-minute monologue about how he wrestled with the idea before agreeing to the most controversial player signing of his tenure as Eagles owner.
"This took a lot of soul-searching for me," Lurie said. "I was asked to approve Michael Vick joining a very proud organization several days ago. Sometimes in life you have to make extremely difficult and soul-searching decisions where there is no right answer. There are probably a lot of wrong answers, but there is no clear path and no right answer. This is one of them."
As the owner continued, he slammed the actions that landed his newest player in prison.
"Anybody who knows me personally knows I'm an extreme dog lover," Lurie said.
He described Vick's dogfighting ring as "horrific behavior" and added that he didn't "have the words to describe the cruelty, the torture, the complete disregard for any definition of common decency."
It was hardly a hearty welcome to the Philadelphia Eagles family, but Lurie said he decided to be the notorious owner to give Vick a second chance after long discussions with Reid, Dungy and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who conditionally reinstated the three-time Pro Bowler the day after the Eagles opened training camp late last month.
Ultimately, it may have been his conversations with Vick that sealed the deal for Lurie.
