K.C. trip will stir memories for Vick

Whenever an NFL game was shown during Michael Vick's 16-month stay at Leavenworth Federal Prison, the broadcasts were always of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Leavenworth, in Kansas just across the Missouri state line, is approximately 30 miles from the Kansas City limits.

So when Vick, doing time for his dog-fighting crimes, allowed himself a moment to dream about a return to football, he did not imagine himself playing for his former team, the Falcons, or some Super Bowl-contending team or even for the team that ultimately gave him his second chance.

"When I imagined myself playing again, it was always for the Chiefs," Vick said recently.

Vick finally will have the opportunity to play at Arrowhead Stadium as a free man, but it won't be in Chiefs red. The Eagles will visit Kansas City on Friday for their third preseason game, and when they land at the airport, it will be just over 15 months since Vick boarded a plane, departed from the Heart of America, and started the next chapter of his life.

"There will definitely be a moment of reflection," Vick said. "I think I'll be thinking about how I always hoped I would get that second chance and prayed every time that I was watching those games that I would be allowed to play again."

Vick, sentenced to 23 months in a federal prison after he pleaded guilty to running a dog-fighting operation, arrived at Leavenworth on Jan. 7, 2008, when he entered into drug treatment at the minimum security facility. He remained there until May 20, 2009, when he was released to serve two months of home confinement.

Less than a month after the confinement ended, the Eagles signed Vick. There was immediate condemnation, and there remains a faction of the team's fan base that will never approve of the decision to bring the 30-year-old to Philadelphia.

That group had additional fodder when a codefendant in Vick's dog-fighting case was shot outside the nightclub that was hosting his birthday party.

The Eagles and the NFL said that Vick's actions did not warrant disciplinary action, and the quarterback returned for his second season with the team, now as Kevin Kolb's backup.

Vick had a rough outing in Friday night's 22-9 preseason loss against the Bengals. He completed 1 of 6 passes and tossed two interceptions in just one quarter of play.

Vick said he will have mixed feelings when the Eagles' team plane touches down Thursday at Kansas City airport, only a stone's throw from Leavenworth.

"I always knew there would have to be a point in time that I would have to go back," Vick said. "But this time, it's under the right circumstances."

Contact staff writer Jeff McLane at 215-854-4745 or jmclane@phillynews.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Jeff_McLane.