Reports: Vick's father says he asked Michael to stop dogfighting

ATLANTA - According to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Michael Vick's father said he asked his son to give up dogfighting, or to at least put property used in the venture in the names of others to avoid being implicated.

Also last night, a report on ESPN.com cited an ESPN source saying Vick will NOT admit to killing dogs or gambling on dogfights when he enters a guity plea in a Richmond, Virginia, federal court on Monday.

The source told ESPN that Vick's defense team met with federal attorneys yesterday afternoon to determine the ``summary of facts'' to which Vick will plead. But the source says Vick maintains he never killed dogs and never gambled on a dog fight. The source said the Atlanta Falcons quarterback will plead guilty to the charge of interstate commerce for the purpose of dogfighting.

On Monday, Vick agreed to plead guilty next week in the federal dogfighting case in Richmond. He faces up to five years in prison and the possible end of his football career. Three co-defendants already pleaded guilty and were expected to testify against Vick if the case went to trial. In addition, a Virginia prosecutor is considering bringing state charges against Vick.

In The Journal-Constitution report posted on the newspaper's Web site last night, Michael Boddie, who is estranged from Vick and the quarterback's mother, also said some time around 2001 his son staged dogfights in the garage of the family home in Newport News, Virginia.

Boddie told the newspaper Vick kept fighting dogs in the family's backyard, including dogs that were ``bit up, chewed up, exhausted.'' Boddie claimed to have nursed the dogs back to health.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)