Former NFL QB Michael Vick released from prison to begin home confinement

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Suspended NFL star Michael Vick left a Kansas prison before dawn today to begin home confinement in Virginia, one of his attorneys said, the latest step on a journey that Vick hopes will lead to his reinstatement.

Vick, who turns 29 in June, slipped past waiting cameras and reporters to leave a federal penitentiary in Leavenworth after serving 19 months for financing a dogfighting ring.

He was headed to Virginia by car to begin two months of home confinement at his five-bedroom house in Hampton before a scheduled released from federal custody on July 20.

“It’s a happy day for him to be starting this part of the process,” Larry Woodward, Vick’s Virginia-based attorney, said. “He looks forward to meeting the challenges he has to meet.”

Ultimately, Vick’s goal is to rehabilitate his image and return to the NFL, but Woodward said his first priority “is spending time with his children and his loved ones.”