Michael Vick, decked in fashionable black-and-white prison strips, faced the judge on Dec. 10 and learned that he will be serving 23 months in the federal pen.

He may get out as early as the summer of 2009, if he has a clean record. People are speculating whether Vick will be allowed to return to the NFL upon his release. If the National Football League welcomes Vick back, it will face a tremendous crisis that will sully its reputation. Why?

First, Vick, a convicted felon, will be facing state charges on the same offenses. Second, and more important, is that being a professional athlete is a privilege not a right. Athletes at Vick's level must be held to higher standards of personal and professional conduct. Why?

First, they are representatives of their respective team and league. They are ambassadors of goodwill. Second, they are role models, especially for children. How many children have their bedrooms decorated with posters and memorabilia of their favorite athlete or sport. How many sleep with a bat, football, hockey puck, or basketball, dreaming of becoming the next O'Neill, Gretzky, Ruth or Peyton. Vick can no longer be a role model for our youth.

Michael Vick made some poor choices, and only he knows why he threw away a promising football career for the vicious and illegal sport of dog fighting.

How many aspiring athletes would loved to have been in Vick's shoes when he was given a contract that allowed him to play on a professional sports team? How many would loved to have the salary and endorsements worth hundred of millions of dollars?

There are hundreds of "Michael Vicks" in the wings who have squeaky clean records, waiting for their opportunity in the world of professional sports. Those are the people who should be chosen for the privilege of playing on a professional sports team.