I was listening to my friend Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio this morning. He was discussing Falcons QB Michael Vick's transgressions. This $100M + quarterback continues to amaze us all. Early in his career he amazed us with his athletic ability. But these days, Vick is known more for his poor decisions off the field than he is for his athletic prowess on the field. As Colin mentioned today, if these were isolated incidents that's one thing and you can probably let them slide a bit, but you put all of Vick's transgressions together and you're looking at a guy who isn't worth the money the Falcons and his sponsors (like Nike) have invested in him.

Just this week alone, here are a few of the messes Vick has gotten himself in to:

- Tuesday, Vick was scheduled to be in Washington DC to speak to lawmakers about increased funding for after school programs. Sounds good so far. Problem is that Vick missed his connecting flight and was a no show at the event. Vick's publicist said it was the airline's fault that he missed his flight. By the way, AirTran, is an endorser of Vick's. They offer a different account of Vick's missed flight. AirTran says the flight was delayed not canceled and that there was 20 seats on the flight so Vick would have had no problem getting a seat. (Sidenote: Don't you think AirTran is having second thoughts about signing an endorsement deal with Vick? First he has problems with airport security in the famed "mystery substance in the water bottle" incident. Now he blames his "missed flight" on his sponsor. Smooth moves Mike).

- Wednesday a search warrant is issued for a house owned by Vick. Supposedly Vick doesn't live in the house - his nephew does. There are animals living at the house and it looks like they haven't been fed for some time according to the report. Again, Vick may not have any involvement in this, but because he owns the house, he'll take the negative press on this one. He's the high profile guy, not his nephew.

- Today we learn that Vick is supposed to appear in court because he has not paid a trespassing fine . Seems he wanted to go fishing so badly that he trespassed in order to do it.

Vick also has the famed "Ron Mexico" story on his resume of controversies. In March 2005 a woman named Sonya Elliot filed a civil lawsuit against Vick alleging she contracted genital herpes from Vick and that he failed to inform her that he had the disease. Elliot further alleged that Vick had visited clinics under the alias "Ron Mexico" to get treatments and thus he knew of his condition. (This by the way led to a slew of fans ordering customized #7 Atlanta Falcons jerseys on NFLShop.com with the name "Mexico" on the back. In April of last year, Vick's attorney revealed that the lawsuit had settled out of court with a undisclosed settlement.

After a Falcons loss to the New Orleans Saints in the Georgia Dome in November, Vick made an obscene gesture at Atlanta fans, holding up two middle fingers. This is at a HOME game by the way.....where the home fans are paying top dollar to see their franchise QB.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank is a tough businessman and a straight shooter. The owner of Home Depot had a heart to heart with Vick following the airport water battle fiasco in January. Reportedly Blank told Vick that he's better shape up or his days in Atlanta would be numbered.

After all, Blank shelled out an NFL record $130M over 10 years back in 2003 to keep Vick in Atlanta for the greater duration of his career. He paid Vick a record $37M signing bonus - that's guaranteed money, because as you know, NFL contracts aren't guaranteed, just the signing bonuses are guaranteed.

I'd say that Blank is getting a pretty poor return on his investment since 2003. How long will Blank continue to put up with Vick's poor choices? We'll see.

Will NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have anything to say to Vick? Goodell has already come down HARD on Pacman Jones and Chris Henry for the negative PR spotlight they positioned on the NFL. My guess is that Vick may be getting a summons to the Commissioner's office before the season starts for a stern warning if nothing else.

Quick advice to pro athletes (you listen up too Sebastian Telfair, Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony!):

a.) Don't buy property, cars or weapons for anyone else in your name. If the people you purchased those items for get themselves in trouble, it won't be their names making headlines.........it will be YOURS!

b.) If you absolutely, positively must smoke weed or get drunk, do it in the privacy of your own home. (This is known as the JR Rider rule - don't get high out of a Coke can in a public parking lot while in your car, when you can do this in your own home).

c.) If you are making a ton of money, you might want to consider saving some of it instead of giving it to any relative or posse member who asks you for a new house or car. When these family members or friends get you waived or traded because of the bad headlines they create for you, you'll need some of that money.

d.) Don't hang with family or friends who put you in the "wrong place at the wrong time". (This is known as the Pacman Jones/Ron Artest/Zach Randolph rule). I know these people were your boys, but you are now a big boy making big boy money, so dump the trouble makers or they'll take you down with them eventually. What's the saying? "We're judged by the company we keep".

e.) If you get in trouble, it WILL make headlines. You know how you LOVE to see your highlights on SportsCenter? They'll run your mug shot too and they'll make an even bigger deal of your run in's with the law.

Its always amazing to me what a little common sense would do for some professional athletes or celebrities......its really not rocket science. Athletes and celebs are targets. There is a different set of rules for them. If they screw up, its major news.

Just do the right thing and don't put yourself in dangerous situations..........geeeesh!!!!!