The day will come when Michael Vick leaves prison and returns to the NFL.

He will have done his time, and even though NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been a hard-nosed disciplinarian, he is not likely to ban Vick from the NFL for life.

You remember Vick. He was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons who pled guilty to interstate dogfighting charges.

He is in the midst of his 23-month prison sentence.

NFL personnel evaluators are confident Vick still will be an enormously talented player when he returns to the NFL.

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has even higher expectations for Vick.

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Blank said of Vick: "If he comes back, he will be a great role model and be able to talk to young people about making choices."

Time out.

When Vick is permitted to play in the NFL again, and if someone gives him a chance -- and someone will -- there will be a public outcry that a dog killer will get millions of dollars to play football.

Then, people will move on to other things, occasionally hurling an invective at Vick.

But no matter what happens on the field, let's be clear on this:

Michael Vick was not a role model when he was playing. He is not a role model now and will not be a role model in the future.

A role model is selfless, respects his teammates and treats everyone civilly.

The only reasonable thing to say about Vick is, "We hope he comes out of prison a better person than when he went in."

If Blank is interested in finding a role model, he should interview Tim Hightower.

Hightower is a running back at the University of Richmond.

He should be drafted by an NFL team next weekend. I called to talk to him.

The first thing Hightower did was apologize.

"I was supposed to call you after 8," he said.

Hightower had just arrived at his hotel room in Miami, where he had visited Miami Dolphins coaches and staff, when he offered the apology.

There is one certainty in the life of a sports writer. If you are to interview an athlete on the phone, you will wait.

They never call when they say they will. Sometimes, they never call at all.

In Hightower's case, it was left that either he would call me or I would call him. I called first. No apology was necessary. Then, things got more interesting.

Hightower gained 1,924 yards and scored 20 touchdowns last season. But he wasn't invited to the NFL combine, where draft prospects are evaluated.

Hightower ardently wants to play in the NFL. Not getting invited to the combine could have been a crushing blow.

"I wasn't disappointed," Hightower said. "I was more excited for Arman that he got to go. I knew I would be OK."

Arman Shields is a wide receiver from UR who missed all but two games of the 2007 season with a knee injury.

"That's typical Tim," Spiders running backs coach Charles Bankins said. "He'll take a back seat to promote someone else."

Role models rarely are found in prison. Often, they can be found in your own backyard. All you have to do is look.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or pwoody@timesdispatch.com.