Vick Given Full Reinstatement, Is Eligible to Return for Eagles in Week 3

NEW YORK, Sept. 3 -- Michael Vick's return to the NFL was given final clearance Thursday by Commissioner Roger Goodell. The league fully reinstated the quarterback, effective in the Philadelphia Eagles' third game of the regular season.

Goodell made the announcement here Thursday afternoon after meeting with Vick and Eagles Coach Andy Reid for approximately 45 minutes earlier in the day at the team's hotel in New Jersey.

"He's demonstrating his commitment," Goodell said, speaking to a group of reporters at the NFL's offices. "He's demonstrating he's going to use better judgment going forward, and I want to encourage that. As I said to you repeatedly and I said to Michael repeatedly, we're looking for a success story here. We would like to see him be successful and this is a transition to hopefully maximize the opportunity for him to be successful."

The Eagles' third game of the regular season is scheduled for Sept. 27 at home against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Vick and the Eagles were in the New York area to play the Jets in a preseason game Thursday night at Giants Stadium. Vick ran for a two-yard touchdown in the Eagles' 38-27 loss, but was sacked four times, lost a fumble and was intercepted. He finished 7 for 11 for 26 yards, and carried the ball seven times for 35 yards.

Goodell previously conditionally reinstated Vick, clearing him to play in two preseason games. Goodell had promised to rule by Week 6 of the season on Vick's eligibility.

Vick missed the last two NFL seasons while serving his federal sentence for his role in a dogfighting operation in Virginia.

"I think he's making real progress," Goodell said Thursday. "Obviously there are less unknowns with respect to whether he's going to be reinstated. He knows the team he's playing [with]. He's in the process of relocating his family to Philadelphia. So I think he has a better feel for the challenges ahead of him and I was pleased to hear the discussion."

The Eagles indicated they were satisfied with Goodell's ruling.

"We were guessing, but I think we thought that if Michael did the right things that somewhere between one to three weeks was probably a likely outcome," team president Joe Banner told reporters, according to a transcript provided by the club. "So this is certainly within the range of what we expected. So we appreciate the commissioner's thoughtfulness and we think this is a good outcome, and we look forward to having [Vick] with us."

Goodell said he spoke to former Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy, who has served as an adviser to Vick, for about 45 minutes Thursday after his meeting with Vick and Reid. Goodell said he'd been strongly influenced by Dungy's input throughout the process but ultimately had to decide based on what he thought was best for Vick and the league.

"It's a step process," Goodell said. "I do not want him to be put in a position where he's overwhelmed. Like I said, he's still relocating his family. I am not at all concerned on the football standpoint. The football is Coach Reid's decision, not my decision, nor am I interested in it, frankly. I'm interested in Michael as a person and what can we do to help him be successful going forward as a man. I think this is the best way to do it with respect to a step approach to allow him to have the best opportunity to be successful. But at the end of the day, it's a gut check.

" . . . I think his situation is somewhat unique. We don't have a lot of people who have served that kind of jail time come back in the league. But also I think there's so much emphasis on the discipline in the media, but the reality is a lot of this is resources and what we try to do to help young men make better decisions. "

The Associated Press contributed to this report