This column appears in the July 26 issue of The Paper.

Pop quiz. What do O.J. Simpson, Kobe Bryant and the Duke lacrosse team have in common?

For starters, they were all a part of big-time trials/criminal indictments, and almost everyone who first heard of their involvement in said trial/criminal indictment was surprised. But that’s not the answer to the question.

The answer to the question is that they all were proven guilty by the court of public opinion before they were given the opportunity to prove they were “innocent” in a court of law.

Oh yeah, all of the aforementioned people served exactly the same amount of jail time too: none.

Well guess what, you can now add one Michael Vick to the list of people above. The list of people who you were shocked when you heard they were being indicted for a serious crime and who were already considered guilty as soon as the news broke.

In regards to Vick, it’s really hard to determine which side of the fence to be on. Which is fitting, because ever since Vick stepped foot on the football field wearing a Falcons jersey, he has been the quintessential love him or hate him guy.

And this whole alleged dog fighting thing is just icing on the cake.

Since 2002, when Vick was named the starter of a team in a sorry state, he has done nothing but become one of the most exciting and entertaining players in the National Football League.

Everywhere he went, including here in Atlanta, the games were sold out because people wanted to get a glimpse of him. They wanted to see the “Michael Jordan of football.”

They wanted to see what amazing play he was going to pull out of nowhere in order to help his team win. And for the most part, that’s exactly what he did — help his team win.

But somewhere in between single handedly beating the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs to the drafting of Matt Schaub, Vick became a guy you either love or you hate.

People started saying things like, “Yeah Vick is exciting to watch, but is he ever going to become a pocket passer that will lead the Falcons to the Super Bowl?” And my personal favorite, “Vick is just a glorified running back that occasionally passes the ball.”

People never realized what exactly the Falcons would be without Vick under center. But they will now.

Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell informed Vick (or should I say ordered him) to stay away from Falcons training camp until the NFL concludes its own investigation of the dog fighting allegations.

With Goodell’s reprimand of Vick, the Falcons and their fans will now be forced to start the season with … . are you ready? Joey Harrington as their starting quarterback.

This is what Vick has done to the Falcons. Love him or hate him as a person or ballplayer, what he did to his team is inexcusable.

His irresponsible actions (I will admit he was irresponsible even though I am not yet willing to join the lynch mob that is outside of Falcons training camp) have left his team without a quarterback, without a marquee player and most importantly, with Joey Harrington.

So, as the Falcons open training camp today, you won’t see that red No. 7 jersey behind center taking snaps and practicing his deep routes.

Instead, Mike Vick will be thousands of miles away in a Richmond (Va.) courtroom hoping that that No. 7 he wore on his back for all these years will not become the number of years he spends in jail.

Hopefully for the Falcons and their fans that won’t be the case, because if it is it will be a long time until we ever see the Georgia Dome sold out again.