LINDA WERTHEIMER, Host: This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Whether you favor him or not, you can count on Senator Robert Byrd to seize the drama of a moment. And that remained true when Byrd stepped on the Senate floor yesterday to respond to allegations of dogfighting.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Barbaric. Barbaric. Let that word resound from hill to hill, and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Sports columnist Jeff Schultz is tracking this story for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, Host: Anybody who knows anything about marketing or endorsements or selling shoes knows it has nothing to do with whether a guy is innocent or guilty in a court of law. It's all about whether someone could sell shoes or not.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Vick's future with the Atlanta Falcons may depend in part on whether he can sell tickets. Now, he has survived some past controversies, but now that he's indicted, Jeff Shultz said it's noteworthy that Vick remains on the team.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, Host: I think if this wasn't Michael Vick, if it was a backup tackle or a kicker or somebody else who didn't have either the talent or the star power, or ticket-selling ability that Michael Vick has, I think he would be gone by now.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, Host: Whether it's in the shoe market or the market for tickets, the public may pass judgment on Michael Vick just as surely as the legal system does.
Michael Vick of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons is one of four men accused of a role in an illegal dogfighting ring. Endorser Nike says it will continue its deal with Vick, but will delay the release of a new shoe.