One day after Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded not guilty to federal dogfighting charges, he gets the bad news: Nike's dumping him, and Reebok's decided not to sell his No. 7 jersey. And closer to home, Arlington-based Donruss Trading Card Company is yanking Vick's cards from its 2007-'08 football collections, just before they're set to ship. Reports Dallas-based Beckett Media, it was solely the decision of the trading-card company's owner, Ann Powell:
Little help here: And why haven't we done a cover story on Ann Powell yet, exactly? --Robert Wilonsky"If anybody who knows about the current Vick situation knows Donruss, they know that this is a decision we had to make because of Ann [Powell] and her love of dogs," says Scott Prusha, Donruss' communications manager. "This decision came straight from Ann."
Powell, who owns Donruss, is an avid dog lover whose Labrador Retrievers -- Bailey, Diesel, Koda Bear, Lhotse and Snoozer -- accompany her to work every day and enjoy virtually free reign inside Donruss headquarters.