The ankle bracelet is off, folks! Having served his debt to society—give or take a few years of probation—Michael Vick is officially a free man. As long as your definition of "free" does not include playing football professionally.

Vick is still "indefinitely" suspended by the NFL and with training camps just a few short weeks from opening, no one knows if he'll ever be allowed to play again. Roger Goodell has yet to hook Vick up to his patented Remorse-O-Meter to see if his blood has appropriate levels of Lessons Learned. Then, and only then, will he be reinstated and then maybe some hapless team will give him a contract.

But will it even matter? In other words, after two years off, has football passed him by? There is "no timetable" for a league decision, but if Vick does come back and is just kind of mediocre will anyone remember how he played quarterback before he went to jail? (Hint: Not that amazing.) And will the world ever see another football column written as a fictional conversation between imaginary dogs? These are some remarkable times we live in.

NFL News Feed: Vick Released; NFL Decision Looms [Washington Post]
Mad as a dog about Vick's release? [Fox Sports]

Send an email to Dashiell Bennett, the author of this post, at dashiell@deadspin.com.