Vick completes his sentence

Now he just has to get on Roger Goodell’s calendar and convince both the NFL commissioner and team owners he’s reformed and ready to play.

It’ll be no small task.

Vick’s release after serving 23 months on a dogfighting conviction - the last 60 days in home confinement - came a week before NFL training camps open for veterans.

“It is going to take a lot of hard work’’ for Vick to make it back, said New York Jets veteran wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery.

“He is a talented player, so someone will give him a shot,’’ Cotchery added. “He just has to take advantage of it.’’

The last NFL game Vick played was Dec. 31, 2006, months before he was indicted on federal dogfighting conspiracy charges in July 2007. At 29, Vick could play several more years in the league.

That begins with a face-to-face meeting with Goodell, who has said he wants to see remorse and evidence of change from the player he suspended indefinitely. The last time they met, about two years ago, Vick denied his dogfighting involvement. Goodell has repeatedly said he would only meet with Vick after he completed his prison sentence, but it’s unclear when that meeting will take place.

“The review of his status is ongoing, but we are providing no other details at this time,’’ league spokesman Greg Aiello said.

After Goodell comes the teams. The owners of the Jets and the New York Giants said yesterday they have no interest in signing Vick. Giants owner John Mara and Jets owner Woody Johnson were emphatic in saying their teams’ quarterback positions were filled.

“On a lot of levels, no,’’ Mara said when asked if the Giants had any interest in Vick.

Mara added there wasn’t even any discussion or debate in the front office about Vick.

Despite the competition to replace Brett Favre, Johnson said the Jets also weren’t interested.

Earlier yesterday, two men in a car with a US Probation Services folder on the dashboard arrived at Vick’s home and removed the electronic monitor he wore while on home confinement. Vick’s attorney, Lawrence Woodward, arrived while the men were inside. He came out a few minutes later and said Vick had been released from federal custody as scheduled.

Woodward then drove Vick to the federal courthouse in Norfolk, where they met with probation officials and completed paperwork. They declined to answer reporters’ questions when they came out after about an hour and 45 minutes.

Brenda Boddie, Vick’s mother, wore a broad smile in the morning after the probation officials removed the monitor.

“He’s doing fine,’’ she said, but added she wasn’t sure what his next step would be.

Vick served time after admitted bankrolling the “Bad Newz Kennels’’ dogfighting enterprise on his property in rural southeastern Virginia and participating in killing dogs that performed poorly in test fights.

US District Judge Henry Hudson in 2007 denied Vick an “acceptance of responsibility’’ credit that could have reduced his sentence. He sentenced Vick to 23 months - more than any of his three co-defendants.

While on home confinement, Vick - once the NFL’s highest-paid player - worked a $10-an-hour construction job for a few weeks. He switched jobs last month, assisting in children’s health and fitness programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs.

Vick will be on probation for three years and is under a three-year suspended sentence for a state dogfighting conviction.

The case destroyed Vick’s finances, forcing him into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2008. A hearing on his plan to repay creditors is set for July 31.