Vick case hit home to Reid

Reaction from fans, players, and animal activists was passionate. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie wore his heart on his suit jacket, acknowledging he did some soul searching before signing off on the move. Football analysts considered how Vick might be utilized behind Donovan McNabb.

It was a shocker that few saw coming. Speculation seldom had Vick landing in Philadelphia. Yet once the news became official, the reasons soon became clear.

Vick needed someone in the NFL coaching fraternity to stick his neck out for him, and in Andy Reid, the connection had already been established a few years ago because of what Reid was going through in his own life.

Reid’s oldest sons, Garrett and Britt, had been jailed on drug charges, and the coach took a leave of absence in 2007. Around the same time, Vick was going through his own challenges.

“I’ve kind of followed Michael’s situation very close with the things my boys went through,’’ Reid said in a rare moment in which he opened up about his personal life.

“They were right around the same time and I’ve kind of had a chance to follow that, and I know the things that Michael has gone through and on the other side of that, the things that can happen there, the changes that can be made. I’ve kind of lived that process here. I’ve seen change.’’

As the words were spoken, it all started to make sense, the pairing of Vick and the Eagles.

Reid, the NFL’s second-longest tenured head coach with the same team at 11 years, is the key link.

“I’ve seen people close to me who have had second chances and taken advantage of those, and it’s very important that people give them opportunities that they can change,’’ he said.

Had this been five years ago, perhaps Reid wouldn’t be as willing to take such a risk. He even surprised the hard-edged reporters who have covered him over the last decade-plus with the news conference he held Thursday night after the Eagles’ exhibition opener against the Patriots, with one local reporter describing it in print as “open and as human as Reid has ever been at an interview podium.’’

Asked if he would be as open-minded about Vick had he not witnessed his sons make the mistakes they did, Reid said, “I don’t know that. I would hope that I would be, just like I’d hope the fans would be.’’

Vick practiced with the Eagles for the first time yesterday, and Reid said the Eagles were prepared for all the attention, and potential distraction, that would result from his presence.

The Eagles hadn’t been considered a possibility for Vick because Reid had said he was happy with his quarterback situation. Reid could have been more forthcoming at the time, but said he had more homework to do on the situation.

His research, it turns out, went back to a defining time in his own life.

And so it begins, Vick’s reemergence in the NFL, made possible by a coach whose belief in second chances hits close to his own home.

Patriots may wind up paying in long term

Because the Patriots don’t know what the rules will be, Kraft said, they don’t want to put themselves in a compromising position by making poor decisions now.

While the strategy might be sound, it comes with some risk.

Consider that of the 82 players on the current roster (which includes two on the military/reserve list), 40 are entering the last year of their contract. Some of those players won’t be with the club after the roster is trimmed to 53 in early September, so a better projection is 25 out of 53 players entering their final years.

That’s an extremely high total. Furthermore, another 11 will have their contracts expire after the 2010 season.

Because of this, there is the potential for a franchise-altering overhaul if some key players make it to the open market.

Other teams have not been as conservative as the Patriots when it comes to extensions, with this year producing some of the richest contracts in NFL history.

A look at some of the bank-breakers:

■ Eli Manning. The Giants quarterback will be paid $106.7 million over the next seven seasons. The contract, finalized last week, is the richest in league history.

■ Terrell Suggs. The Ravens outside linebacker got a reported six-year, $63 million deal, with $33 million in bonuses, July 15.

■ Jordan Gross. The Panthers offensive tackle landed a six-year, $60 million pact in February that pays him more than $30 million in the first three years.

■ Matt Cassel. The quarterback arrived in Kansas City with a one-year, $14.6 million deal before landing a six-year, $63 million pact in July.

■ Greg Jennings. With one year left on his deal, the Packers receiver inked a $27 million extension through 2012 with an $11.25 million signing bonus.

■ Jake Delhomme. The Panthers quarterback got a five-year, $42.5 million extension, with $20 million in bonuses and guarantees, April 23.

■ Roddy White. The Falcons receiver held out of training camp before scoring a six-year, $50 million deal with $18 million in bonuses and guarantees Aug. 8.

■ Maurice Jones-Drew. The Jaguars running back had the final year of his deal torn up and he signed a five-year, $31 million extension in April.

■ Kellen Winslow. The Buccaneers tight end received a reported six-year, $36 million contract, with $20 million in bonuses and guarantees, in April.

■ Heath Miller. The Steelers tight end had the final year of his deal torn up and signed a six-year, $35.3 million deal earlier this month.

Old sponsor remembers a vastly different TV picture

“In late summer, 1962, I was assistant director of marketing for Howard Johnson’s and received a phone call from Billy Sullivan, who said he was the owner of the Boston Patriots football team,’’ recalled Sack, 71, a former Weston resident who now lives in Longboat Key, Fla.

“He said he wanted to help establish the team in the Boston area and had approached Channel 7 and asked them to televise the first game of the 1962 season.

He had made arrangements for the team to play at Harvard Stadium, and Channel 7 said they would televise the game if he paid them for their expenses and loss of ad time.

“They wanted $100,000. Mr. Sullivan told me he was approaching a number of Boston-based large firms and asking each of them to contribute $10,000 towards the $100,000 he needed.’’

Sack, who worked at Howard Johnson’s for 22 years and ultimately rose to senior vice president, said Howard Johnson’s agreed to make the donation, as did companies such as Gillette and Raytheon. Each received 50 tickets plus a flag with the company’s name being flown at Harvard Stadium during the game.

Today?

Considering the TV networks pay millions to the NFL for the right to televise games, it’s a reminder of the Patriots’ modest roots and how television rights have gone from a local process to a major national negotiation.

Etc.

Mike Reiss can be reached at mreiss@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.