Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons came to terms Wednesday with no mess, no fuss, and no bother, as he and the Falcons signed a six-year deal that guarantees Vick $15.3 million in the first three years and could go as high as $62 million over six years.

The contract is the richest for a rookie in NFL history. The guarantee of $15.3 million in the first three years includes a $3 million signing bonus, which is much lower than the anticipated figure of $15 million. The Falcons don't have a lot of salary cap room, and current starting QB Chris Chandler restructured his deal to help Vick fit under the cap.

To date, no media outlets are reporting the incentives in the contract that would enable Vick to earn the full $62 million.

ESPN.com reported that a grinning Vick said he was going to keep the pen he used to sign the contract as a souvenir.

The signing of his contract paves the way for Vick to begin his career with the Falcons and to start working on becoming their next starting quarterback. Vick ran a 4.36 forty yard dash in a rookie mini-camp last weekend, and Atlanta Coach Dan Reeves said Wednesday on the syndicated Jim Rome radio show that he had never seen a quarterback run that fast in mini-camp.

Estimates for Vick being able to take over the Falcons starting job range from 2-3 years, but the Falcons would obviously like to get him on the field as soon as possible.

The VT men's club lacrosse team, which was featured in a series of articles on TechSideline.com last year, started play in the 16-team national championship tournament in St. Louis yesterday. The 10th-seeded Hokies lost to 7th-seeded California, 15-8, Tuesday, but then turned around and crushed #15 Tennessee 18-7 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Hokies will face the winner of #6 Texas A&M and #14 Rhode Island.

The loss to California was a disappointment for many reasons. Cal knocked the Hokies out of the championships last year and defeated them earlier this year, as well. With yesterday's defeat of Tech, California is becoming a bit of a monkey on the Hokies' back.

The Hokie men's lacrosse team is a "club" sport with non-scholarship players, and it receives very little funding from the university (approximately $8,000 per year). This year's team budget was, according to one club lacrosse alumnus, in the neighborhood of $55,000, with the difference being made up by the players and alumni donations.

The USLIA (U.S. Lacrosse Intercollegiate Association) is the governing body for club lacrosse. Club lacrosse on the collegiate level includes about 100 teams, and Tech's league, the SELC, is a 14-team league that is among the toughest. Last year, the Hokies finished #7 in the country, and this year, they enter the tournament ranked #10 in the USLIA's final regular season poll.

Tech finished 13-4 in the regular season this year and entered the championship tournament of their league, the SELC, as the number one seed. The Hokies lost to Auburn 15-11 in the SELC championship game but still earned an invitation to the national championship as an at-large team.

You can follow the lacrosse team's progress on the USLIA's web site at this link.

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