Students want Vick high school jersey back

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 3 (UPI) -- Students at the Virginia high school attended by NFL quarterback Michael Vick say they want his jersey, taken down after his dogfighting confession, re-hung.

School officials at Warwick High in Newport News, Va., said the jersey became a distraction when Vick's legal problems came to light, and it was taken down in September 2007, WAVY-TV, Portsmouth, reported Thursday.

It was never put back up.

Warwick senior Mario Lawrence says having it re-hung is a matter of school pride.

"I love my school," Lawrence said. "Warwick Raiders all day! I've been in over 10 clubs since I've been in high school."

Lawrence says he's set himself one more goal before he graduates in June.

"I want to get Michael Vick's jersey re-framed back at school," he said. "It used to be up when I was a freshman and then they took it down.

"He's doing really good now," Lawrence said of Vick. "You know everyone makes mistakes. After he made mistakes, he just didn't stay down. He got up and just rebuilt his self. That's an inspiration for high school students."

Lawrence created a Facebook page to drum up support and has asked Warwick administrators to re-hang the jersey.

"It was for his high school achievements," Lawrence said.