Crews and teammates

One theme that reoccurs in the cases of athletes in legal trouble is that of the entourage, posse, crew. Rich famous athletes now travel with a group of hangers-on who ride the gravy train but have no connection to the team. Not that long ago, even the most famous players on championship teams tended to hang out with other players.

The trouble with a posse is that no one dares stand up to the player and no one has the team's interest at heart. If you want to see how it used to work, read the best football book ever written.

OTOH, this article makes it pretty clear that the Falcons were willing enablers of Vick's behavior for a very long time.