There are quite a few people trying to explain why suspended QB Michael Vick deserves a second chance these days.

He paid his debt to society for the atrocities he committed, many have said, by serving a 23-month sentence after pleading guilty on charges of participating in a dogfighting operation. That sentence was completed on Monday and Vick, who recently admitted to participating in dogfighting since he was 8 years old, is a free citizen again, although he still is on probation.

The person who ultimately will decide whether he gets that second chance is commissioner Roger Goodell, who suspended the former Falcons quarterback indefinitely almost two years ago. Whether Goodell decides to reinstate Vick or not, I hope he doesn’t get caught up in the narrative many in the media have adopted for this story over the past few days.

There seems to be a push for Goodell to act quickly and allow Vick back into the league before the season starts so he can sign with a team and be prepared for what comes next, should a club be interested in signing him.

I don’t feel particularly strongly either way on Vick’s future. What he did to those dogs was absolutely heinous. I’m fine with him getting a second chance, but whether he plays another NFL down or not isn’t something I feel passionately about. The NFL is home to multiple people that have committed despicable acts, and few of them have ever faced the punishment Vick did.

I just hope the commissioner won’t rush the all-but-inevitable decision to reinstate Vick, even if it means Vick has yet to be reinstated by Week One while some of his defenders cry foul.

Initial reports indicated Vick would go face-to-face with the commissioner within two weeks of his release, but other outlets are reporting he will meet with Goodell perhaps as early as Thursday or Friday. The timetable for submitting his request and meeting with the commissioner isn’t exactly clear yet, but the criteria for being reinstated is.

Goodell has said Vick must show genuine remorse before he will be reinstated. Vick will know exactly what he needs to say when the meeting takes place.

“I will want to meet with Michael, I will want to meet with his people, I will want to meet with other professionals to understand: Does he understand the mistakes he made, and is he genuine and have remorse for those actions, and is he prepared to handle himself differently going forward?” Goodell said at Washington & Lee University during an April panel discussion about leadership in sports.

“Michael did an egregious thing,” he said. “He has paid a very significant price for that.” If he’s learned from that and is prepared to live a different life, I think the general public is forgiving on that when people are genuine and they show remorse and are prepared to live a different life. That’s something he has to prove to myself and the general public.”

I agree with Goodell on that, but I don’t believe true remorse can be measured in the course of the long conversation the two will eventually share. So allow Vick to show that remorse — for more than a few weeks — before he is allowed the privilege of returning to the NFL. His meeting with Goodell should be a solid preliminary step — not the one and only step — to being welcomed back into the league’s good graces. 

Actions speak a whole lot louder than words, and his deeds, assuming they’re good ones, should do all of the talking for him. An approach like that would be genuine. I don’t need to see a TV interview where Vick tears up discussing what he has been through and how he’s changed. I don’t want to hear a bunch of his friends telling me that he’s truly a good person.

Vick could do all of these things, but I don’t think any of us will have a better idea about whether the remorse he says he feels is genuine.

I’d like to see it for myself, and he can show me by continuing the work he has begun doing. Vick has made some wise moves, taking a job with the Boys & Girls club in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. He’s reportedly close to making public appearances with the Humane Society in an effort to discourage inner-city children from becoming involved in animal fighting.

Goodell ought to give Vick an opportunity to continue this kind of work for at least a few months, maybe even longer, before the commissioner decides that he has seen enough remorse.

It may be a bit inconvenient for Vick, who no doubt wants to be playing football again as soon as possible, but it’s something he should do to begin to prove he’s not the same person he once was.