Now that he’s been released from prison and is under house arrest, Mike Vick is a couple of months away from paying his debt to society in full.

His punishment shouldn’t last forever — no matter how many of you wish it would.

He’s lost his money. And his reputation. And his status. The man who once possessed a 10-year, $130 million contract arrived home from prison after a 19-hour drive in a Kia.

His life is in a shambles. Vick can and should blame only himself.

Financing a dogfighting ring and engaging in the torture, mutilation and killing of those dogs was abhorrent. No acceptable excuse exists for his participation.

Years ago, I cringed while watching dogs fight on a grainy underground DVD. Seeing it in person seems unfathomable.

As a child, I grew up with an airedale named Malik. As a pre-teen, my twin German shepherds were named Thunder and Thor. As a teenager, I spent summers with my dad and his great dane.

I like dogs. Still do. And as soon as my 5-year-old matures enough to care for one, he’ll probably convince me to buy him a puppy.

But Vick did not commit a crime that carries a life sentence, whether PETA agrees or not.

If a team wants to sign him, he should have the right to play in the NFL again.

League commissioner Roger Goodell will probably meet with Vick sometime this summer after his house arrest ends. He’s probably still mad that Vick repeatedly lied to him about his involvement in the dogfighting ring.

If the commissioner wants to suspend Vick for the first four games of the 2009 season, so be it. If he wants to give him an eight-game suspension, that’s cool, too.

Players who have beaten their wives or girlfriends, a crime I consider more heinous, currently play on Sundays. So do players who have been convicted of breaking all sorts of laws.

Leonard Little of the St. Louis Rams killed a woman while driving drunk in 1998. He professed remorse while saying and doing all of the right things.

Six years later, he received two years probation for yet another DUI arrest. If he didn’t receive a lifetime ban, no one should.

Sooner or later, if Vick remains trouble free, Goodell should reinstate him. Then it’s up to each NFL team to decide whether it wants to sign him.

It’ll either be a team that has front-office personnel with ties to Vick because it’ll feel comfortable enough with him to take the short-term PR hit that will accompany Vick’s signing.

Or an owner like Jerry Jones who thinks all publicity is good publicity. After all, Adam Jones and Tank Johnson played for the Cowboys last season.

Our country is full of people who’ve committed crimes, served their time and become productive members of society.

Vick deserves to have every opportunity to add his name to that list.

If he continues to accept responsibility for his actions and spends countless hours telling his story to any young person who will listen, Vick will ultimately affect far more lives than he ever did as a quarterback.

Besides, how many times must a man apologize before you accept it? How do you judge his remorse?

I’m not equipped to do that. Neither are you.