The football player whom many regard as morally bankrupt is now financially bankrupt as well.

Imprisoned Falcons quarterback Mike Vick, who is doing time due to his dog-fighting activities, has filed for federal bankruptcy protection, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Virginian-Pilot has the following quote from the filing:  “The hope is that [Vick] can, after the conclusion of the bankruptcy case, rebuild his life on a personal and spiritual level, resurrect his image as a public figure, and resolve matters with the NFL such that he can resume his career.”

Vick asserted in the paperwork that he owes between $10 million and $50 million.  (It’s unknown whether that amount includes the pack of smokes he borrowed from him cellmate.)  Vick’s seven largest creditors are expected to have claims in the range of $12.8 million.

Included among the debts is $3.75 million in signing bonus money to which the Falcons are legally entitled.

We’re not experts in bankruptcy law (we invite any members of PFT Planet who are to chime in via e-mail), but we vaguely recall that there are two types of bankruptcy – liquidation and reorganization.  We’re also generally aware that the credit-card lobby helped push through revisions to the bankruptcy laws that make it harder to utilize this device to get a fresh start (and thus to stiff the credit-card companies).

As a practical matter, Vick’s non-exempt assets will be rounded up and redistributed to his creditors.  And there are different levels of creditors.  Some have priority over others.  Those without priority typically are lucky to get 10 cents for each dollar they are owed.

The other twist here is that the bankruptcy rules likely will postpone indefinitely the NFL’s appeal of the ruling that exempted nearly $20 million in bonus money from recovery.  Eventually (and again we’re not experts on this), the issue could be resolved under the auspices of the bankruptcy court system.