Michael Vick was sentenced to nearly two years in prison yesterday, but two of his former Atlanta Falcons teammates let him know he is not forgotten.

Before Monday night's 34-14 loss to New Orleans, DeAngelo Hall took the field holding a poster of Vick and played with "MV7" written under both eyes.

Late in the first quarter, wide receiver Roddy White pulled up his jersey after hauling in a 33-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Chris Redman, revealing a black shirt with the words "Free Mike Vick" in white letters.

"That was homemade. I did that myself," White said.

"It ain't too much to say, you know. The team misses him and we really need him this season. There ain't too much more to say about it."

Federal laws be damned! The Falcons are 3-11 this year! Get Michael Vick back on the field so Atlanta can win more football games, Roddy White urged Monday.

White, Hall and the rest of the Falcons players said they wanted to show they were thinking of Michael Vick as more than a football player.

"We did that for the simple fact we wanted to let [Mike] know we're still thinking about him," Hall said. "That was my personal thing for doing it."

Vick was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison Monday following a guilty plea to myriad dogfighting changes. He will miss at least two full seasons while serving his jail time and is unlikely to play again for the Falcons.

Hall said he wanted to send "a tribute to Mike" but wanted to avoid any thought that the Michael Vick sentencing affected the team's play.

"We're still blaming him for losses we're getting as a team and he's not even here to play," Hall said. "It's a catch-22 he can't win."

Indeed, DeAngelo. Indeed. That $130 million contract Michael Vick received a few years ago makes it impossible for him to ever win. So true, so sad.