Apparently the Miranda Act is useful even after a person has pled guilty to an offense.

Michael Vick, the much-maligned NFL superstar-turned-convicted felon, was scheduled to give an exclusive interview to syndicated radio host Tom Joyner Tuesday morning. However, the highly-anticipated chat was called off by Vick’s legal team, leaving Joyner to tell his more than 10 million listeners that they’d have to wait to hear Vick tell his story.

“You really do have the right to remain silent at the point of arrest and even while you wait for sentencing,” Philadelphia-based criminal attorney Michael Coard told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You gain absolutely nothing and lose everything by talking while the case is still open. It’s just a very bad idea.”

However, someone in Vick’s camp thought otherwise and Joyner was told that he would have an exclusive interview with the three-time Pro Bowler.

“He really wants to do it, but all of his advisers are advising him not to because everyone is taking what he says out of context,” Joyner said during Tuesday’s live broadcast of “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.”

The interview was to come one day after Joyner’s exclusive interview with the star athlete’s mother, in which Brenda Vick opened her home up to Joyner to discuss how she’s handling the controversy. During the emotional interview, Vick described how she’s relying on her faith to get her through the ordeal.

Brenda Vick was present in Richmond, Va.’s Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Courthouse as her 27-year-old son entered a guilty plea to conspiracy dog fighting charges Monday. She was joined by Vick’s pregnant girlfriend, former teammate Keion Carpenter and several family members in the federal courtroom of Judge Henry E. Hudson.

Following the hearing, in which a sentencing date of Dec. 10 was established, Vick held a brief press conference at a local hotel, breaking his silence but not taking any questions from the throng of media in attendance.

“For most of my life, I’ve been a football player,” Vick said. “I’m not a public speaker… So, I’ll take this opportunity to speak from the heart.”

Coard, applauding Vick’s legal team for canceling the interview with Joyner, said a scripted statement was the best way for Vick to speak his mind. A live radio interview or “informal testimony,” could have been yet another blow to an already dire situation, Coard said.

“It very well could have made the situation worse or made him seem not as remorseful as he is,” said Coard, who had a high-profile client facing murder charges appear on a popular FM radio station in Philadelphia. The interview was done without Coard’s knowledge, and the outcome did little to help his client, who was eventually found guilty. While Joyner’s show would have undoubtedly been a favorable audience for Vick, the risk was too great, Coard added.

“Sometimes some things are better left unsaid,” Coard said. “In fact, when you’re facing criminal prosecution, all things are better left unsaid.”

Derek Harper, program director for Radio One Atlanta’s 102.5 and Praise 97.5 said the interview would not have been a blockbuster for most Atlanta residents, who are resigned to the fact that Vick will more than likely never play in that town again.

“With a lot of people here, it’s a done deal,” Harper told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You had a lot of people who were willing to give him the benefit of doubt. But once he pled guilty, that was it.”

When the controversy first surfaced, Vick publicly proclaimed his innocence, telling listeners of Radio One Atlanta, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank that he was not guilty. Following Monday’s plea, Vick apologized to everyone for not being honest when the dogfighting investigation started.

“I was ashamed and totally disappointed in myself, to say the least,” Vick read from a prepared statement Monday. He was also apologetic to Joyner, calling him personally to cancel his appearance, the radio personality said.

But although Vick’s much-anticipated interview did not take place, he was the still the subject du jour.

Noted New York Times columnist and author William Rhoden addressed the situation, likening Vick to former boxing great Jack Johnson, baseball player Barry Bonds and former cyclist Major Taylor, all black athletes who have been demonized by the media and public scrutiny.

Rhoden, whose books “The $40 Million Slave” and “Third and a Mile,” explore race in sports, said Vick’s choices to engage in dogfighting was like him throwing a “deadly interception.”

“This is a cautionary tale to African-Americans. If you’re accomplishing a lot, never relax,” Rhoden told Joyner in a live interview. “Never think that you can do what everyone else is doing. Never think that your money has put you in an untouchable position because you’re not. Never think that you are larger than anything because the rug can be pulled out from under you instantaneously.”

Harper echoed Rhoden’s sentiments, adding that a white athlete could have easily been caught up in the same scenario, but as a black man, Vick really had to be aware of what he did and the company he chose to keep.

“In our community, our parents told us that we had to be twice as good (as a white person) and that goes for dealing with the law,” Harper told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “You’ve got to be twice as careful.”

With the start of the NFL season one week away, sports fans in Atlanta are resigned to the fact that the human highlight reel they’ve watched for six seasons will be no more, Harper said.

“This is a city that outside of (baseball’s Atlanta) Braves has not had a perennial winner or someone they could champion,” Harper said. “Michael Vick was, after (NBA legend) Dominique Wilkins, the closest thing that we had to a Michael Jordan. Now, we’re looking for the next person who can inspire kids and adults alike and help them have pride in the city and its sports scene.”

In addition to a possible maximum sentence of five years, Vick faces the loss of the fortune he has amassed since signing becoming a professional football player in 2001. He was expected to make $6 million this season with the Falcons, but the NFL has suspended him indefinitely. The Falcons, while hesitating to cut Vick, are set to begin the process of recouping millions paid to Vick over the years. And his endorsements deals have been unceremoniously axed.

Despite it all, Vick promised to make good of his life.

“I will redeem myself,” Vick said at his press conference. “I have to. So I got a lot of down time, a lot of time to think about my actions and what I’ve done. I have to make Michael Vick a better person.”

PBS personality and "Tom Joyner Morning Show” contributor Tavis Smiley said Vick’s redemption will not be through his sports career, offering that if and when a team decides to bring him on after he serves his sentence, his redemption has nothing to do with playing another down as a professional football player.

“What a mistake it would be for you, Michael, to surrender your self worth to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, to the owner of the Falcons or any other owner,” Smiley said in his commentary, adding that there is a difference between mechanical redemption and spiritual redemption.

“Redemption is about the maturation of the soul. Michael, your soul can not be for sale,” Smiley concluded, suggesting that Vick could redeem himself by volunteering with kids in his native Virginia or adopted home of Atlanta, not by breaking back into the league one day.

“For all of the student-athletes, there’s a lesson here. Look at what happen to Michael Vick because of the bad choices he made,” Smiley said. “I think he recognizes now that he’s not just a role model -- he’s a race model.”