Choose your interests

There stand two men. Both are trying to get into school to play Division I football. Both men are 21 years old. Both men have faced difficult pasts. One man is Marcus Vick, a former quarterback at Virginia Tech. The other is Timmy Bailey, a former tight end and linebacker at Riverside High School in Avon, Miss. \nBoth men are major attractions to recruiters. Vick is an attraction to recruiters because he has a brother in football. The brother, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, has been the most highly publicized player in the NFL since his entrance as the first overall pick in the 2001 Draft. It was the same year that Timmy Bailey was preparing for his senior season of football. Bailey is an attraction to recruiters because he was a brother in arms. Unbeknownst to his coach, the 6-foot-3, 237-pound senior volunteered for the Army National Guard. That season he led the team with nearly 900 yards receiving, but fell short of gaining national recognition from big-name college recruiters. \nBailey forfeited his Division I dreams and enrolled in Mississippi Delta Community College the next year. In 2003, he led the team in tackles and drew Division I attention from plenty of college recruiters.\nThat same year Marcus Vick enrolled at Michael's alma mater, Virginia Tech. \nTwo tumultuous years later, at the Jan. 2 Gator Bowl between Virginia Tech and Louisville, Vick stomped on the left calf of defensive end Elvis Dumervil after a play was finished. Vick claimed the move was accidental and told the press he apologized to the All-American. Dumervil said he never received such an apology. The incident, along with a rap sheet longer than the distance he can throw a football, led to Vick's removal from the Hokies. Three days later, Vick was arrested and charged with pulling a gun on three teenagers outside a McDonald's. \nBailey had a gun, too. But his symbolized of sacrifice, not show. \nThe college sophomore found out his unit -- Troop A 98th Cavalry -- was being activated for duty in Iraq. Bailey spent more than a year amid the chaos, driving trucks and dodging road explosives. \n"There weren't too many crazy people that would shoot you," Bailey told ESPN.com of his experiences in war-torn Iraq. "They liked to blow up people. That made me even more scared." \nWhen he returned home Dec. 28, 2005, Bailey found out he was being recruited by three Division-I schools in the Southeastern Conference: Mississippi, Mississippi State and Alabama. Finally, the kid who made a choice to serve his country had been given the choice to serve his interests. \nAs for the kid who spent every day of his life choosing only to serve his own interests, Marcus Vick remains at his brother's home in Duluth, Ga. According to ESPN.com, he stands on charges with three misdemeanor counts of brandishing a firearm and was released on a $10,000 bond.\n"At this point, I think the actions speak for themselves," Larry Hincker, a spokesman for Vick, said in a statement.\nNo, Marcus -- they don't \nTimmy's do.