If Michael Vick is looking for character witnesses as he heads towards his release from prison and possible reinstatement, he can count on Joey Porter to have his back. Which is great, if you think having a big-mouth lout who cold-cocks people at blackjack tables on your side is a good thing. Regardless, Porter told the MIAMI HERALD that he definitely thinks Vick should be allowed back into the league.

After all, it was just pit bulls that he was training to maul each other:

Porter, an owner of two pit bulls himself, said he doesn’t understand why people are so quick to condemn Vick. Porter contends those same people who are against Vick don’t often like pit bulls anyway.

”That’s the funny thing about it,” Porter said. “If you want to get back on that topic, I’ve got pit bulls and I’ve got to put them under a different breed just to travel. You can’t even fly pit bulls anywhere.

So it’s not like he was fighting cocker spaniels or something, something they like. They don’t even too much care about pit bulls.”

In terms of character statements that don’t help, this is like having Charles Manson show up at your parole hearing and tell the board that you’re “a pretty cool dude, and if he’s crazy then so am I.” I’m sure that Vick and his attorneys wish that someone would put a muzzle on Porter. So to speak.

But also, cocker spaniel fights? Someone should make sure to tell Pedro Martinez that this isn’t legal either, in case he gets confused between the difference between this and cockfighting and starts collecting small dogs like they are little people and sets up a cage. (For the dogs, not the little people.)

I guess we should trust Porter on this: he is an expert in the breeding of pit bulls. Plus, it’s not like Vick’s dogs ate a horse or anything.