HispanicBusiness

Nike is firmly denying the claim by an agent for embattled NFL player Michael Vick that the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback who served time for running a deadly dog fighting ring has a new contract with the shoe company.

Vick, the former Atlanta Falcons star who was recently reinstated to the NFL after serving an 18-month prison sentence for the offense, is a former endorser for Nike, but was dropped after the dog-fighting charges came to light.

On Wednesday, one of Vick's agents, Mike Principe, said during a press conference that Vick had signed a new deal with the company.

No so, said Nike spokesman KeJuan Wilkins.

"Nike does not have a contractual relationship with Michael Vick," he said in a statement, according to USA Today. "We have agreed to supply product to Michael Vick as we do a number of athletes who are not under contract with Nike."

Once the NFL's highest paid player, Vick, 29, was born to teenage parents in the slums of Newport News, Virginia. Though his parents married when he was 5, he decided to continue to use the surname of his mother, Brenda Vick.

In July of 2007, Vick and some friends were arrested for operating a six-year-old dogfighting ring from Vick's 15-acre property in Virginia. Known as "Bad Newz Kennels," the games involved torture, abuse and execution of animals, as well as gambling.