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Recently inaugurated National Football League Players' Association chief DeMaurice Smith faces his first challenge in the form of disgraced player Michael Vick, whose two-year prison sentence for financing a dogfighting ring ended last week. Vick was suspended indefinitely last August, and now, as he begins his three-year probation faces a further suspension of four games. A number of union members, led by star Terrell Owens, have said that Vick has been punished enough and that suspending him for four more games is "ridiculous." With only a year to go before a contract renegotiation Smith's conduct in the matter could play a crucial part in unifying or alienating the Players' Association. The union has said publicly that is supports Vick, but Owens and others want Smith to take a firmer stance, and see that Vick is allowed to play again.