Though the Eagles didn’t have a chance to make news on the field tonight, they made some more news off the field.

Peter King of NBC reported during Football Night in America that President Barack Obama recently called Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to congratulate the team for giving quarterback Mike Vick a second chance.

President Obama explained that a level playing field rarely exists for prisoners who have completed their sentences. Vick’s success gives all of them hope.

In our view, Obama’s gesture also provides Vick with the kind of positive reinforcement that will help keep him out of any trouble during the 2011 offseason, once he is left to his own devices.