Fallen NFL star Michael Vick told a bankruptcy judge in Newport News, Va., yesterday that he became a changed man in prison and is determined to do all the right things upon his release from prison, including repaying his creditors with the millions he hopes to resume earning in professional football.

But after more than three hours of testimony in which Vick laid out what he called his "exit strategy," U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank J. Santoro rejected it. Santoro told Vick to draft a new Chapter 11 plan, one with a bit more certainty.

Santoro said there is no guarantee the league will have the 28-year-old player back, and suggested he start on a new plan by considering liquidating one or both of his Virginia homes and three cars he had planned to keep.

A status hearing is set for April 28, but Santoro set no deadline for submission of a new plan.

Vick is pinning his hopes of emerging from financial ruin on returning to the NFL. He remains indefinitely suspended, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not said whether he will reinstate Vick after his July release from the federal penitentiary in Kansas where he is serving a 23-month sentence for a dogfighting conspiracy.

Vick's testimony — his first extensive public account of his life since entering prison in November 2007 — offered a glimpse of what he's likely to tell Goodell in his bid for reinstatement.

"I can't live like the old Mike Vick," he said, speaking softly as many of his friends and family members listened in the courtroom.

Vick filed for bankruptcy in July claiming assets of $16 million and debts of more than $20 million.

BEARS

CUTLER DOESN'T SEE HIMSELF AS A SAVIOR

Jay Cutler grew up rooting for the Chicago Bears in Santa Claus, Ind.

Now, he has a fresh start after a stormy exit from Denver, and his favorite team has the franchise quarterback it craved.

One thing, though.

While some Chicago fans see him as a savior, the new quarterback has a different view.

"I don't see myself as that," Cutler said yesterday at a press conference at Lake Forest, Ill.

The Bears dealt quarterback Kyle Orton along with two first-round draft picks and a third-rounder to the Broncos for Cutler and a fifth-rounder Thursday.

The Bears are getting a Pro Bowl quarterback who threw for 4,526 yards, 25 touchdowns with 18 interceptions, yet got traded after a major blowup with management and new coach Josh McDaniels.