Michael Vick’s Redemption?
This week, a certain "sports guy" caused all sorts backlash with a column lauding Michael Vick's comeback as if he was Terry Fox (side note - Into the Wind was great.) He called Vick the "feel-good story of the 2010 NFL season." This implies that we should all "feel good" about this story. You know, the one where he was found guilty of a heinous crime, went to jail and then had a resurgence.
It’s irresponsible to throw your support behind a character like Vick, even more so if you are "The People's Sportswriter." When you sport that title, it's your responsibility to consider your monstrous amount of influence. You are vouching for someone who clearly should not be vouched for. No one can speak for Michael Vick's rehabilitation - not Tony Dungy, not Roger Goodell, not Andy Reid, not even Michael Vick. Not publicly, at least.
A ridiculously large readership needs to be considered when implying things like "black Southerners are more likely to dogfight because earlier generations were attacked by dogs during civil rights demonstrations." That is a long stretch at best, blatant racism at worst. Furthermore, equating hunting and eating veal with torturing and drowning dogs for fun and profit is almost insulting, especially when it's followed by accusations of the public's hypocrisy.
Second chances are fine with me. I have needed many a second chance (and third and fourth) in my life. And we should applaud Michael Vick for the tremendous comeback he has had on the field. To play the game at this level after so long and to do it so well is remarkable. But lets not trip all over ourselves giving him a humanitarian award for some PR work that a publicist insisted he do. One of Vick's associates was noted as buying four pit bull puppies as far back as September of 2001. That's more than five and a half years of dog fighting. Five and a half years is not a lapse in morality, it is a lifestyle. I went to college for five and half years (you know, the scenic route.) In addition, let's not forget that Bad Newz Kennels was not an isolated incident. Vick has been in trouble for his ties with drug dealers and theft, not to mention being sued for intentionally infecting a young lady with genital herpes. Ron Mexico has a spotted past at best.
So let’s pump the brakes on the parade and the major motion picture. Vick is not a role model or hero. The adversity he overcame was forged by his own poor choices. He is a good football player who made a comeback. Let's have him just be that.
Besides, the feel-good story of the season is obviously the Chiefs making the conference championship.
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