Time to Forgive Michael Vick?

The Provocateur ^ | 08/15/2009 | Michael Volpe`

[fiscon1]

The most talked abut and controversial sports story surrounds the signing of Michael Vick by the Philadelphia Eagles. Before I weigh in, I should disclose a few things. First, Vick was a favorite of mine in fantasy football. That's because his out of this world talent made him the perfect, potentially, fantasy football player. There was nothing more exciting in fantasy football than watching Michael Vick when he was on your team. Also, I am not especially an animal lover. I don't have any pets and I never have had any pets. (as I say, I have enough trouble taking care of myself)

[nascarnation]

I view Tony Dungy as a stand up guy based upon his work here in Indianapolis.
Tony has counseled Vick and endorsed his return to the NFL.
Hopefully this turns out well.

[Snickering Hound]

Let's see, you have a dog whining in pain, do you:

A: Bring it to a vet.

B: Hold it under water until it drowns while you laugh.

C: Hook up some jumper cables to it and electrocute it while you laugh.

2. You have a dog as a house pet. Do you:

A: Give it a loving home.

B: Feed it to some pit bulls and while it's howling and whining in pain, laugh.

3. You have a man who has committed multiple cruel felonies that is out on parole. Do you:

A: Suggest that the tire store down the road is looking for help mounting tires on cars.

B: Give him over a million dollars to play a game and be a model for getting away with it.

[Carley]

We have a NJ basketball player who shot and killed his chauffeur, years have gone by and he’s still walking free, we have numerous sports figures involved in drugs, mayhem, traffic accidents, and of course, all those folks who are pro choice who think killing their baby in the womb is a constitutional right..........

[Caesar Soze]

If you read any true crime books by actual profilers, one early warning sign of serial killers is animal abuse.

Those same books also tell you that sadists and sociopaths don't get rehabilitated in prison, they get worse. They use their "time off" to develop ever more elaborate fantasies, feed their rage, and work on the "mask" they wear in public. The sophisticated ones gain allies on the outside: the literary community, college leftists, now the NFL and HSUS have become dupes for a sociopath.

Vick a hasn't changed. He won't. He probably can't. For whatever reason, nurture or nature, he grew into a humanoid being without empathy. He lacks the psychological machinery that keeps most of our baser impulses in check. Instead, he revels in those impulses. And he will continue to do so. It's just a matter of time. Manipulate, dominate, control. Cruelty and sadism. Lack of empathy. Lack of remorse. It's easy to see where he goes from here.

Vick fans: While you're forgiving him for what he's done, get in a two-fer and forgive him for what he's going to do next.

[Third Person]

Vick is a cretin.

[Buck W.]

Time to forgive Don Imus?

[Milton Miteybad]

The following analysis is not going to do much for my popularity. However, I had to learn to become accustomed to unpopularity many years ago when I decided that I wasn't going to call 'em like I saw 'em, but instead would call 'em they way they are.


Here's what Vick's crimes cost him:


1. $71 million in base salary over 10 years;

2. $7.5 million (estimated) in bonus repayment to the Atlanta Falcons franchise;

3. $30 million (estimated) in product endorsements over the life of his now-void contract (some estimates run as high as $50 million);

4. 18 months served in federal prison;

5. 3 years federal probation.

6. The loss of what are likely to have been two of the most productive seasons in the very brief career of an NFL player; he is unlikely to ever regain his previous level of athletic performance, further reducing his marketability and earning potential;

7. An element of commercial risk for any team who signs him, the level of which cannot be quantified in advance, but which is very real nonetheless;

8. Bankruptcy, filed in July, 2008;


Make no mistake: Michael Vick was guilty of heinous crimes, to be sure, but he has undoubtedly paid as high a price as anyone ever has who has been convicted on similar charges. The direct, measurable costs to Vick appear to be in excess of $100 million, and that may be a conservative estimate.


Vick's crimes cost him pretty much everything he ever had, and I fully recognize that he has only himself to blame.


All things considered, it would be hard to say that he got off easy, or that he hasn't paid his debt to society. He didn't, and he has.


If the Philadephia Eagles want to give Vick a second chance, I hope he can take advantage of it to build some kind of life for himself that doesn't involve any of the activities that cost him so dearly the first time around.

[TChad]

He's a sadistic serial dog torturer and killer. That did not change when he completed his prison term.

I would never knowingly watch him play.

Football is just a game. If I can't watch it without wanting to throw up, forget it.

[Swiss]

If a doctor, lawyer, or CPA was convicted of a felony their careers is over after they are released.

I have no problem with a private company hiring an ex-con. I do object to a private company subsidized by the taxpayers (publicly funded sports stadiums) doing so.

Make the NFL buy every stadium they use and they can field 100% criminal teams for all I care.

[Frantzie]

Dungy’s kid was....I won’t say because he is no longer with us. Vick is garbage. The NFL is a joke anyway. They have Olberman doing football games on NBC.

NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN/ESPN would be broke if it wasn’t for sports programming. I will chose to boycott them in fact cable tv is being shut off soon because I refuse to support the serfdom of America.

Just like the fall of Rome - bread and circuses to distract the masses. The masses are sheep.

[Shadowstrike]

What Imus did, while tasteless does not compared with what Vick did.

:(

[Buck W.]

That’s my point.

[ladyjane]

Tony has counseled Vick

And the Rev. Jesse Jackson counseled Clinton.

It's all a show.

[nascarnation]

Based on my personal knowledge of Tony Dungy, which is primarily that one of my best friends attended church with him when Tony lived in Indy, I definitely wouldn’t put him in the same class as any race baiting left wing “reverend”.
You may notice Dungy has kept his distance from Baraq.

If you have different info, please Freepmail me, I’m open to revise my opinion.

[Frantzie]

If Dungy backs Vick then I do not like him. Vick is a creep. The NFL is filled with thugs and is mindless entertainment anyway. It is designed to distract the masses as they slip into serfdom. This is what they did in Rome and in the UK.

The masses are sheep. The NFL is s**t in my book when Keith Olberman has a prominent job on NBC doing football commentary.

[Anti-Bubba182]

"..The NFL is filled with thugs and is mindless entertainment anyway..."

Agree 100%. If Vick wasn't on the news about the dogs I would never have heard of him, but today's youth idolize Vick and other athletes. They need morals clauses in sports contracts and they need to enforce them.

[Frantzie]

The owners are fools - wealth fools. Vick is not even a good quarterback. The Falcons got rid of him, brought in a good rookie and started winning.

As long as Olberman & Vick are involved - I am done with the NFL.

[cowtowney]

I said forgive before. I thought it was just dog fighting. Since I’ve learned about the other cruelty, I’m not so sure.

[discostu]

I wouldn’t say there are no lasting consequences for Vick. He went from a 10 million dollar a year starting QB NFL salary with tons of endorsement deals to a 1.6 million dollar a year backup/ gadget QB NFL salary and no endorsement deals. That’s a lot of consequences right there, he’s probably lost close to 30 million since this started, and the judge in his bankruptcy case isn’t letting him out of his 20 million in debt. Not to mention that he lost 2 of what usually are the best years in a QB career (late 20s tends to be when the brain and body really get on the same page and they can get the most out of their talent). And NFL Hall of Fame voters are encouraged to take off the field behavior into account.

Yes the sport, like all sports, like all businesses, is about the money. But the idea hat Vick getting back in is a lack of lasting consequences is kind of silly.

[al_c]