So, in other words; He’s guilty. Yeah, we got the message. But when have we as a society moved beyond the point where we don’t accept penance anymore? I hated Vick for what he did too. My son tore the cover off his Madden NFL game that had Vick front and center, he hates the number 7 and won’t wear a uniform with it on. HOWEVER, I don’t want my son learning that people can’t return from the bottom; from committing a crime of stupidity; and return as fully functioning members of society. Vick lost it all. Lost $110 million, went bankrupt and spent two years in jail... shall we keep flogging him until he goes and hangs himself? I don’t like the drunk driving, steroid taking, gang-banging, no-account attitude of some of the NFL players either; but you can say that type of behavior dominates the league. Goodell has done a great job cracking down on this type of behavior, and I hope he continues to set a higher bar than that the NFL has aspired to over the last couple of decades.
At some point, an organization that wants to set an example and attract not only the best athletes, but also athletes that the sponsors can be proud to promote, has to draw the line. Michael Vick did much more than "make a stupid mistake" as you put it. A mistake is forgetting your anniversary or your sons birthday.
What Vick did was conspire over a period of many years (almost 7 years to be exact) to breed, raise, train (using grotesque and unspeakable techniques) dogs to fight each other, usually to the death all for the financial benefit of Vick's personal friends as well as himself to the tune of $20K a fight. That's not a mistake. That's an intentional criminal conspiracy that broke state and federal laws.
To compound matters, Vick and his criminal conspirators, would kill under performing or severely injured dogs by hanging, electrocution, beating and drowning. They didn't do this by mistake, and they didn't do it just once. They killed probably hundreds. Investigators found the remains of 30 dogs on Vick's property, but believed that because of the size of the operation, many dozens more were unaccounted for.
I would invite you to read the 19 page indictment. What the government alleged and Vick pleaded guilty to is the making of a low-budget Hollywood gore movie.