Yes, cruelty is bad. I think the uproar ignores the fact that football is rough game involving rough men with rough habits. It is civilized brawling. For many of these guys, the civilization is pretty much on the surface. The bad thing about the life-style that men like Vick leads is that it can lead to really bad things. He could kill a girl-friend, for instance.
or a boyfriend
Very true.
But it is not so much the fact that the game is 'rough', but that many of these guys have been coddled since the time they were seen to have any athletic ability and thus, think they do not have to obey the rules of society.
Even Vick's apology was tainted with words like 'growing up', 'immaturity, and made a 'mistake', rather then words that had a moral implication, such as' what I did was immoral, and criminal'.
Those around him are still enabling him, guys like Jim Horn who actually think he is going to play again in the NFL.