Post by Man in Black on Aug 23, 2009 12:57:56 GMT -5
There has been way too much discussion on this subject already, but I really want to weigh in on something that I feel people are missing completely as they argue whether Vick should get to play again or not.
Has he paid his debt to society? Yes, by the very definition of our justice system, he has. Is he remorseful? I believe that he is, but only Michael and God know what is in his heart. These issues don't really warrant debate because there is no where else to go with such a discussion.
What bothers me is that this whole thing has broken down into a black/white - good/bad mess. People either seem to be a Vick fan or hate him completely. That in itself causes me no concern, but an indirect result of this "tastes great/less filling" type of battle is that many people in favor of Vick are comparing him and his situation to other NFL players like Leonard Little and Donte Stallworth. These analogies are being thrown around carelessly without thought just to help win the argument.
The problem is that this is like comparing apples to a rhinoceros. Leonard Little hit a car and killed a woman while driving impaired. Stallworth, also impaired, hit and killed a man walking. True, these accidents were awful and with a little common sense could have been avoided, but the key word here is accident.
The many incidents Michael Vick was involved in were not accidents. This man took pleasure in forcing living creatures to partake in vicious and painful fights and he did so for years. When these animals did not perform Vick personally killed them, not mercifully, but in tortuous manners like drowning, strangling and electrocution.
Along with the dogfighting there was gambling and drugs and lies to his coaches, teammates and fans. Vick failed a lie detector test while incarcerated and then tested positive for drugs while out on bail.
Now, every person has the ability to change. I firmly believe this. Argue if you'd like that Michael Vick should be allowed to play NFL football once again - but stop making dangerous comparisons that have no bearing on the facts aside from distorting them.
Here's the deal - I'm OK with Vick playing again, but I'm not going to say he deserves to because it was his job. There are multitudes of professions which do not accept felons back into their ranks. School teachers, government workers etc.. Like I often say - deserves has nothing to do with it! People laid off in this economic down time don't feel like they deserve it; I don't feel like I deserved to become disabled and lose my job. But, we have to live with it and most of us smile and make the most of the situation without complaining about what we are owed.
