First of all, before I get started, I want to let the people of PETA know that I love dogs and do not in any way condone what Michael Vick did. However, with that said, it’s time to give the player, who just three years ago was perhaps the biggest attraction in the NFL, another chance. Vick, in the opinion of this longtime sportswriter, has paid his debt to society.
Period.
Unlike other athletes who have dodged conviction and continued playing despite doing far worse, he was prosecuted to the full extent of the law for dogfighting and, as a result, should be allowed back into the NFL and given a chance to rebuild his career.
In fact, few athletes before have ever been torn down like Vick, who was at one time a $100 million-plus business and an endorsement machine; now, he is bankrupt with a shattered reputation. They were his mistakes and it was all his doing, but I have a feeling that there are going to be those that make Vick’s road back very difficult.
About the Vick dilemma, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell recently had this to say: “Michael did an egregious thing. He has paid a very significant price for that. If he’s learned from that and is prepared to live a different life, I think the general public is forgiving on that when people are genuine and they show remorse and are prepared to live a different life. That’s something he has to prove to myself and the general public.’’
But to prove himself, Vick has to be given the opportunity to succeed and, having watched him here in Atlanta all his professional life, that is what concerns me.
I know Vick, have spoken with him on many occasions and, while what he did was terrible, he never once struck me as being a mean or cold-hearted person. Even Falcons management will tell you that they liked Michael, who for the most part was rather reserved and kept to himself. But he made bad choices, beginning with the people he chose to hang around. To use a word that can turn all our stomachs, they were thugs, and in the end they led to Vick’s downfall.
Still, his path to making it back should not be blocked by an NFL commissioner or an animal rights group. Goodell is known for his no-nonsense approach when it comes to discipline and the league and their owners are far less tolerant than, say, the NBA, which let one Kobe Bryant fly back and forth between Lakers games and the hearings in his rape case, though he was eventually found not guilty. In this matter, Goodell didn’t have to make a quick decision, as Vick’s quick guilty plea and the court made it for him.
Now that Vick is out of jail, however, he shouldn’t have to start serving another sentence, such as an NFL suspension. Let’s call it time served after 16 months in a federal pen and two years away from the league.
And when he does get his chance to suit back up, he shouldn’t have to do so among a crowd of protestors who remain vigilant in their crusade against Vick. It was PETA that sent a letter to the NFL calling for the league to require Vick to undergo a new brain-scanning procedure already in use at a New Mexico corrections facility, effectively testing Vick for psychopathy (anti-social personality disorder) before he is allowed to become a children’s hero again. Be serious here.
In other words, enough is enough. He has served his sentence and except for his physical athletic ability, there is little left that hasn’t already been taken away.
While you don’t read much about it publicly, there are those in Atlanta pulling for Vick and hoping he has learned from his mistakes and will make it back into the league. Some of those people are with the very same team that his actions crushed, a Falcons franchise that suffered a great amount from the whole ordeal. Fortunately for the Falcons, they were able to bounce back quickly and have a new superstar quarterback in the young Matt Ryan.
Still, many people from owner Arthur Blank on down are not vengeful and would like to see Vick get back on his feet.
What will be the key is how Vick handles his comeback, which needs to be well-organized and not overplayed. The publicity will be there but Vick and his people need to keep on the straight line. No reality shows, no stupid stunts, no holding dogs for PETA commercials.
Vick, who leaves prison this week to move to two months of home confinement and is beginning workouts immediately, needs to go to the commissioner—who he lied to the last time they met—fall on his sword, tell Goodell he is a different man and move on. Then, at the age of 28, he needs to focus on his game and get back on the field and do what he has always done best: thrill the fans. Additionally, Vick needs to spend his time off the field getting to the young people, telling them about his mistakes and how much he’s lost.
I’ve never thought Vick was a bad person, just one brought up on the streets, who, despite all his success on the field, couldn’t put his tough past behind him. I also am a strong believer in second chances and hope Vick has become a different person and, someday, returns to the Vick we knew and loved on the field.
It’s a comeback I want to write about.
Rosenberg can be reached at ijrosenberg@scoreatl.com.
Loading ...
