Michael Vick

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August 18th, 2009 at 04:36am
The back story is pretty well known, but for people who don't know, or as a reminder, I'll sum up the deal with Michael Vick.

Michael Vick is a quarterback for the National Football League, before his legal troubles he played for the Atlanta Falcons and was one of (possibly the, but I'm not positive) the highest payed players in NFL history, with a $135 million dollar contract. In April of 2007, a search warrant was issued for Michael Vick's home as part of a different case, and authorities found evidence of involvement in a dog fighting ring. In July 2007, after several months of investigation, Vick was indicted on state and federal dog fighting charges. On December 10, Vick was sentenced to 2 years in a federal prison (the maximum sentence for the charges is 5 years). He was found guilty of bankrolling "Bad Newz Kennels" and helping to kill dogs that didn't perform well in fights. Methods of killing the dogs included drowning, electrocution, and beating dogs into the ground.
During the investigation and indictment period, NFL commissioner Rick Goodell suspended Vick indefinitely and several teams said that they would not consider signing him. When practice started, the Falcons were faced with harassment, including a plane being driven over their field with a banner that read "Change your name to Dog Killers," even though by this time, Vick had already been suspended from the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles were among the teams that said they would not consider signing the quarterback.
Recently, Vick was released from prison and Mr. Goodell issued a conditional reinstatement for him. The conditions are/were as follows:
-- Can participate in preseason practices, workouts, meetings, and play in the final two preseason games. In the regular season, he may participate in all team activities other than games.
-- Must work with Tony Dungy, who will serve as Vick's advisor and mentor.
--Must abide by the terms of his parole.
--Cannot commit any further crime.
--Must limit whom he associates with.
--Cannot use drugs or alcohol.
--Cannot possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon.
--Cannot own, possess, or be involved with the sale of any dog.

On August 13, Michael Vick signed a $1.6 million contract to play with the Philadelphia Eagles.

I'm trying to find some videos of debate from experts on this that doesn't turn into a shout fest, but it's not really working. He just did an appearance on 60 Minutes, it's the main one I would recommend watching.
PART ONE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWCVaIR3fO4
PART TWO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4xrvwGQDj0

Animal rights groups have taken surprisingly divided takes on this. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has spoken out against Vick being reinstated. A statement on their website includes "PETA and millions of decent football fans around the world are disappointed that the Philadelphia Eagles have chosen to sign a man who hanged dogs from trees, electrocuted them with jumper cables, held them underwater until they drowned in his swimming pool, and even threw his own family dogs into the fighting pit to be torn to shreds while he laughed. What sort of message does this send to young fans who care about animals and don't want to see them be harmed?" The Humane Society of the United States, however, has taken a different approach. Michael Vick has been working with them recently in works to put an end to dog fighting, especially in rural areas. This video explores that: http://video.hsus.org/index.jsp?fr_story=b8f9745f13375de2b5e6570b299b8f86665147c4

So what do you think? Did the NFL make the right decision? Did they make the right decision from a business standpoint, but not from a moral standpoint... or the other way around? Should Michael Vick be given this second chance? Does he need to do more to prove he deserves it?

My thoughts: It's far too soon. He just got out of prison and almost instantly was re-signed, and it didn't take much longer for him to be given $1.6 million. People seem to be forgetting that at first, all he admitted to was financing the operation. So we're just going to give him the money he used to evilly before? A lot of people are saying that he deserves this second chance because he's apologized and is working with the Humane Society... of course he is! Anybody with any kind of star status is going to apologize and do whatever they need to do to regain the love of the public. He is a poorly educated man with a bad childhood who is known for a viscous and disgusting crime... he's not stupid, he knows the NFL is his best shot, possibly his only shot, at a job. He knows that if he DOESN'T apologize and he DOESN'T do basically whatever the HSUS asks him to do, he has no future, especially not with a major league sports organization. Apologizing and work with the HSUS is not enough, not this early in the game anyway. If he continues the good work he's doing with the Humane Society, that could turn into a different story, but the man was just released from prison. He was released just in time for the NFL to start their season. What else was he going to do? Hold a press conference and say "I'm not sorry?"
A lot of young children look to professional athletes as heroes, they look up to these athletes the same way I (and I'm sure most other people on here) look up to my favorite musicians. Michael Vick was, and is, in a position as a role model and look what he did with it. I strongly feel that the NFL is sending the wrong message to their young fans by allowing him back, especially so quickly. Yes, he paid his debt to society, but does that mean he should be put back in such a high status career?



I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but I'm sure it will come up.

By the way, update on the dogs, since a lot of people are curious about that. Surprisingly, and quite miraculously, this story did not have a tragic ending for the pit bulls involved. I believe (again, I'm not completely positive, correct me if I'm wrong) only one of the dogs rescued from the property was put down, and that was because of health reasons, not because the dog was dangerous and couldn't be adopted. A few of the dogs were rehabilitated and are now in nursing homes/rehabilitation centers as rehab dogs. Most of them are being trained to become adoptable. In almost all dog fighting cases, all the dogs involved have to be put down because they can't be trusted. Not all dogs, but the dogs used to fight. "Bait dogs" (dogs used as targets to train the fighters, usually too small to be good for fights) are not seen as a danger and almost never have to be euthanized, if they do it's usually due to injury or health problems.

And sorry if this IS a repeat topic, I went back several pages and didn't see anything, just lock it and throw things at me if it is. <_<
Sherlock Holmes
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August 18th, 2009 at 05:44am
Because of being British I didn't know this,
it's actually a very interesting story.

The random killing of animals is actually a vital trait of being a serial killer, he should be locked up in a mental home.

The PETA CAN however go overboard some times (I know this being an active member) so I normally don't take their statistics too personally.
Sherlock
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August 18th, 2009 at 06:13am
Yeah, PETA can go overboard, but it's obviously been proved in court that he killed dogs in an inhumane manner, so in this case I don't think they're wrong to speak out about it. The man's obviously loaded, so the least form of punishment he should receive is not being able to participate in the sport that he loves at a professional level.
iViva la Andrea!
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August 18th, 2009 at 10:08pm
He actually had to file for bankruptcy while in prison. Obviously now that he's signed with The Eagles for an insane contract that's not an issue anymore, but had he not been allowed back in the NFL he wouldn't still be loaded. I was actually watching a video of a Fox News report on it of people arguing, and a woman was talking about the money and making it sound as if $1.6 million wasn't a lot because of what his old contract was. I understand what she meant, but the way she said it was horrible- although, she also referred to the entire incident as a "mistake," so obviously she has a rather difficult time choosing her words. In the 60 Minutes interview, he admits he deserved to lose the $135 million contract, but really, how do you know? It's easy to say he deserved to lose it now that he's already lost it and now has to fix his public image. What else is he going to say?

My problem with how PETA is responding to this is they're acting like people can't be rehabilitated. For an animal rights group that has people like Dita Von Teese as a spokesperson when she has in the past talked about how much she loves fur and she continues to wear it, they seem hell-bent on the idea of "once an abuser, always an abuser." I like that the Humane Society is working with him and using him as a tool to speak out against dog fighting. Even if it all ends up being an act, at least they had a spokesperson that can actually reach the kids they need to reach for a little while. Wayne Pacelle is right, when he goes into these neighborhoods, these kids aren't listening to him. They are listening to Vick. I just think he needs to prove himself for more than a month or so before even being considered.
Sherlock
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August 19th, 2009 at 05:13am
Well I think if you were that far into animal abuse, not just killing dogs, but organising dog fights, etc. I don't really think anyone's going to be able to change your morals on the subject. Sure he regrets it, but does he just regret getting caught? I doubt anyone in prison was actively working on educating him about the horrors of animal abuse tbh.
Comrade182
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August 19th, 2009 at 05:15am
Ikarus:
Well I think if you were that far into animal abuse, not just killing dogs, but organising dog fights, etc. I don't really think anyone's going to be able to change your morals on the subject. Sure he regrets it, but does he just regret getting caught? I doubt anyone in prison was actively working on educating him about the horrors of animal abuse tbh.

iawtc
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September 3rd, 2009 at 09:44pm
I know this has been dead for awhile, but the story got updated today.

Vick was fully reinstated to the NFL earlier today. :-/
It'll be interesting to see what happens now.
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