Later this week, Michael Vick is set to be released from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, KS where he will serve the rest of his 2 month sentence in his home in Hampton, VA. During that time, Vick will work a construction job for $10 an hour as he attempts to get himself back into playing shape for the coming NFL season. The big question on everyone's mind is, "How can you do that to a living creature you sicko!?" Oh wait, no that is PETA's question... most everyone else wants to know if Vick will get picked up by an NFL team at some point this summer.
The answer to that question is a resounding "YES". It's really not even a question... some team will absolutely take a chance on him because every team is pressured to win, and they will take just about any chance to do that.
Here are some simple truths that people just need to realize as fact:
- The sports-loving public doesn't care about the dogfighting anymore, and since Michael Vick has supposedly become a Christian while incarcerated, they are going to give him a chance to prove himself. I think Vick saying he is a Christian is about as truthful as me saying that I'm a helicopter, and it's exactly what his lawyers and agent would tell him to do, but I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt until he proves me wrong. Because this is still America, if memory serves me right.
- There are GMs and owners, particularly Al Davis, who see nothing but this guy's potential. Honestly, I think the Raiders are the front-runner for gaining Vick's services. Al Davis doesn't give two craps about a player serving time in prison... he just wants talent and wants to win (which is funny because it's that drive that usually has his team at the bottom of the AFC).
- At the time that Vick was arrested for dogfighting, do you really think he was the only NFL player doing that? He may have been the only one working as a facilitator for a whole dogfighting ring, but I guarantee that many others were participating in dogfighting competitions. You can take the thug away from streets, but you can't take the streets away from the thug... and we all know the NFL is riddled with wannabe thugs.
- As a dog-lover this is tough to say, but entirely true: this issue was only made big because of the person involved (an NFL pseudo-star) and the fact that the American public loves dogs and sees them as miniature people. If this were a shark-fighting ring, not only would it be acceptable in the eye of the public, but you'd have large pockets of the population thinking that this is the coolest thing imaginable. With that said, I could never do something like that to a dog because sometimes they wear sweaters and act like people.
Speaking from a Virginia Tech fan's point of view, this whole scandal is a huge zit on our university's otherwise pristine face, and it is treated very much like a huge zit... we try our best to ignore it despite the fact that everyone knows it is there. It makes me sad to think that Michael Vick, who was such a good representative of the Hokie Spirit when he attended VT, ended up pissing it all away when he got filthy rich. I think we all need to understand something about Michael... he is one of the most talented college football players of all time. That might be a "duh" statement since he was the first overall pick in an NFL draft, but he basically succeeded at Virginia Tech in spite of his offense. He had a decent running back in Shyrone Stith and a good wide receiver in Andre Davis, but the rest of the offense, especially our offensive line, was rather suspect. Well, I will throw Jake Grove in as another good player from that squad, but that's it. I've never seen any player break tackles the way Vick did, and I'm not sure I will ever see that again. But those memories of the great Michael Vick, the player who single-handedly turned Virginia Tech into the annual favorite to win the ACC, may be forever forgotten in conversation because of the dogfighting scandal. I think every Hokie is looking forward to the day when they can be a proud Michael Vick supporter once again, but that day is not today or tomorrow, and it's extremely possible that day might never come.
4 comments:
Fun fact: The house Vick is moving into is less than a mile from where I live. We take walks in parts of the neighborhood a lot (one of the fun hobbies you take up when you have kids).
Don't forget Vick still needs to be reinstated by Goodell, which could keep him out of the league another year or more. I can't imagine more than one year, but one year wouldn't be out of the question.
P@, you're a helicopter? That's bananas.
I would like to point out that I've had his back the whole way. The biggest disappointment is not that he threw away his entire career. Rather, it's that his education system failed him completely. Seriously, you spend two years at a respectable university and walk away with zero education? Really Michael Vick?!?! Really?!?!
Let's not forget that the ONLY reason he's in jail is because he BANK ROLLED an illegal gambling ring; not that he killed dogs. PETA can suck it, but it is time for Vick to put on a hard hat and do work (literally).
I would consider taking a day off from the shipyard to go work construction with Mike. I wish he didn't listen to his dumb cousins who were all up in the dogfighting. If that were the case, perhaps VT wouldn't have acne.
Good thoughts on the Vick issue except for 1 point. VT has had many other oozing white-head acne blemishes in its past than just the MV1 deal. Granted no blemish has ever been as big or as public as the MV1 ordeal (and hopefully that will be the biggest ever), but there have been others.
Back in the Jim Druckenmiller days there were a number of run-ins with the law that caused a black-eye on good ole Polytech-Vir-gin-ia. I was young then but I'm pretty sure Druck had one if not more sexual assault complaints filed against him (although I believe they ended up being thrown out of court).
The MV2 stomping on Elvis Dumervil's leg during the bowl game then getting caught with pot several times was none too flattering for the University.
AD Vasallo got caught (although I'm not sure if he was ever officially charged) with being the driver of a car of someone who tried to steal a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper from a 7-11 in Blackburg.
Needless to say, VT has its blemishes a-plenty and will probably continue to do so. Thats part of the reality of college sports these days that not too many people would like to let out of the closet.
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