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The Precarious case of Mike Vick

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Mike Vick will be released from prison this summer and will engage in an effort to reenter society and the NFL. He will be met with severe resistance from the animal rights activists around the country. There will be few willing to stand up for him.

3 things you should know about Mike Vick

Mike Vick was a rookie in 2001 with the Atlanta Falcons. I was a rookie as well and our lockers were next to each other for 4 years.
Mike Vick led the falcons to the NFC championship in 2005 and was the most popular player in the NFL.
In 2007 Mike Vick was arrested and sent to jail for engaging in a dog fighting enterprise and the killing of dogs in that enterprise.
He gave up his fortune, his career in the NFL, and his freedom for the entertainment of watching dogs fight each other.

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Recent blog posts about Mike Vick

Michael Vick, Andy Reid and 7 QB-Coach Duos Most Dependent Upon Each Other: Reid wouldn't attempt to turn Mike Vick into a pocket passer, but plenty of other coaches would. Considering the fact that Andy Reid will be entering his 14th season as Eagles head coach next fall, while the average tenure of an NFL coach is about ...
5 Answers To Big Questions About The Eagles: Will Mike Vick leave the Eagles? Fox 29 tackles the five biggest questions about the Dream Team in the offseason. The dust has settled after another disappointing Philadelphia Eagles, as Andy Reid's team finished 8-8 and owner Jeff Lurie held a ...
Vick's past still follows him: For reporters covering the Eagles - at least this one - that's the case with Mike Vick, who has won yet another unpopularity contest, being named in a survey as the most disliked athlete in America. (Also in the top 10: Plaxico Burress at three and ...
Mike Vick Can't Stop Playing iPhone Football Game T-Bone Jackson: Michael Vick the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback tweeted last Friday afternoon, "Can't stop playing this T-Bone Jackson football app! Ya'll check it out." When asked for his high score by @GarrettHuff4 on twitter, @mikevick replied "37727 and getting ...

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Logan308 Feb 5, 2010 @ 10:51 pm | delete

I am amazed that you can defend his actions by stating it is no worse than what others have done. So I guess if someone goes out and kills someone they can defend their actions by saying ?Hey, others have done worse than this. At least I didn't shoot up a school?. You state that he paid by serving time in jail and lost his fortune. How about all the animals' lives he took, and the amount of torture he inflicted on them before they died. You blame his friends, and how he was brought down by hanging around them. He was a grown man and he knew what he was doing. I truly believe the only thing he is concerned about at this time is getting his career back and playing the ?I'm so sorry card? to do so. I wonder will you defend him again next time. My children are my world, and even though I would love them no matter what, if they killed and tortured innocent animals I certainly wouldn't condone their behavior. People see him for the disgusting human being that he is, because of what he's done. Hopefully they will never let him play football again, and no child will ever look up to him as a role model.

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jayfeely May 9, 2009 @ 7:50 am | delete

The Precarious Case of Mike Vick

I must be forthright in stating up front that Mike Vick was a friend and teammate of mine. There are positives and negatives in that regard because my opinions are not based merely on his actions with the dogs but also on my interactions with him on a daily basis so I have greater perspective. I also understand that the perspective I have is clouded by my friendship therefore I cannot view his actions independent of my personal affinity for the man I knew. Take this for what it is, my opinion.

Mike Vick and I were rookies together with the Atlanta Falcons. However we could not have been in more different circumstances. He was the #1 overall pick and I was an afterthought, camp competition who happened to beat out his competition and win the job. I got to watch him grow as a player and struggle as a man from my locker next to his. He was always quiet, kept to himself, and usually spent time outside the facility with his bevy of friends from childhood (which ultimately lead to his demise). This is a very common phenomenon in the NFL. Players who grow up in poor neighborhoods surrounded by gangs and drugs are often protected from their surroundings by those very same gang members and drug dealers who make the environment so dangerous. When they get into the NFL the players are pressured to keep those friendships intact (even though it is not in their own interests to do so). Many are not strong enough to break those bonds that are often very strong but usually very dangerous.

Mike Vick made many poor choices throughout his career off the field. I often wished he would embrace the opportunity he had to dramatically influence inner city America. He was vastly popular, the most popular NFL player for numerous years (by jersey sales). Charles Barkley likes to say that athletes are not role models; no they're not, but they can be if they chose to. It's the greatest advantage of being a professional athlete. With very little effort you can have a dramatic impact on kids lives because they will listen to you when sometimes they wont listen to their own parents. I always thought Mike Vick could utilize his position to have a great impact. Unfortunately he did not embrace that opportunity. Maybe this time he will.
DOG FIGHTING
There is no defending the actions of anyone who engages in dog fighting and the killing of dogs that don't perform. Keep in mind that Mike Vick has spent a considerable amount of time in jail and watched his fortune evaporate as a result of his actions. Consider this, hunter's breed dogs all the time for the sole purpose of corralling and fighting boars, bears, and other prey they hunt. Those dogs often are killed in the fights. I have watched many hunters (I am not a hunter) kill animals for sport or because they view them as a nuisance (shoot a coyote because they don't like coyotes and many other animals). When a horse that is bred to race fails to win they are often sold at bargain prices, killed (brutally many times), and slaughtered for food in foreign countries. Are these examples much different than what Mike Vick did? Yet, they don't carry the negative connotations nor the consequences as dog fighting.
The argument put forth by some, like Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com, that the actions of Mike Vick were deliberate and prolonged and therefore much worse than one random act of violence (DUI manslaughter, a fight ending in severe injury, etc.) rings hallow to me. If this were the case, someone who cheats on his taxes over the course of years or a player who engages in prolonged steroid use is worse than a player who gets in a car drunk and kills another human being. Child abuse and spousal abuse are prolonged activities that have lifelong negative effects on their victims and can lead to loss of life, but we make allowances for those who do this. Life is precious, especially human life. And if we have made allowances for people whose actions have played a part in the death of a human, surely we can afford that same opportunity to an individual who killed dogs and paid his debt to society in jail and with his wallet.
Dog fighting was part of Mike Vick's past. He was exposed to it often as he grew up and became desensitized to the moral objections. Much the same way a child abused has a propensity to abuse their own children; Vick had a propensity to engage in dog fighting. It does NOT absolve him from the responsibility of his actions and the consequences of those actions but it helps you to understand why someone with so much to live for would risk it all on something so absurd. I don't believe Mike Vick knew the reality of his actions. I think he was ignorant to the ramifications of his enterprise and had no idea what he was risking. He had no one around him who loved him enough to risk their relationship by being honest. No one who would tell Mike, don't do that, stop and think about what you are risking. Regardless of your circumstances, you are responsible for your own actions and Mike Vick certainly is responsible for his actions.
As someone who knew Mike personally, I don't believe he is the animal that many make him out to be. I believe he has good in his heart and that he has learned from his mistakes immeasurably. He was the greatest athlete on a football field that I ever played with. He had immense courage in the way he played. I look forward to helping him transfer those same qualities into his life as a man.
Jay Feely