The Michael Vick Ordeal

[Insidious Rex]

Originally Posted by Nurvingiel

He seems like an all-around decent guy... except for his tendency to encourage dogs to maul each other to death for enjoyment.

Other than that. You know.

Sadly this is probably a pretty good description of the man. Hes not much of a partier. He doesnt really flaunt his riches like some money crazy athletes. He HAD donated and founded inner city resources since hes been in the NFL and without seeking acclaim or notoriety for it. And yet hes participated and funded an activity most of us consider heinous and cruel and despicable. Why? Well what we do know is that he has a history of making bad choices and being poorly influenced by bad seeds. What we do know is that hes not the most intelligent guy in the world. What we do know is that his own father tells stories of dog fighting being a prevalent part of his youth in the community he grew up in (in fact in most of the south it exists at alarming levels). So to him this was kind of part of the landscape. And when he suddenly had a hundred million dollars to play with it only made sense to him to help fund and run what he thought was a borderline legitimate “sporting” activity and when he had always only been encouraged to engage in by his peers and those with an interest in seeing it. He would even talk about it among his teammates in the locker room as if it wasn’t illegal. It was clear to him it really didn’t seem like a big deal. So lets cut him a little slack before we utterly and permanently denounce him as the worlds ultimate scum bag…

He was stupid to engage in this activity. He was even more stupid to deny it. But now hes admitted to his crimes. And hes saying all the right things to make amends for his behavior. Is he genuine? Time will only tell but so far so good I think. In his last press conference he basically stated he honestly didn’t think it was a big deal. But he has since learned to many people it’s a huge deal. And how wrong he was for engaging in it. And how desperate he is to make amends for it and better the world because of his mistake. He particularly focused on how much he had failed the youth who saw him as a hero and wanted to emulate him. And that he ultimately wants to use his own tragedy in this to educate these same youth about dog fighting and how its most definitely NOT cool. And that’s a good thing if he means it. So lets hope he does. I think that would actually be more beneficial then him rotting in jail for years. Kids tend to look up to athletes even if they go to jail (sometimes especially if they do…). So our only chance is to have these same athletes “see the light” and pass this light on to those kids who might otherwise engage in vile behavior themselves.

So lets keep a close eye on him… And see if he continue into the Amazing Grace realm of life changing opportunity or if he just goes through the motions and doesn’t seem to get it despite everything that’s happened…