The reinstatement of Michael Vick is one of the sickest and most demented thing the NFL has ever allowed. I don’t know how the rest of the country feels, but I can state my feelings and I’m sure lots of people will agree. Most people I’ve spoken to over the last few days aren’t knowledgeable of the fact that he didn’t just run a dog-fighting ring. This is a man who supported the joy of watching dogs kill each other as well as murdering the dogs that didn’t fight well. This is a man who participated in gruesome acts such as shooting, hanging, drowning, electrocuting and slamming dogs into the ground. What kind of human being is capable of doing such a thing? Well, there are lots of those kinds in this world. Our job as a community and structured democracy is to see that they are righteously punished. Twenty-three months as punishment? Let’s remember that only eight-teen of those months were actually served in prison. The rest of his term was spent on house arrest in his classy, sprawling Virginia estate. Talk about the good life. I don’t feel this man was righteously punished as it is, but then to reinstate him into the NFL?! Michael Vick will be paid $1.625 million for the 2009 season unless of course the team that signed him, none other than the Philadelphia Eagles, will drop him before regular season begins. If the team keeps him for the 2010 season he’ll be getting $5.25 million plus a $1.5 million roster bonus! This is incredible that a person of his nature is even allowed to make this type of money. What amazes me even more is that young kids will be idolizing this man. The NFL is responsible for allowing this man to represent what’s wrong with this country. You can do something as horrible and atrocious as killing dogs and still have the “good life.” He will still reap all the wonderful benefits that so many of us hard-working, honest, good people will never experience. Sure, Michael Vick is going to show remorse during interviews. And of course he has completely changed for the better in the past two years. Who wouldn’t say that stuff if they were being allowed to have celebrity status and offered lots of money?
There’s not a lot one person can do to get Vick out of the NFL. I can write all the things I feel all day and I probably won’t get anywhere with it. We can change the outcome of this horrifying situation as a group. We can try to prevent Vick from being a professional football player as a community. But as a country who loves the sport, we can show the NFL that we will not root for and/or support an organization that backs up a dog killer. Shame on the Eagles for considering and accepting Michael Vick as a team member. Shame on Commissioner Roger Goodell for granting Vick a second chance that he does not deserve. And shame on those who support this man!
I will not be bleeding green this season.
