Michael Vick

From now on, I’m going to begin all of my sports posts with this. Disclaimer: Sports is a business. Make no mistake about it…it is no longer the romantic American Pie we all used to know.  If you can’t separate your emotion from it, then you can’t discuss the situation.

I gave this story a 48-hour period to cool from emotion and fire it created in Atlanta; and then I gave Michael Vick, the NFL and the Atlanta Falcons time to respond formally. The NFL and the Falcons finally did yesterday, so here is my take on the situation.

I absolutely adore how sports bring people together on the field. I believe between the lines it is the one place where the fans and athletes can stay pure because outside the lines it’s just business. You don’t put money on your favorite team, you don’t cry when they trade your favorite player and you don’t draft your hometown hero on your fantasy team. I’m not a Falcons fan, but I saw a few games at the Georgia Dome last year. Like any other arena, it’s amazing to see people of all types in unison cheering on one team. It gives a break to reality. However, the power and essence of sports can just as quickly bring the country backwards. The OJ Trial is an easy example. Books are still being written about its social implications to this day. Fifteen years later, we now have Mike Vick.

 Race
It’s no surprise that the first thing people jumped on was the race bandwagon with this one. It’s the easy and ignorant target…always is. This is not a racially motivated instance. I don’t know what else to say. It just isn’t. Look at the facts. No, really look at the here. If you haven’t read the facts, then you can’t speak about the topic. You can see the entire 18-page document. He tortured and killed a dog by soaking it in water and then electrocuting it. They beat dogs to death. Now, pick a superstar NFL player of another race…Peyton Manning, Troy Polamalu, Drew Brees, Tedy Bruschi…anyone of these men would be facing the same thing Mike Vick is right now.

The Law versus NFL/NFLPA

I’m so sick of hearing, “he’s innocent until proven guilty.” This has become a tag line for people who refuse to acknowledge that there needs to be accountability in a situation. People don’t even know what it means. That line is representative of the government’s stance to make sure you receive a fair trial by a jury of your peers and aren’t just put in jail never to come out. It doesn’t mean that you’re not guilty. The court of public opinion proves that.

I’m no great legal mind, but I definitely understand the basics. Unfortunately, as a whole we are ignorant when it comes to the process. I have no choice but to invoke the genius from the movie Men in Black here when Tommy Lee Jones is talking to Will Smith,

“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Everything they've ever "known" has been proven to be wrong. A thousand years ago everybody knew as a fact, that the earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew that the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on it. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.”

I’m not sure it can be said much better than that. I’ve heard stupid things from sports radio callers such as, It’s a conspiracy. They messed up the 2000 election. They let Scooter Libby go, so now they’re looking for their next big name. Um, what? This man proved the quote above. The federal government has over a 90% success rate when it comes to convictions. That means they don’t indict unless it’s a slam dunk.

When it comes to the NFL, it is not a public forum. It is a private company. They don’t care what you think. Their first commitment is to protect the “shield”. If I had a multi-BILLION dollar investment and the most popular sports franchise EVER, then I would do everything to protect its integrity. Make no mistake about it. The NFLPA is completely on board with every decision the NFL has made thus far. They can’t protect Vick anymore. I would say the majority of players agree with what the NFL is doing. Very few quotes are coming out from players unless they play for the Falcons. The ones that have said something have been pretty ignorant statements such as Clinton Portis and Emmitt Smith. The NFL is nearly 80% black. The NFLPA president, Gene Upshaw, is a former star black player; so I would say they have above average representation. I haven’t heard him cry for racism. 

Hunting versus Dog Fighting
This one is a close second for me behind racism as far as the ignorant statements. On an average day, PETA gets on my nerves about this one. But with this players and critics are getting on my nerves. For whatever reason, a dog is a domesticated animal and a deer is not. As long as you hunt and eat what you hunt, then you’re ok. How do you think people ate before large grocery store chains ran the country? They hunted. Some people don’t live in areas with such grocery stores, so how do they eat? They hunt. Before you judge, how many times did you eat a steak or a piece of chicken this week? It was killed for you. Why is that ok?

I love Joe Horn because of his heart and the work he did for the people of New Orleans before, during and after Katrina; but I only agree with maybe half of what he says. Some of it is ignorant…especially when he speaks in the 3^rd person. This week he tried to prove his point by saying, “Aren’t all animals created equal?”  WHAT? Did you just say that? I need another whole post just for that question alone.

Utopia and Michael Vick
I’m not going too deep into larger social issues here, but unfortunately Mike Vick is a product of his environment. He is just completely ignorant as to what he has been doing this whole time and now it’s too late. It has taken all of this for him to finally see what is wrong. And make no mistake about it, he still doesn’t think it’s wrong…he just doesn’t want to get into trouble. He lacks accountability for his actions. It aggravates me. He has $130 million alone from his playing contract that he can make if he accepts the relatively easy responsibilities that go along with it. Like it or not, one of the responsibilities is that he’s the face of the franchise and must tote the line. Don’t want to do that, then don’t sign the paper. Mr. Vick you can’t have it both ways. You tried and it has caught up with you. As much as you think you own your life, if you threaten the validity of the “shield,” then you will lose. You have an average playing career of 3 years. You are not bigger than the game. There are others’ livelihoods at stake. This has already been proven with Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson. In both cases, the NFLPA has been satisfied with Roger Goodell’s decision making. They don’t want their league to catch the bad image that others possess. They care about their livelihood.

I’m not an apologist for Vick, but he is a victim of what he’s grown up around. His brother Marcus enhances the argument too. They have been star athletes, thus they have ALWAYS been given special treatment. Every time they’ve done wrong…someone has covered it up for them. I’ve been on many teams and seen this firsthand at the high school and college level. If we treat people this way, then how can we expect them to act any different? Someone is going to pay the price eventually.

Allen Iverson and Mentoring
I’ve always been a fan of Iverson. Like many athletes, I think he doesn’t think before he speaks; but I’ve always admired his heart, and I believe him to be a good person. He has proven to be much wiser in the last few years. He has offered to mentor Vick since he’s been through it. That is awesome. It is a great idea. I would love to see a program where embattled veteran athletes take rookies under their belts to help them through tough times and prepare them to ditch their “bad friends.” However, it needs to be: I did this so don’t make the same mistakes I have…not…This is what I did and how you can get around it.

Bottom Line
I’m annoyed with Mike Vick. He HAD the privilege of not only being able to play in the top pro sports league in America, but he is one of the faces of the league. He HAD $130 million contract with the Falcons and over $200 million in endorsements. He is in danger of losing nearly 85% of that total package and that doesn’t include future potential deals. Teammates have said that Vick just wants to be back on the field. Of course, it’s all he knows…it’s all he feels comfortable doing. Now he’s being forced into an extremely unknown situation. Arthur Blanke (who has done more than he ever needed to for Vick’s career) will never let him put on a Falcons uniform again. I’m not certain the NFL will ever let him put on ANY uniform again.  Think about that.  If you were 27 and what you love to do and get paid for is completely stripped from you.