| Monday NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Michael Vick will be conditionally reinstated into the league, and that no later than Week 6 of the NFL regular season Vick will be fully reinstated. Vick served 18 months in federal prison for operating a dog fighting ring on his property in Virginia. According to an article in the New York Times, Ingrid Newkirk, the president and co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), would not confirm whether or not there would or would not be protest by PETA. "There are so many strong sentiments. It's on the table, but we're not encouraging it." Vick met with the president of the Humane Society of the United States while in prison, and as Sport Illustrated reported, plans to work with the Humane Society of the United States in a program designed to prevent inner city youth from becoming involved with dog fighting.
Teams have been lining up, not to sign Vick, but to announce that they will not sign Vick. It is understandable why teams would be reluctant to sign the quarterback; there are no guarantees that he will be the same player he was and the amount of extra baggage that Vick brings with him does discourage teams from taking that chance. However, it is probably that a team will be able to sign Vick for significantly lower than market value for a player of his caliber. Then the real question is how the fans and the media will react to Vick wearing an NFL uniform again. There is a section of the population that does not want Vick to ever play for the NFL, or for any other league for that matter, for the rest of his life. According to a Gallup poll from 2007, 58% of those surveyed believed that Vick should not be allowed to play professional football.
I understand the visceral reaction to Vick's crimes, and I shared those emotions when I read about the crimes that he committed. How could you not be shocked by how the animals that he owned where treated; the same animals that many of us share our homes with? Also, as an owner of a pit bull I understood the public perception of the dogs, even though they are usually among the most loving and loyal breads, and the events surrounding Vick's crimes did not help the image of pit bulls. With that said, I am no way trying to trivialize his crimes, or to suggest that I do not care about the victims of the crimes. This is not about the crimes that Michael Vick has committed; this is about what happens after someone pays their debt for the crimes they commit.
More Below the Fold... |
| I do not feel sympathy for Michael Vick, but I do feel empathy for him. I know that is a dangerous word, but I think that despite the connotation that surrounds that word it is entirely appropriate. Vick committed a crime, a vicious and atrocious crime. Then he paid his debt to society, and whether or not you agree with the amount of debt that he owed, he paid is debt. In all likely hood Vick will never attain the same lifestyle he once enjoyed. Vick will probably never receive a $130 million salary, it is unlikely that companies will compensate him to endorse their products, and he has a debt of $20 million that he will have to pay off. Although Vick will by no means be living in poverty, he will not be living anywhere near the type of lifestyle he used to live.
There will be public pressure on whatever franchise decides to sign Vick. It is entirely likely that in addition to the emails and letters the front office will receive, practices and games will probably include the presence of protesters outside the gates. Letters to the editor will appear in the city's newspapers decrying the addition of Vick, and the phone lines of the local sports talk radio shows will be filled with voices ready to condemn Vick.
To really place this in context we must look at how Vick will be treated in relation to other people who have committed crimes, and even possibly people who have been accused of crimes. While someone who has been convicted of a sexual crime must register as a sex offender, someone who has been convicted of murder can reintegrate back into society without the same types of barriers. When Michael Vick was arrested and convicted of dog fighting it galvanized the public, and cover stories and articles where dedicated to the subject. When Donté Stallworth was convicted of manslaughter because of driving under the influence, there were no cover stories about the dangerous of drunk driving. Even though drinking a driving is a much more significant problem that dog fitting.
So, what does how we treat Michael Vick say about our society? To paraphrase a famous quote, if we can judge our society by how we treat our prisoners, can we also judge our society by how we treat those who have been prisoners? In a sense Michael Vick's story is about our own struggles, and no matter who we are we all make mistakes. However, what we hope is that we will have the opportunity to correct our mistakes, and have a second chance. The difference between us and Michael Vick is that we can make those mistakes in relative private, and no one will publically question whether or not we deserve a second chance.
It would be much easier to write with righteous indignation about how Michael Vick does not deserve to play professional football, and that he should have to live with the consequences of his decisions. It is simple to believe that there are moral absolutes, that life is in fact black and white. It is much harder to think about those situations in which life is not simple, and to understand that life is so often shades of gray. Life is not like a football game. Life is not easy or simple; life is fleeting and complex. So, perhaps we should let Vick back onto the field. Where for a while we can watch a simple game be played, and remember, if only for a moment, that we are all flawed and need second chances.
Political and Social Thought...
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