Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has expressed interest in owning another dog. His recent comments Thursday about bringing one into his house have generated new outrage.
ESPN’s Sportsnation even had a poll asking its audience whether or not he should be allowed to own a dog again. Really?
As a firm believer in second chances, Vick has paid dearly for his actions. The former Atlanta Falcons star lost everything as a result of the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting case, including much of his property and was on the verge of filing for Chapter Nine.
He went from franchise player and multi-millionaire to convicted felon and nearly on his way to a bankruptcy court. But Vick served 21 months in prison, expressed remorse for his actions and was reinstated into the NFL by commissioner Roger Goodell.
So he used to have a dogfighting ring and practicing highly unethical behaviors towards the animals on his property. The only thing more you can do to the guy is make him wear a giant “F” on his chest for felon so the whole world knows what he did.
This isn’t The Scarlet Letter, and Michael Vick is not Hester Prynn.
Vick is actively working with the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and has knowingly expressed guilt for his behavior.
I can bet my entire life savings of five dollars (the Tim Weisberg college fund needs some charitable donations) that if Michael Vick had a time machine (sponsored by Coke Zero of course), he would go back and change how the whole investigation unfoiled.
If anything people should respect and admire the incredible athlete who was out of the NFL for two years only to become quite arguably an even better player.
If anything, his time in jail was well spent, and helped a man who obviously made a monumental mistake that nearly cost him his career, life and all of his assets.
No equity, liquidity, you name it. The man lost everything.
People need to realize Vick has kids and isn’t a little boy anymore. The man is 30 years old, and if he expresses interest in owning a dog, more power to him for trying to put the past behind him.
After all, he is a human being just like the rest of us.
“I really mean what I say. I don’t have a problem. I’m not a psychopath. I’m not crazy. I’m a human being,” Vick told the Associated Press Thursday.
“What happened in my past and what I did in the culture I grew up in doesn’t shape and mole me as the person I am now. I said it before that I wish I can own a dog, and I’ll continue to say it…”
He is clearly remorseful for what he did, and while he may have forever tarnished his reputation as a role model, he is ultimately a human being and like the rest of us, makes mistakes.
He still has to wait another year and a half before he can own a dog.
It’s not like he is asking to own 100 pitbulls. He just wants a dog.
Telling him he can never own a dog again is like telling a man/woman who commits adultery he/she can never get married again.
There would be no lessons in life without second chances. This is Vick’s second chance, and he is rising to the occasion in a way nobody ever expected him to–as an athlete, public figure and above all, a parent.
After all, a dog is a man’s best friend.