I think dogfighting is absolutely, indefensibly, reprehensibly awful, therefore, Michael Vick got what he deserved. I think it's wrong of people to say that after serving his prison sentence, Mike needs to serve an additional suspension handed down from Commissioner Roger Goodell. Mike spent two years away from the game while doing time in a federal prison. Now people feel that he needs to be suspended another year or more while he's not doing time.
You may say that I'm comparing apples and oranges here, but I'd like to bring a couple other controversial issues to the table, in which athletes received no additional punishment other than that which had been handed down to them by courts of law in the United States of America. You know, the people whose job it is to determine what punishments fit the crimes that athletes commit off the field of play. I understand that yes, the commissioner's job entails him to make disciplinary decisions, but I don't think that they should be able to upstage a court of law.
In September of 2003 the Ferrari Dany Heatley was driving crashed into a wall, killing his teammate Dan Snyder. It was later discovered that Dany was driving his car under the influence of alcohol, though not above the legal limit. Be that as it may, Dany Heatley pleaded guilty to second degree vehicular homicide, and was handed down 3 years' probation, and wasn't allowed to drive a car that exceeded 70 miles per hour. Due to the injuries Heatley received in the accident he didn't play until January of 2004 (that same season), and appeared in 31 games for the Atlanta Thrashers. Let me repeat: Dany Heatley was responsible for the death of a teammate, and continued playing hockey that same season. Mike Vick-dogfighting ring (not condoning it, just putting it there for comparison's sake)- 2.5 years in prison. And people want Goodell to add onto that suspension?
In February of 2004, it was discovered that Jamal Lewis was involved in trafficking cocaine. Lewis was sentenced to four months in prison, which fell during the NFL off-season, and he was ordered to serve an additional 4 game sentence. Now, Michael Vick has missed 2 seasons of NFL football due to the prison sentence. Lewis would have missed no NFL action, and essentially wouldn't have seen any punishment from his league, so it was kind of necessary for the punishment to be handed down. If Lewis would have served his sentence during the NFL season, he would have probably been allowed to come back whenever his sentence ended.
What would the NFL have to gain by suspending Michael Vick additionally? People say that this is an image issue with the NFL. Well, if that's the case, what was the NBA thinking while allowing Kobe Bryant to play basketball during his rape trial? Yes, he ended up being innocent, but it's still not a situation that is going to do wonders for their image. Mike Vick has paid his debt to society, I don't see what the NFL has to gain by adding on to Mike Vick's suspension. Have we really gone that far as a society that we're not willing to grant people second chances? Let Michael Vick come back and re-gain all of our respect as an athlete. Let him prove himself as a man, too. I just know that I don't want to consider myself part of a society where we are so cold-hearted that we are not willing to grant a human being a second chance after making a mistake. I know that we, if we found ourselves in his position, would ask the same of society. I surely hope that Roger Goodell thinks the same way, and allows Michael Vick a chance to redeem himself, both on and off the field.
Update: A source tells ESPN that Roger Goodell will grant Michael Vick "conditional reinstatement" that will allow him to attend training camp with an NFL team, but he will be suspended for the first 4 games.
PS: My last 3 entries have been pretty negative, you can be sure that the next one will be much more upbeat and lighthearted. I mean, I feel like I'm turning into Bob Ley and Roger Cossack roled into one.
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Just really bad arguments. Ray Lewis got 4 months in jail and he PROBABLY would have been allowed to play if it were during the season? Probably?
ReplyDeleteI can't see how that can possibly be known unless you were Tagliabue.
Give Vick one week suspension per month in jail and i'll be happy.
As for the Kobe part, comparing the NFL's desire to keep a good image to the NBA's lack of image is irrelevant. Also, for Kobe, what right does the NBA have to suspend him if he is technically innocent?
Vick is a piece of trash who doesn't deserve a second chance. Trafficking cocaine and drunk driving are all mental mistakes that are obviously regrettable, but torturing innocent dogs who did absolutely nothing wrong and are incapable of defending themselves is just psychotic.
Jamal Lewis, I assume you mean, in regards to the suspension? I think you're missing the point. It seems kind of evident that the only reason the NFL suspended him was because they felt like they had to do something. The point is, the NFL has no reason to suspend him any further than they already have, he spent two years in prison which kept him off the field. Lewis's punishment wouldn't have done that, so it was the NFL's job to step in. In regards to Kobe, it was kind of just a throw-in point, the NFL suspended Adam Jones while he was "technically" innocent too, fact of the matter is, it was a PR move, and that's what the NFL is looking at with suspending Vick again. And I'm sorry for thinking that Dany Heatley shouldn't have been able to play that season, since you know, he killed his teammate. You could call it a mental lapse all you want, but I think taking another human's life into your hands is pretty psychotic. You could argue that maybe Dany was never taught about driving drunk when he was being brought up, but you could make the same argument for Vick, as dogfighting is pretty big in the Southern underground. Whether you think Vick deserves a second chance is up to you, but personally, I think that generally all people deserve a second chance in life, and hope Vick makes the most out of whatever turns out to be his.
ReplyDeleteAnd just one more thing: technically Vick was serving a month's suspension for every month in jail, because he was under NFL suspension while he was in jail. So for every month in jail, he was being suspended a month from the NFL. So what exactly, I ask again, does the NFL have to gain by suspending him even further?
ReplyDeleteDoing community service with the rehabilitation of these dogs would be a GREAT idea. He should face the brutality he created and try to amend his ways. I believe there is something wrong with humans hurting/killing other humans and that those who hurt/kill animals are just a step away from doing it to a human.
ReplyDeleteWe need to see him in action OFF the field as well as in uniform. There are young children seeing and learning from his actions. We need to gain his trust again.
I agree with the community service idea, but maybe not with dogs. Plus, I'm not sure the public would want him dealing with animals... But if he had something that forced him to regret his action, that would be effective. It sounds like torture, but he did the same thing to the dogs so he can't exactly object. Hopefully he regrets his decisions every day, but something that directly forced him to remember would work.
ReplyDeleteI think if you look at all the incidents involving these suspensions as "crimes" instead of what actual crime it was, you can come up with a better plan of action. Michael Vick committed a crime. He was given a federal punishment. Should that be "repeated" by the NFL? I'm not sure that's fair. His crime didn't have to do with football. It wasn't like he was involved with a scam or something, like the Black Sox thing. If it involved football, an additional suspension might seem more appropriate.
I'm a dog person, so clearly I'm not condoning what he did. I agree that what he did was "absolutely, indefensibly, reprehensibly awful, therefore, Michael Vick got what he deserved."
Pacman had a distinct pattern of repeat offending, therefore his situation deserved action taken by the NFL even though he was still technically innocent until proven guilty. Vick admitted to his crimes and needs to pay a debt not only to society but to the NFL community. The NFL can't just say, "oh good you're out of jail, now we really want you back." He needs appropriate suspension by the NFL ,who acts as another governing body once he signs that contract.
ReplyDeleteFact of the matter is: Vick was serving his two punishments at the same time, you don't seem to be picking up on that. He paid a debt to the NFL community by not being in the league for 2 years, and basically forfeiting any money that he would have made. Pacman had a distinct pattern of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, only truly offending twice, (though this was after he had already been suspended.) He was treated like he was guilty before he was proven guilty, which is something I have a problem with. Vick has paid his debt to society, and to the league, by missing two seasons-worth of NFL football. They shouldn't suspend him again until he screws up again.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the NFLs fault he made himself unavailable to play. They might as well have not suspended him.
ReplyDelete2 years in prison is enough. It was the sentence handed down by the United States Government. If you want to say he should have been suspended because he directly lied to the commissioner about dogfighting, I'd respect that more than saying he should continue to be punished for what he's already been punished for. He's been tentatively suspended for 6 games, but Goodell's allowed himself the ability to end the suspension before the 6 weeks if he sees fit. At least it's a flexible punishment, but I personally believed that 2 years in prison was enough for the crime he committed.
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