Vick incites outrage amid cheers

Vick incites outrage amid cheers

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?id=5876114

By Nils Lofgren
Special to ESPN.com

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An open letter to the men and women of the sports reporting community,

I am so disheartened and disappointed by your collective, lopsided praise of Michael Vick due to his recent spectacular on-field performance.

Jemele Hill stated on ESPN's "The Sports Reporters" that if Josh Hamilton could win one of baseball's MVP awards after recovering from alcohol and drug abuse, why couldn't Vick win the award in the NFL? Well, for one thing, Hamilton has neither tortured dozens of dogs nor murdered defenseless animals.

I do not know what is in Michael Vick's head or heart. But in a recent ESPN interview, and elsewhere, he stated that while he was committing these heinous acts of cruelty, it never occurred to him that he was doing anything wrong.

What a chilling, telling statement.

In Vick's case, I believe his second chance should certainly allow him to be free and to love and raise his family. I think he should make speeches about the error of his ways and help animal groups. I understand that he is doing some of these things and I applaud that. He's also admitted to being haunted by his dogfighting days. That growth is welcome and necessary, but comes too late for me and those dogs.

Shame on the NFL for not banning him permanently.

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Vick did the crime so he went to jail. Now that he is out, he is back working, and is really successful at his job. If he worked at a gas station before and went back there, would there be an issue? Probably not. Just because what Vick is really good at happens to be playing football does not mean that he should be further punished for a crime.

I encourage you all to read the full article and see if it made you as mad as me.

How is he not realizing what he was doing wrong "chilling and telling?" He grew up with dog fighting, he was socialized in an environment where it was done. He really had no choice in the matter. Were you able to pick what you did when you were 8 years old? Is anyone really free or capable to make their own choices at that age?

He could be a hell of a lot worse of a guy. He did his time. Now he's out and luckier than 99.999% of ex-cons.

He's a great player. His past should have no weight in what awards he can or cannot win in the NFL.

I could easily see both sides of this story.

I do find it funny how quickly all the Eagles fans that trashed bringing him in and hated the move because of his past are now embracing him as a hero.

I think he served his time ... and he has a right to get back out there and make a living however he can. He happens to be able to do it in football. I have not read a lot of outrage over others continuing their jobs after manslaughter charges or accidental death charges ... and those involve human beings.

The crime sucked ... but he was punished the way the law says he should be punished. I think you could make some very compelling arguments that his punishment was not enough, but, the fact is ... he served his time. He should be allowed to move on.

He got an extra harsh sentence because of who he was.

Now they want to keep on punishing him after he served his time?

I love animals, but some animal lovers are psychos.

They should get over it.

Wow, what a statement.



Knucklehead.

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Originally Posted by "midgensa" #1081315

I could easily see both sides of this story.

I do find it funny how quickly all the Eagles fans that trashed bringing him in and hated the move because of his past are now embracing him as a hero.

I think he served his time ... and he has a right to get back out there and make a living however he can. He happens to be able to do it in football. I have not read a lot of outrage over others continuing their jobs after manslaughter charges or accidental death charges ... and those involve human beings.

The crime sucked ... but he was punished the way the law says he should be punished. I think you could make some very compelling arguments that his punishment was not enough, but, the fact is ... he served his time. He should be allowed to move on.

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+1

I believe that he deserves this second chance, just as anyone would. He should not be hammered now for things that he's already been punished for.

However, I also beleive that the media are slobbering over him way tooi much at this point. He's having a fantastic season, but he does not deserve quite the level of adoration that he's getting.

I think that this is a deliberate campaign by the league to speed up the "rehabilitation" of a problem child. It's good for the image of the league, and it's good for the media to have such a feel-good story to pimp.

The media loves anything that makes them a buck.

They loved trashing him and they love deifying him.

They'll love the tragic story when he takes the big hit from a hard-rock safety that ends his career.

He runs the ball. QBs that run the ball don't last.

Short career guaranteed.

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Originally Posted by "Infidel" #1081373

The media loves anything that makes them a buck.

They loved trashing him and they love deifying him.

They'll love the tragic story when he takes the big hit from a hard-rock safety that ends his career.

He runs the ball. QBs that run the ball don't last.

Short career guaranteed.

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So Steve Young, Randall Cunningham, Fran Tarkenton, and Bobby Douglass didn't last?

Not in today's game.

Mark my words.

Unless he quits playing around running the ball.....stick a fork in him.

:D