A Vick-tim?

As much as I hate to admit it, I have been pondering this Michael Vick situation all week.

For those who don’t wake-up daily to ESPN like me, Vick is a former NFL quarterback who was convicted of running an illegal dog-fighting operation out of one of his houses.

Now I wasn’t debating the morality (or immorality) of dog-fighting, (I am whole-heartedly against it, BTW) but more of what is next for Vick?

When I first heard of Vick’s conviction, I was dead-set against his return to playing professional football. In my mind, playing pro football is more a luxury than a right.

Why give someone another chance after they had thrown away a once in a lifetime opportunity? Aren’t they just going to do it again?

I was so enraged at the atrocity of his actions that I thought 2 years in prison was not enough.

But as I really thought about it, it was jealousy that fueled my anger.

This guy was not only an NFL player, but a starting quarterback in the NFL…there are only 32 of those guys in the entire world. How could Vick not appreciate what he had been given? How could he throw it all away just to ‘keep it real’ for his buddies?

Ok, I had to cut that last paragraph short as I could go on for awhile.

As a dude, being a pro athlete is pretty much what you aspire to do from birth. But as you get older and come to grips with your own athletic mediocrity, you gain a certain appreciation for the guys who made it happen.

So to see Vick F-it-all-up is infuriating.

All that being said, you’d think I am still against Vick being allowed to return to the NFL.

But I am not.

Vick was convicted by a jury of his peers and paid his debt to society.

To further penalize him would be unfair and well, un-American.

We are a country based on the rule of law, (unless you rich/white or poor/minority- OJ doesn’t count) and for me to say Vick cannot return to the work that he is best runs counter to fundamental American faith in the justice system.

Do I think Vick is sincere in his volunteer efforts with the Humane Society? Hell no.

But it doesn’t matter.

The terms of Vick’s conviction were to spend two years behind bars. Vick was an NFL star(ter) at the time of his conviction and the lost wages/revenue from endorsements over that time period is more money than most folks could make in 4 lifetimes. So he’s paid his due both fiscally and physically.

I thought the whole idea of the justice/penal system was to rehabilitate. To further punish Vick by keeping him from doing what he does best, which is play football, just seems like cruel and unusual punishment.

We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all had to ask for forgiveness. We’ve all had to grow-up.

It just seems unfair to make an example out of Vick after he’s come clean and paid his due.

So I think Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL. But that doesn't mean I'll be very happy about it.

For a look at some of the reactions to Vick check-out this site:
- http://www.cosellout.com/?p=100