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Next July, two scenarios:
In the first, Michael Vick leaves federal custody, his 23-month sentence served for participating in a dog-fighting ring, walks into an NFL training camp and begs the country to just let him get on with his life.
In the second, Vick walks toward an NFL training camp, stops outside the gates, steps to a microphone – and with officials from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals beside him, confirms his participation in a wide-spread public-service campaign to stamp out dog-fighting.
Watch for my ads, he says. You’ll see a changed man, he promises. May I get on with my life?, he requests.
Two choices, but no choice, really. If something resembling the latter fails to unfold, Vick’s attempted return to the professional football field will be harder, louder and more contentious then it’s already going to be.
Vick will never out distance his crime. Dog-fighting will be in the lead sentence of his obituary. Forgiveness, from many, will be unthinkable. That’s the bed Vick made in the shadows of Moonlight Road in Surry County.
Still, Vick could defuse some of the boiling emotion toward him with the help of an animal-rights group. Even one often as radical and ridiculous as PETA, which knows how to get attention.
“Look, PETA would say that there’s not much to be gained by demonizing Michael Vick for the rest of his life,” Dan Shannon, PETA’s assistant director of campaigns, said Wednesday from his Norfolk office.
“PETA’s goal is to raise awareness about the cruelty of dog-fighting. … We want Michael Vick to be a partner in doing that for us, because we feel he has a unique voice. That’s what we want to make happen.”
That has to happen. Especially with bankruptcy attorneys – part of the phalanx of lawyers scurrying about on Vick’s behalf – placing “future earnings” at the heart of Vick’s effort to salvage his finances.
Obviously, this assumes Vick, who turns 29 in June, has the chance to earn huge money again as a pro football player .
His representatives in bankruptcy court implied this week that Vick will have many options, but presented no supporting evidence.
Opinion will be split. Not every franchise and city will have the stomach to endure the fire storms sure to erupt if they align with Vick, with or without the backing of a PETA or the Humane Society.
But once NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the word, Vick almost certainly will get his second chance, because great athletes just get those chances in pro sports.
The unforeseen irony, maybe even the saving grace, is animal rights people could be there holding hands with Vick.
Shannon said his group “has communicated” to Vick and his agent Joel Segal “what role we think he should play in the fight against dog-fighting. If he chooses to play that role, then PETA will be here to facilitate that.”
Vick “has said publicly that he realizes what he did was wrong and he regrets it now. If he really believes that, then why wouldn’t he want to get involved with the fight against dog-fighting?”
Shannon declined to characterize his conversations with Vick’s camp, and I couldn’t reach Segal on Wednesday to discuss it. But it seems simple at the heart: Playing ball with PETA could help Vick play ball.
Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com
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Thanks Blonde....
My point exactly. To the other poster. Who really cares if MV thinks he did something wrong? And you not watching him play football will not have any impact on him or his future pay check. The feds punished him. He is serving his time. Once he is out if he still believes he did nothing wrong, chances are pretty good that he will do something else wrong (i.e. The Juice). The feds will be watching every nickel and dime he earns once he is out you can believe that.
Not PETA
He doesn't need to join up with PETA he needs to join up with the SPCA or a Humane Society. PETA is crazy and they orchestrate illegal acitivies. Not a good idea for a felon.
PETA
I can't believe anyone would mention Michael Vick and PETA in the same breath. I sincerely hope Vick's opinion of PETA is the same as mine......"who gives a f--- about what the creeps at PETA think!"
Repentence...
When we sin and we are sorry for it we make an act of repentence in the Christian religion. Vick is a Christian and his act of repentence (changing his behavior) is maybe be a spokes-person for PETA against dog-fighting.
I, personally do not understand the joy of gambling of cock and dog fighting. I do not understand the joy of gambling of racing cockroaches and jumping frogs. I do understand the profits that are made by the casinos for staging various gambling games.
What I am saying is Vick got caught and he is sorry. He is sorry he got caught and he is sorry that he was associated with dog-fighting. He has been punished. OK. Let us move on.
Not Even
Why should he align himself with s pseudo-terrorist organization like PETA? All that would do in many people's mind is hurt him more. Maybe join with another group that hasn't alienated so many people. Having dealt with him and his "peeps" at the oceanfront, I can say he was and always will be nothing but a punk crook. It's a shame that most of the Hampton Roads athletes that make it, end up this way.
First line of his obituary?
Can you say hyperbole. If that is really all we will remember about Vick that would be a shame. First off who cares what PETA thinks about Vick. I am pretty confident Vick still does not care what PETA thinks of him right now. If he wants to come out against dog fighting great but who says he has to do it with PETA's support. Are they going to force him to go vegan for penance? And then when he does not, will they throw blood on him and call him a murderer? The notion that Vick has to align himself with PETA to save face is utterly ridiculus. Hopefully his agent will tell PETA to take a hike because he does not need to associated with the socio-paths that run that organization.
The NFL may take him back,
But I for one will not watch a single second of any game MV is in. I will not even watch any of his low-lites. MV is only sorry because he got caught & is only saying the right things to try to get back in the NFL. I can tell this by his not admitting that what he did was animal cruelty. Remember when he was in court the last time in Va. he plead "NOT" guilty to animal cruelty. That tells me he still hasn't accepted this as wrong, he's just giving lip service to the man.