"It is fitting that the NFL has suspended him," said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States. "He's now a role model for something terrible, and it's not appropriate that he suit up in an NFL uniform."
The way I see it now, on the heels of the NFL’s suspension of Michael Vick, a big percentage of this debacle is a direct result of jealousy. Vick is an exceptional athlete, an insanely wealthy individual, wildly popular, nice looking, and quite successful as a result of hard work, dedication and resolve. While these things don’t give him a free pass to break the law, they also shouldn’t factor in when it comes to making a decision about his actions. Let me explain.
The sentence quoted at the top annoys me. I’ve never heard of Wayne before, but he seems like a prick. I probably shouldn’t judge him without knowing any more about him than his position and a quote, but then again, that’s about as much as he’s doing to Vick. So, to quote the Holy Bible, and Jesus Christ, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged…” It’s too bad I can’t get quoted on MSNBC and say something like “Wayne Pacelle is a moron, and it’s just not appropriate he be allowed to head the Humane Society any longer.” Why would I say this? Well, I’m sure somewhere along the way Wayne has messed up. Maybe he ran a stop sign, or got a speeding ticket, or perhaps he used profanity once at a soccer game. Fact is, I don’t know. But neither does he know everything about the Michael Vick case. But in spite of that, how does it relate to Vick’s profession as a football star? It doesn’t. Yeah, apparently he goofed. Yeah, apparently he made some poor decisions, not the least of which is choice of friends. But he should never be able to throw a football in the NFL again? Come on. That is blatant jackass jealousy and nothing more. I revert back to the silliness of my hypothetical statement of unfitness concerning Wayne losing his job due to a speeding ticket. It’s absurd, and so is this, so why can’t we see it?
If Michael Vick were a burger flipper at McDonald’s making riding the free bus to work and earning minimum wage, would we be hearing the same things? I don’t think so. It’s because Vick makes an insane amount of money more than those of us in the average category that we want to yank him down from that pedestal. He’s earned that position, and he should be able to keep it.
Now, lest it appear I’m castigating Wayne of the dog pound and winking at the offenses of Michael Vick, I apologize. I’m just peeved and wanted to write an emotional, spurt of the moment post so I can look back on it at a later date and see how it compares to the final judgment. The NFL commish had to make the statements he did, Nike had to drop it’s endorsement, the Falcons had to act as though they were upset, but the truth is every one of those organizations will watch with bated breath the proceedings, and if in fact everything turns out to be less serious than these initial allegations predict, they’ll all, wholesale, jump back on board the Vick train because of the earnings potential. Is that sick? No, I don’t think so. If I could fill stadiums across the country with people who are willing to shell out dollar after dollar on tickets, parking, apparel, food and drink, souvenir, etc., then I’d be worth a multi-million dollar contract. I don’t, therefore I’m living a meager lifestyle at an average wage. And I’m fine with that. I’m trying to make the best of my life, and my career, but I’m not interested in pulling someone who’s reached higher than me down from their post. That’d be jealousy, and that, I’m told, is as cruel as the grave.
***Update***
Here's an interesting take from ESPN contributor Gregg Easterbrook called
Vick: Villain or scoundrel...or sympathetic figure?
4 comments:
I haven't followed this case closely but I think you may be wrong about a couple of things here. First, it is not a case of Vick merely messing up. Saying he made poor decisions is putting an extremely favorable spin on it. It is reprehensible behavior and, like it or not, public figures are held to higher standards. Players can protest that all they want but the fact remains. Complaining about it is like celebrities complaining about the paparazzi - it's part of the lifestyle.
Furthermore this does have something to do with his status as a player. He funded the gambling which, as I understand it, violates part of his contract as an NFL player. In that case the NFL is bound to suspend him, particularly since he pleaded guilty.
Come to think of it, I'd bet that there is a "behave yourself" clause in his contract. You find it as one of the terms of employment set out by many employers now. They don't want to be humiliated by their employees.
You make valid points, my friend, but I think that most of my aggravation stems from the whole idea of people writing him off before all the facts are in. The 3 other guys in the case have records, are quite untrustworthy, it seems, and at best are scum. They, however, are being given every opportunity to hang Michael Vick with their ass-saving testimonies, and the media is jumping in wholesale at declaring Vick as guilty. I know he plead guilty to some of the charges, but what's being overlooked is the fact that his admission is much less than what they are saying. I'm just asking that time be given for all of the facts to get in, THEN decide whether or not he should ever play football again. I'm sure this is a result of the information at the speed of light society in which we live, but innocent until proven guilty still stands, right? I do disagree with some of the "higher standards" issues of celebrities, so perhaps we'll have to talk about that at one of our Saturdays. Speaking of which...holla!
Chimerical: I like the piece written by Easterbrook that I've added as an update on the post. I think it makes a lot more sense than my ramblings, but I share his feelings on most of the issues.
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