Why I Can't Forgive Michael Vick

Over the first month of the NFL season, there has been no bigger story than the reemergence of Michael Vick as a top flight quarterback. Many thought Vick was done for as a star football player after serving 21 months in prison for running an interstate dog fighting ring. He returned to the game last year as the 3rd string quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He moved up to 2nd string this year after The Eagles traded Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins. After starter Kevin Kolb was injured in the first game of the season, Vick took over and had what might have been the best three game run of his career. Not only was he making plays with his feet, but he was also doing so with his arm, displaying a new found accuracy in the process.

Like many, I found his performance remarkable. He truly seems better than ever. Which of course, makes him quite a story. But is it a "feel good" story? I think not.

Now don't get me wrong, I understand that Vick has served his time for the crime that he plead guilty too. And I take no issue with his right to seek employment in his chosen profession. I say this even though I think his sentence was nowhere near what he deserved. Nor do I agree with The Eagles decision to offer him a job. But I do not argue their right to employ him or Vick's right to accept. Perhaps I should just be thankful that my Miami Dolphins didn't bring him back to the league.

Still, his presence in the NFL offends me. Of course, I know there are a lot of "bad" guys in the NFL besides Vick. Donte Stallworth returned to the league this year after killing a man while operating his car while legally drunk. Obviously, his crime was horrendous too. But I can give Stallworth a break more easily than I can Vick. Yes, I know, Stallworth killed a person whereas Vick killed dogs. I'm not trying to argue the value of a dog's life over that of a human being. But here's the difference, Stallworth did not set out to kill that man when he got behind the wheel of his car. Was he irresponsible? Certainly. Was he liable? Absolutely. Was his goal to torture, maim, and kill? No. And for me, therein lies the difference. Stallworth was foolish. Vick was intentionally cruel.

How cruel? Here is just a sample of what was found on Vick's property in rural Virginia:

1) Multiple shallow graves of deceased dogs
2) Rape stands which were used to lock a female pit bull into place while an aggressive male was forced to copulate with her
3) Bloody fighting pits in buildings painted black so that they could not be seen in the forest area behind the property.
4) 49 dogs that were used for fighting, breeding, and bait in squalid conditions.

Why in the world would Vick get involved in something as detestable as this? Many will point to a "culture" of dog fighting that permeates certain areas of the south. The point being that Vick grew up around dog fighting and therefore saw nothing wrong with it. Which I will buy up until a point. If Vick were a 15 year old kid involved in this racket, that would be one thing. Hell, if he were a 27 year old man who had never left his backyard, I might even understand that. But Vick wasn't. He was a 27 year old football star who had experienced much more than his "backyard." He went to a major college (Virginia Tech), was paid millions of dollars by the Atlanta Falcons, and surely had classmates and teammates who had loving relationships with animals. But maybe the most important point to note is this: He knew it was illegal. You don't go through all the effort that he did to keep his nasty side business under wraps if you think it's permissible behavior. Here was a man who didn't need this and should have known better. So why did he continue to do it? My guess is that he loved it.

He loved watching two pit bulls tearing each other apart in the blacked out rooms on his property. To see them maimed, brutalized, and disfigured. Many of them ending up dead or dying. He took pleasure in it. Monstrous.

And what did they do with dogs that were grievously injured or unwilling to fight? They murdered them. By methods such as drowning, electrocution, and hanging. In fact, one dog was picked up and thrown to the ground repeatedly until the poor beast's heart gave out. Why didn't they just shoot them? Because they didn't want anyone to hear the gun shot. Vick either participated or was present for many of these dispatchings. At minimum, he funded them. This is sick, vile behavior, and if it were up to me, they would have locked him up and thrown away the key.

Unfortunately (from my perspective), that is not what the law provides. In many states, animal cruelty is not even a felony. If there is a single good thing to come from this, it's that a light was shined on this diseased blood sport and there have been many crackdowns on dog fighting across the country.

Actually, there was one other good thing to come from this. Of the 49 dogs that were seized from the property, only two had to be euthanized (one for aggression, the other due to poor health). One of the dogs was deemed unadoptable, but will live out the rest of his life on a shelter in Utah. The other 46 have either been adopted, or are in training to become adoptable. Some have even become service dogs.

Pit bulls are often beset by a lot of mythology about their aggressive nature. While it's true that some of the worst dog attacks in recent years have been perpetrated by the breed, that behavior is not typical, and is often caused by irresponsible owners who do not properly train or socialize these powerful creatures. If Vick's Badnewz Kennelz has proven anything, it is that they are NOT "bad" dogs.

As I mentioned before, I take no issue with Vick's return to football. And if sportswriters around the country want to report his exploits as a "feel good" story, than that is their prerogative. Just don't expect me to salute. Yes, I'm aware that Vick has kept his nose clean since his release. That he has said all the right things--even doing PSA's for the Humane Society. And since I can't get inside of his head, I have no way of knowing whether he is sincere or not. I hope that he is. I hope that he can make something of his life beyond the football field and serve as an example of what not to do with your life. If his tale of dog fighting can become a cautionary one, than that will at least be something.

But some things are so heinous and despicable, that I simply can't forgive them. And the consistent, intentional infliction of cruelty on animals whose very life is dependant upon those whose hands they fall into is one of them. And yes, I know Jesus saves, and God forgives. But I'm not Jesus and I sure ain't God. And I don't.

Sumo-Pop
October 10, 2010