My passion for politics pales in comparison to my passion for the National Football League. Football is a narcotic for me, and I do not plan on quitting any time soon.
It is for this reason that I am heartbroken about having to accept the truth. Michael Vick is guilty.
Innocent men do not deal. An entire movie was made about boxer Ruben Hurricane Carter. Hurricane was no angel, but he was innocent of the murder charges against him. He fought back, and he was freed.
This is not the 1960s. Yes, the jails are littered with men claiming that they are innocent, and that the system set them up. However, mistakes do happen. Innocent men do get arrested. When they are right, they have to fight. To say that the system will never give them a fair shake in the age of DNA evidence is a cop out. Michael Vick should have fought for his innocence. He did not, because, sadly enough, he is pleading guilty.
District Attorneys, with the rare exception of those afflicted with Nifongitis, value keeping their jobs. Again, unlike a half a century ago, most of them do care about the evidence in front of them at all costs. This DA had a strong case.
I wanted Michael Vick to be innocent. Why? because like human beings everywhere, I am biased. I am an NFL fan, and I do not want the game I love to be tarnished.
In 1994, I believed that OJ Simpson was innocent. In the beginning, I was positive he was innocent. By the end of the trial I was less firm in my position, although I felt the prosecution had not proven its case (I still maintain that had the DA at the time not moved the trial from Simi Valley to Downtown LA to get his name in the paper and micromanage the case, the verdict might have been different). To this day my friends still occasionally poke fun at the fact that I honestly believed OJ didn’t do it.
A coworker crystallized the OJ situation for me by telling me, “You want him to be innocent.” Yes, I did. I still do.
One thing I tell people to this day is that I would not have lasted five minutes on that jury. They would have found out that I was wearing a “Real men wear black” Oakland Raiders t-shirt, and that OJ’s close friend Marcus Allen was one of my few childhood heroes. OJ also ran for 2000 yards, not in a 16 game season, but in a 14 game season.
Does being a sports hero allow a person to murder? No. Of course it does not. However, human beings have to admit their biases to have any credibility, and having me as an OJ juror would have tainted the jury pool. I could not bring myself to see one of the greatest running backs of all time, in addition to a successful Hertz executive and fried chicken store owner, as well as a comic actor in the Naked Gun movies, be a stone cold murderer. Why would a man who could have any woman be upset about one woman?
Michael Vick had it all. He had millions of kids cheering for him. He revitalized a pathetic Atlanta Falcons franchise. He could have owned the entire state of Georgia. He could roll to his right, stop, and throw it 70 yards to his left. He was a human highlight reel.
In another irony, my arguing that he was the best was disagreed with by a black coworker who felt that Steve Young, a white quarterback, was better. Johnny Cochran was wrong. Race is not part of everything we do. Football works because it truly is based on merit. OJ and Vick were not successful black athletes. They were successful athletes that happened to be black.
Now Vick is on his way top being a pariah. If only he had plead not guilty, things would be different. Rae Carruth was convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend. He will be in jail for the rest of his life. Ray Lewis was arrested in connection with a murder. I have no idea if he was guilty, but he fought the charges, and he won. He is on his way to being a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Michael Vick will not do life in prison. However, the life span of a football player is very short. Even one year away from the game is a potential career death sentence.
I was prepared to defend Michael Vick. Now I cannot, since he did not defend himself.
I am not condoning what he did. I am saying I wish he did not do it.
The 2007 NFL season will still be spectacular, but the Atlanta version of Banquo’s Ghost will be haunting many fans this year, especially young children first believing in things. These children did nothing wrong, and their hurt is tragic.
Then again, when they get their first puppy, they will treat it better than Michael Vick says he treated his. God I hope so.
eric
NFL does have its fair share of issues – from a crooked Pension plan for retired Veterans, to an all-too-disgusting range in pay that simply depends on how much the Player is worth to the bottom line – not necessarily what his worth is, on the field of play. And don’t think that the NFL is untouched by Performance Enhancing drugs. When the stakes are so high as they are in the NFL, when a Running Back’s average career is 6 seasons, you’d have to be completely close-minded to not accept that some guys desire this added advantage to secure themselves a decent future.
And as more players participate in Illegal activity, and as it begins to ‘trickle-up’ to affecting the bottom-lines of these various sporting organizations, you can’t help but wonder how much of a guiding hand the Organizations are in how these drugs make it to the Players’ hands.
I love competition, I love sport. But I hate deception, lies, and the contempt for human life that seems to be surfacing all over the Sporting Industry. I would love a 100% clean product, but I don’t think we’ve EVER seen such a thing, or will in the future.
But if I had to make a choice – Go Patriots!
I don’t really follow sports, but I am human being enough to be disgusted by what Mr. Vick did. I am not even a real animal lover, but find it unbelievable that he and his friends not only did it but took entertainment in it. Isn’t killing animals a hobby of serial killers? This man never was a hero. He may have been venerated as one, but he never truly earned the title.
Do I ultimately care why he did it? Not really. Do I think he can be rehabilitated? Doubt it. Should he get jail time? Yes. Does it matter that it may end his career in football? Who cares. He should have thought about that before participating in killing and torturing dogs.
Sports used to be a solid venue for finding heros. Hardwork, dedication, loyalty and talent were venerated. Sandlots and backyards used to be full of adoring young fans who would trade picture cards of their favorites, while choking down the hideous pink sticks posing as gum that came with the cards.
Today’s fans have to dig through the reduced bin to find ones who can still wear those words. Lifestyles that involve questionable if not illegal behavior is tolerated, and chemical shortcuts like steroids receive tacit approval with each missed opportunity to outwardly vilify them. It probably doesn’t help that so much money is thrown at them.
It’s absolutely horrible what has happened to sports. OJ is a freak. Barry Bonds is a poser. Michael Vick is a doodyhead.
-sj
Aw, g….you’re breakin’ my heart.
< : – <
I am really sorry. It sucks when our heroes prove to be just human like the rest of us…or, even worse; guilty of REALLY poor choices.
I sorry, g. :(
TYGRRRR, I wanted the exact thing for the same reasons as both you and stjarna67.
Hey eric, good stuff. I voted for your site, let me know if there is anything else I can do.
ron
realety bytes
But of course, Vick will get a fair trial before a jury of his peers.
Eric,
Have you read Rattler Gator’s Blog he is a wonderful writer, he has also blogged about Michael Vick, I have to say Stupid is the samething I said, to my husband after watching this on TV. Now I am an Animal Lover so I feelings about this but I also have a brain so I think about this too. Ratter Gator is J.B. White. He is a Gator fan.
http://rattlergator.typepad.com/rattlergator/2007/08/michael-vick-si.html
“Football is a narcotic for me, and I do not plan on quitting any time soon.”
Can I watch the next time you attempt to insert a football into yourself?
They are all doped up on steroids, amphetamines and cortisone.
From Brady to Vick to OJ to Montana to Young. All dopers.
the dude that wrote this iam also a huge nfl fan but im also a pitbull owner i could never shoot a living thing or in this case a dog becuze he couldnt fight are u outa ur F***’n mind let him geta way with this and OJ killing people Family i wanna se vick hung i wanna se him twich and kik
hang him its simple as that