Dog Fighting

You see, I feel so passionately that Michael Vick doesn't deserve a second chance in the NFL that I have lost what very teeny tiny feeling I had left that there was anything at all redeeming about the sport of football. I guess some of the reason that Vick's welcome by some Eagles fans has been met by indifference at best, and that he'll probably be good for the team at worst, has to do with the violence of the game. I see violence in the game; I recognize that not everybody does. But it seems a seemless line between football violence and how these men could do what they did with these dogs without blinking. You have to assume that the Eagles care not one iota about being role models when they can want to have someone like this on their roster.

And please, spare me all that drivel about the man having paid his debt. He didn't because his sentence was not enough for the crimes that he committed. And it's obvious from his statements that he really is only remorseful to the extent that he got caught. Have we seen Michael Vick out there speaking fervently about the horrors of dog fighting? Have we heard him passionately explain why he got involved in such a despicable business (remember, he was the major funding in this disgusting venture) and how going to prison has made him a changed man? He should have been all over the news in his run-up to try to get a spot on a team, speaking all over the country every day about how horrible the dog fighting business is, how kids should treat animals properly, how he got into it and about what can be done to stop this horrible practice. He could have been the spokesperson for really seeing the light. He could have proven to us all with his words and actions how amazingly changed he is.

How, indeed, Michael Vick, are you a changed man? You've got far more explaining to do before I'll ever believe that you are rehabilitated.

No. I'm not there on the bring Vick to Philly bandwagon. I will happily be on the sidelines, rooting for all my heart that the Eagles opponents are victorious for every week they play that Michael Vick is on their roster. For me, this is what I will always see when I think of the Eagles: