My Two Cents on Michael Vick

It seems everyone else has put their two cents worth on this case; I might as well put in mine. Unless you have been living in a cave, isolated from any kind of social contact you no doubt have heard about NFL Atlanta Quarter Back Michael Vicks’ legal problems.

Vick was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to dog fighting, and he may face felony charges in the State of Virginia for owning the property in which dog fighting took place. A felony would mean the end to Vick’s football career in the NFL.

Now from what I have read, and from the evidence available; I have little doubt that Vick knew what was going on and was a willing participant in this disturbing “sport” of dog fighting. I happen to like dogs, actually that is not completely true. I like my dog, I don’t particularly care too much about yours, but I wouldn’t want to see your dog or any dog mangled to death by other dogs for entertainment purposes. I believe a lot can be judged by how a person treats an animal. If what they have charged Michael Vick with is true then he is a poor creature lacking any sense of human decency. I would have no problem seeing some one convicted of such a crime spend some time in jail.

What do I think the Falcons should do with Vick? Well, that is totally up to them. The Falcon’s have a contract with Vick that would allow them to fire him on the spot. However, that is completely up to owner Arthur Blank and his organization.

I can say that in the past teams have been known to release or fire players before a conviction. In 2000 the Green Bay Packers released one of the best tight ends, Mark Chmura, who was charged with inappropriate sexual contact with the family babysitter. It later turned out the allegation was false, and he was found not guilty. Chmura never returned to the NFL.

As I said, the Falcons can do what ever they want with Vick until he is found guilty. If he is found guilty of a felony then the NFL should enforce the rules and clear out his locker. We will see if that happens.

My guess is that Vick will end up plea bargaining in some way that will avoid a felony conviction and he will continue to play in the NFL.

On a final note, I as a huge NFL fan also have a choice to make. If the NFL continues to allow this kind of behavior, then they will get the NBA treatment from me.

I haven’t missed the NBA one bit since I quit watching it.