Michael Vick & others~

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

I will no longer support the NFL.
I will no longer buy overpriced seats, merchandise, etc.
Will my money make a real difference? No but why does the NFL think it's just fine to allow this player & others to play again?

Vick isn't sorry, Vick is sorry he was caught.

I just can't support the way we have made icons out of professional athletes who abuse woman, have constant DUIs, drive over pedestrians, use illegal drugs & now fight dogs to the death.

Can't we find better "heroes" for our kids & the next generation?

 

[luvsmickeymouse]

I will no longer support the NFL.
I will no longer buy overpriced seats, merchandise, etc.
Will my money make a real difference? No but why does the NFL think it's just fine to allow this player & others to play again?

Vick isn't sorry, Vick is sorry he was caught.

I just can't support the way we have made icons out of professional athletes who abuse woman, have constant DUIs, drive over pedestrians, use illegal drugs & now fight dogs to the death.

Can't we find better "heroes" for our kids & the next generation?

I couldn't have said it better myself! Vick makes me sick!

 

[kirbsam]

vick is going to make the nfl so much money and it will be business as usual. his jersey will soon be one of the top selling jersey in the nfl. wait until you see how many philadelphians are wearing vick jerseys.

 

[shortbun]

You're supposed to teach your children to value people who earn it, not just because they make a lot of money slamming into each other. If your children are looking up to Michael Vick for any reason other than he's a great football player, there is something seriously wrong at your house. I'm sure that's not really the case but just sayin'.

 

[FireDancer]

First, you can enjoy a sport without making athletes your role models. I watch a lot of soccer (hard to tell from my signature I know) and wouldn't name a single soccer player as a role model. Second, the "role" part in role model is often forgot. For example, I am a big Lance Armstrong fan and in the role of cyclist I look up to him. In the role of family man I do not. It is possible to want to be like an athlete professionally and not like that athlete personally. Blindly making any celebrity a role model because of their job is just small minded.

Role models are chosen by us, they are not automatically role models because of what they do for a living. My models in life are people around me that have influenced my life, not detached celebrities whom I will never meet.

As far as Vick goes, he served his sentence now let him get on with his life. People convicted of killing people with their cars, abusing their wives/girlfriends, violating various drug policies numerous times, and even being involved in a murder are allowed back into sport. Vick is not better or worse than any of them. Vick is a good QB so there is no reason to let his personal life get in the way of his professional life. They are two separate things. I don't let what an athlete does when not in the sport effect how I view him in the sport in the same way I don't care what my accountant or mechanic do when they are at home. As long as my taxes are right and car is fixed correctly what the heck do I care what is done in their personal lives?

 

[lillygator]

You're supposed to teach your children to value people who earn it, not just because they make a lot of money slamming into each other. If your children are looking up to Michael Vick for any reason other than he's a great football player, there is something seriously wrong at your house. I'm sure that's not really the case but just sayin'.

exactly....you may want to check the rap sheets of other NFL players.

 

[just4today]

As far as Vick goes, he served his sentence now let him get on with his life. People convicted of killing people with their cars, abusing their wives/girlfriends, violating various drug policies numerous times, and even being involved in a murder are allowed back into sport. Vick is not better or worse than any of them. Vick is a good QB so there is no reason to let his personal life get in the way of his professional life. They are two separate things. I don't let what an athlete does when not in the sport effect how I view him in the sport in the same way I don't care what my accountant or mechanic do when they are at home. As long as my taxes are right and car is fixed correctly what the heck do I care what is done in their personal lives?

Very well put. I feel the same way about most people in the public eye, with the exception of elected officials. I do feel they should be held to certain standards.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

exactly....you may want to check the rap sheets of other NFL players.

This is totally true. Look at Dante Stallworth, Ray Lewis and countless others.

I'm not happy with Michael Vick to say the least, but there are others that play in the NFL, served no jail time and did far worse, IMOP.

I'm glad Vick's not a Steeler , those Eagles can have him.

 

[luvsJack]

The press tells us everything an athlete does on any given day and when they break the law it is all over the news for weeks. If we want athletes to be "just like anyone else" and to not be judged for what they do in their private lives; then we need to stop butting into their private lives. We need to stop watching news shows that tell us what today's "bad guy" athlete is doing. We need to stop showing an interest in what their are doing off the field.

Vick is a despicable person and I hope that his career comes to a sudden stop some day soon; maybe then he will take the time to think of what he did to those pitiful animals. Incidentally, I would feel the same way if he was my accountant, my hair dresser, or my plumber.


Vick is no worse than other athletes but he is also no better. There are many, many talented players on the field and many other talented players that never got the chance to get on the field. It about time some attention was given to the ones that try to live their lives right and abide by the laws, instead of those who choose to live like street thugs.

 

[DawnCt1]

First, you can enjoy a sport without making athletes your role models. I watch a lot of soccer (hard to tell from my signature I know) and wouldn't name a single soccer player as a role model. Second, the "role" part in role model is often forgot. For example, I am a big Lance Armstrong fan and in the role of cyclist I look up to him. In the role of family man I do not. It is possible to want to be like an athlete professionally and not like that athlete personally. Blindly making any celebrity a role model because of their job is just small minded.

Role models are chosen by us, they are not automatically role models because of what they do for a living. My models in life are people around me that have influenced my life, not detached celebrities whom I will never meet.

As far as Vick goes, he served his sentence now let him get on with his life. People convicted of killing people with their cars, abusing their wives/girlfriends, violating various drug policies numerous times, and even being involved in a murder are allowed back into sport. Vick is not better or worse than any of them. Vick is a good QB so there is no reason to let his personal life get in the way of his professional life. They are two separate things. I don't let what an athlete does when not in the sport effect how I view him in the sport in the same way I don't care what my accountant or mechanic do when they are at home. As long as my taxes are right and car is fixed correctly what the heck do I care what is done in their personal lives?

I agree. Vick served his time, paid his debt to society and now needs to get on with his life. As a working member of society, even if you all think he is overpaid, he becomes a taxpayer and contributes. What skills does he actually have other than to play football? Should he be denied an opportunity to make a living because we don't like him? And I don't like him. I don't need to like him. If he makes money for the Eagles then he contributes.

 

[DisneyBlonde]

I would have liked to have seen Vick sit out this season, as the NFL's way of expressing their disapproval of what he did. And to be honest I'm embarrassed that it was the Eagles that picked him up.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

The press tells us everything an athlete does on any given day and when they break the law it is all over the news for weeks. If we want athletes to be "just like anyone else" and to not be judged for what they do in their private lives; then we need to stop butting into their private lives. We need to stop watching news shows that tell us what today's "bad guy" athlete is doing. We need to stop showing an interest in what their are doing off the field.

Vick is a despicable person and I hope that his career comes to a sudden stop some day soon; maybe then he will take the time to think of what he did to those pitiful animals. Incidentally, I would feel the same way if he was my accountant, my hair dresser, or my plumber.


Vick is no worse than other athletes but he is also no better. There are many, many talented players on the field and many other talented players that never got the chance to get on the field. It about time some attention was given to the ones that try to live their lives right and abide by the laws, instead of those who choose to live like street thugs.

GREAT post.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Vick is a disgusting human being and I would have stopped cheering for my team if we had signed him.

HOWEVER... for every Michael Vick, there are plenty of guys who are fantastic human beings who willingly (read: not court ordered) donate their time and money to charity and to making the world a better place.

Nobody is more disgusted by Michael Vick than I am. But it's not the fault of every player in the NFL.

 

[Took]

Personally, I quit watching the NFL years ago although I do hear news about it from DH. I sometimes attend a super bowl party, but I just talk to folks and ignore the game. I find I'm just not interested in it or the nba, as they both have too many thugs and poor sportsmen (although there certainly ARE some good men in both sports, too).

I do like European soccer, but, as another poster said, I don't really look up to the players except for their field abilities. Perhaps because the players are European, I rarely read anything about their personal lives. I like it that way better.

As to Vick, somehow his particular crime seemed worse to some (even to me) because it wasn't a single one-time incident but a process of cruelty that shows indifference to the suffering of animals. I know Stallworth killed someone by driving drunk and that's certainly criminal. But he behaved responsibly afterward and it only happened once (that I know of, of course). It didn't seem deliberately cruel. Maybe that's why Vick's crime bothers many of us so much.

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

Personally, I quit watching the NFL years ago although I do hear news about it from DH. I sometimes attend a super bowl party, but I just talk to folks and ignore the game. I find I'm just not interested in it or the nba, as they both have too many thugs and poor sportsmen (although there certainly ARE some good men in both sports, too).

I do like European soccer, but, as another poster said, I don't really look up to the players except for their field abilities. Perhaps because the players are European, I rarely read anything about their personal lives. I like it that way better.

As to Vick, somehow his particular crime seemed worse to some (even to me) because it wasn't a single one-time incident but a process of cruelty that shows indifference to the suffering of animals. I know Stallworth killed someone by driving drunk and that's certainly criminal. But he behaved responsibly afterward and it only happened once (that I know of, of course). It didn't seem deliberately cruel. Maybe that's why Vick's crime bothers many of us so much.

That's part of it...to me, part of it is also the fact that Stallworth's "victim" was in a large part at fault for his own death and Michael Vick's victims were completely innocent.

 

[metalis4ever]

All I have to say is 23 Months $100 million dollars is punishment enough...I LOVE dogs but it is not my place to judge whether Michael Vick is truly sorry or not all I can judge is that he has served the time for his crime and has paid the price financially and personally within the laws of our society.

Our children already have heroes it's called Mom and Dad, family, friends and teachers. If those aren't their heroes then the aforementioned aren't doing their jobs.

Go Pats!!!!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

I don't see 23 months in jail as being nearly enough time considering that there's a couple in Tampa right now with 7 children who was found guilty of neglecting their Boxer (not feeding him...and he didn't die) and they're facing five years in jail.

 

[metalis4ever]

I don't see 23 months in jail as being nearly enough time considering that there's a couple in Tampa right now with 7 children who was found guilty of neglecting their Boxer (not feeding him...and he didn't die) and they're facing five years in jail.

He served the time he was sentenced to by a Judge who was given authority to do so by the laws of Our Land. If you don't agree with how the Judicial System works in the United States take it up with the system not the men and women who have served their time as dictated by the authority of the system.

Bottom line he paid his debt just like any other criminal now let him rebuild his life.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

I don't think it's up to a parent to dictate who their child's hero is... so just because a child picks Tiger Woods as her hero, I don't think that's a reflection on the parenting.

I love my parents more than anything in the world. I had an amazing childhood and we have always been extremely close. But I don't think I would call them my "hero". Family, friends, teachers. Eh. They are who they are... family, friends, and teachers. (Why is it that the garbage man/woman is never considered a hero? That job is pretty important, too.)

Captain Sully... that's a hero to me. There ARE athletes who I would call my hero. If my child said that Kurt Warner was his hero, I wouldn't cry over my bad parenting skills

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

He served the time he was sentenced to by a Judge who was given authority to do so by the laws of Our Land. If you don't agree with how the Judicial System works in the United States take it up with the system not the men and women who have served their time as dictated by the authority of the system.

Bottom line he paid his debt just like any other criminal now let him rebuild his life.

Sure....he can rebuild his life doing something not in the public eye. If an average citizen committed a felony, they would have a very hard time finding a job right after their jail sentence. Why should he be let off easy just because he's a football player?
According to the ASPCA's website "In 2007, Congress passed the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act with strong bipartisan support. The Act became law in May 2007, and provides felony penalties for interstate commerce, import and export relating to commerce in fighting dogs, fighting cocks and cockfighting paraphernalia. Each violation can result in up to three years in jail and a $250,000 fine." In other words, Vick didn't receive nearly the maximum sentence, or even the average which is five years in jail. Goodell should have imposed the rest of an average sentence (at the very least) on him as a suspension.