This is the least sarcastic blog I’ve ever wrote. I 100% stand behind that title. This morning I read a shitty article that had nothing to do with Michael Vick, then I watched Bleacher Report’s New Michael Vick Documentary. The combination of the documentary (inspirationaly good), and the shittiness of the unrelated article (inspirationaly bad), inspired me to write up a blog of my own about one of the most exciting/polarizing players in sports – Michael Vick.
I assume most people, especially if you’re a person reading this blog, know the story of Michael Vick. He burst onto the scene at Virginia Tech as a duel threat quarterback, known primarily for his ability to make ridiculous scrambles off of broken plays. He was a human highlight real.
A lot of people thought his game wouldn’t transition to the NFL. But of course, he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, and proceeded to put defenses across the entire league on skates, and revolutionize the quarterback position.
But then shit hit the fan. Turned out Vick was running a dog fighting ring out of his mansion in Newport News, Virginia. Dude was literally flying home every week to fight pit bulls against one another. He admitted to personally killing between 6-8 dogs via hanging or drowning. Horrible stuff. Vick pleaded guilty, and served a 23 month prison sentence. I completely agree that what he did was despicable, and he DESERVED TO ROT IN PRISON…. for 23 months + a 3 year period of probation. It’s called a debt to society, and he paid it. But there are multiple organizations who will never forgive Michael Vick. There are people who think he should never be allowed to play football (i.e. have a job to make money that he went to college for and succeeded based on his own personal skills + countless hours of hard work and dedication) ever again.
Now before I really get into it, I’ll say this: I love dogs. Everybody loves dogs. That’s a given. Some of my best pets are dogs
I’ll even admit that it is somehow initially more upsetting when you hear that someone killed a dog than when you hear someone killed a person. I get it, dogs are helpless and for the most part can do no wrong, and if a dog is vicious or aggressive, it’s likely the owners fault. Side Note: Do pet shops that sell dogs even exist anymore? Remember that “How much is that doggie in the window” song? No way those places still exist. If they do they should be shut down immediately. That’s animal prison. Animal cruelty, plain and simple.
Now that I have qualified myself as a dog person/lover of dogs, I am now able to get to the heart of what I REALLY want to say, and nobody can criticize me (That’s how journalism works right?)
Ok so here it goes… To the people who still will not forgive Michael Vick, I would like to say…
DOGS ARE FUCKING ANIMALS. DOGS ARE NOT PEOPLE. DOGS = DEER + SENTIMENTAL VALUE
First point: There are too many dogs as it is. What did Bob Barker always say – “Help control the pet population, have your pets spayed or neutered”. Why? Because there are too many dogs as it is. The real issue with killing/fighting dogs is that someone who does that to animals is an absolute psychopath and is probably a danger to society in other ways. The actual loss of a dog is nothing, unless there is sentimental value attached to said dog. That’s why hunting is ok, cause there’s less sentiment attached to Deer and Rabbits. There’s more sentiment attached to Elephants and Harambes tho, hence the outrage when animals like that are killed. Dogs are just next level loveable, they’re mans best friend. To be able to look a dog in the eye and kill it is a full-blown psycho move, and that is the crime worthy of conviction. Vick went to jail because he WAS a psychopath, clearly. Jail almost never works as a form of rehabilitation like they say it does, but based on this documentary I watched, and based on what everyone says about Michael Vick, it actually did work that way for him, and he HAS been rehabilitated to non-psycho status. I mean for god sakes he was 24 years old when he did the dog killing. 24 years old is not a grown man, I don’t care what you say. Especially when you’ve done nothing but succeed your entire life. He was a dumb ass kid who got caught up in something he regrets.He came out of prison a whole new man — just watch his press conferences and the way he carries himself before and after he served his time. He’s not bitter about anything. He doesn’t expect forgiveness from anyone. He’s changed. Jail worked for once.
Next Point (piggybacking off First point): Not only has Vick changed his entire demeanor, mental state and the way he carries himself, but he has done SOOOO much work for places like the humane society, he worked to draw attention to animal welfare bills and helped get them passed, and supports the Pets for Life program (a program to end dog fighting). And yeah I’m not an idiot, I know the court ordered him to do this stuff when he first got out of prison. But he has done so much work beyond what was required of him it’s ridiculous. I could argue that Bad Newz Kennels (the name of Vicks dog fighting ring where all those dogs were killed) was actually a positive for the dog community. However many pit bulls were killed in that ring, I guarantee that more dogs lives have been saved, and more stray dogs have been given homes as a result of the money & support given by Michael Vick since the incident occurred. BOTTOM LINE: Since his release from prison, I bet Michael Vick has saved the lives/given homes to 2 dogs for every 1 dog that was killed at Bad Newz Kennels. That’s simple math. It’s made up math. But I’m pretty sure I’m not far off.
Now put aside the fact I just proved to you that jail sometimes works and Michael Vick is in reality a savior of dogs. From the sports side of things, Mike Vick has to be the most inspirational comeback story I’ve witnessed in my life time. Only thing that could top it would be if Johnny Football makes it back into the league and has a hall of fame career. But remember, when Vick got out of jail, nobody really thought he was gonna be able to do anything noteworthy in the NFL anymore. His whole game was built around being one of the fastest, quickest, jukiest, shiftiest guys on the field. No way he could possibly do what he did back in his early 20’s (when he put Atlanta on his back and took them to the NFC Championship). At most people thought teams would use him in a special package or something. Plus, he was basically a pariah at the time. Nobody wanted that publicity around their team. But low and behold. The Philadelphia Eagles signed him. Not as a starter, but as a backup. I’ll never forget watching the Eagles vs Packers game in 2010, Week 1 of the NFL Regular Season. Vick was the back up QB behind KEVIN FUCKING KOLB, when Kolb hurt his jaw (such a pussy excuse btw, you don’t throw with your jaw), Vick starts the second half and proceeds to whip his big ol’ dick out, and give Green Bay a vintage Mike Vick style Packing.
Ok so I guess they didn’t win that game. But that was clearly Andy Reid’s fault. You don’t “call” a run play with Vick. You just run 4 verticles and just give him a wink. From then on, I’m pretty sure that’s what the Eagles did every time. That year, Vick also dished out one of the greatest ass whoopings in the history of sports when he hung 6 TOUCHDOWNS on the Redskins on Sunday Night Football.
If you didn’t know, Vick went on to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year that year in 2010. By the way, the 2010 Philadelphia Eagles have to be in the running for most badass team of all time. I hadn’t really thought about that until now, but they’re one cool ass team. The whole Vick storyline is obviously awesome, Desean Jackson is maybe the cockiest player in the league, Jeremy Maclin was ballin before he got the Zika Virus, they had Riley Cooper before he dropped that hard R, “Jason Avant he has great hands” crushed it, and Andy Reid was as fat and awesome as ever. They probably had a cool defense too but I’ve only been watching Mike Vick highlights all morning. Oh yeah Lesean McCoy was insanely good too. Finally, remember how they made they playoffs that year? Came down to the last week of the season vs. the Giants. Winner made the playoffs, loser got knocked out. Eagles were losing 31-10 WITH 8 MINUTES LEFT when this happened.
How can there still be people out there that won’t forgive Michael Vick. Those people are the real psychopaths. The type of people that value the well being of animals over humans. Those people are fucking sick. Specifically I’m talking about the organization Dogs Deserve Better. These are the people who purchased Mike Vick’s mansion in Newport News that used to be Bad Newz Kennels and turned it into an actual shelter for dogs. Aside from the fact that so many dogs were killed in that place, and setting up a dog shelter there is akin to forcing schizophrenics to live in a haunted house — Dogs Deserve Better will not allow Michael Vick back on the property to make amends, despite the fact that he would give them his full support, and would certainly offer Vick a bit of closure on his troubled past. Fuck Dogs Deserve Better, dogs deserve better than Dogs Deserve Better. In 2016, dogs deserve Michael Vick, because he is an inspiration to anyone who has ever lost everything and had to fully rebuild their entire lives. I’ll leave my dog with Mike Vick ANY TIME. ANY DAY.
John Rich TV 