Vick-tory

The refreshing part of the Mike Vick comeback tour is it gives us another QB to dress down during the summer other than Brett Favre. The not so refreshing part is the fake outrage and hypocrisy eminating from the lips of many over the possibility of Vick returning to football.

Let's get one thing clear: I don't condone Vick's murder of pit bulls nor him bankrolling others to do the same. However, I can't understand how NFL fans can be so dead-set on keeping Vick out when the league currently employs numerous drug offenders, alcoholics and domestic abusing womanizers. Rams defensive end Leonard Little once got drunk behind the wheel of a car and killed a woman. After doing 90 days in jail, he thought it would fun to do it again six years later, though this time he was acquitted of felony charges and was only hit with a misdemeanor. But he's more apt to represent the league than a man who admits to killing a handful of pitbulls. Chiefs running back Larry Johnson went on a string where he couldn't be in the same place at the same time as another woman without getting into some sort of fracas, but it's ok for him to be on an NFL roster. Former Titans/Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pac-Man" Jones started a fight at a strip club that led to the permanant paralysis of another man(one of a litany of off-field issues for Pac-Man), but the Cowboys saw him as the missing link to their team last year and there are teams still interested in his services despite the fact he couldn't even stay out of trouble with team-assigned bodyguards.....but, hey, he never bought a "rape stand", so he's gold. Bengals wide recieverChris Henry once purchased alcohol for girls barely old enough to be peed on by R.Kelly, but that didn't stop Cincinatti from keeping him as their # 3 reciever.

The list is neverending from Jared Allen's numerous DUIs to Ricky Williams' love for weed to Michael Strahan's alleged abuse of his ex-wife. All of which were still gainfully employed by the NFL and still rigourously cheered on by the same NFL fans who would stand to condemn Mike Vick. I'm not saying Mike Vick is a great man, as someone who loves animals, I can't find any legitimate reason why someone would want to train them to kill each other. However, the man did his time. Two years in the clink and the inevitably suspension from Commissioner Goodell seems like a more than fair price considering the NFL is filled with more convicts than Singh Singh.

The problem I have is everyone jumping on the animal rights bandwagon. Mike Vick killed six pit bulls personally, and paid for the killing of many more.....and Colonel Sanders kills thousands of chickens on a day-to-day basis. If you're going to jump on Vick for crimes against animals, you have to jump on all of them. You can't pick and choose because its sexy at the time. If you're going to ask that all criminals be disallowed from the league, then you have to throw them ALL out. You can't pause for the cause half-assed. Vick committed a crime and he was punished, what more can you really ask from him? He's broke and unemployed, which not only makes him just like most people in this country, it pretty much makes him the poster child for America in a Bush Economy.

Now, of course, there's the issue of Vick's impact if and when he returns to the NFL. You can speculate for days where Vick ends up and certianly there isn't a team in the NFL that couldn't use someone of Vick's unique athletic ability in some form, either at quarterback, reciever, corner, kick returner, wherever. The chic theory as of late is that the emergence of the Wildcat formation will generate a solid amount of interest in Vick since his skill-set fits the formation to a tee. The problem with that is that defenses are already getting hip to the intracacies of the Wildcat and that, by time Vick is finally adjusted to both the system and the speed of the game, it could be nearing the point of becoming obselete. Lest we forget, Vick was a mediocre QB at best during his stint in Atlanta and his success was a combination of his amazing speed and quickness as well as the occassional flash of competency as a pocket passer. Could a team win with Mike Vick at QB? Sure, but keep in mind he'll be 29 next month which means he'll be in his 30s by time he's actually fully adjusted to the game again. That's not exactly someone you stash on the bench as your QB of the future. Now, the lack of wear and tear on his body from being away from the game as well as the recent surge of QBs having success in their late 30s should be signs of optimism for Vick, but teams signing the former # 1 overall pick will have to be very patient with him as both a project trying to learn the ropes again and as a target for a suddenly ravenous uprising of animal rights pundits.

Alot has changed since Vick went away. The evolution of bloggers, non-stop talk radio, and round-the-clock sports coverage has turned the NFL and other sports into a year-long season of Big Brother. Vick, who was never the public speaking type, will have to be aware that his every word, step and action will be on display for the YouTube generation. Vick's best move might be to become the face of the newly-minted and soon-to-be extinct UFL, where he can both showcase his talents for NFL suits as well as get reacquainted with the game he was expected to dominate. Mike Vick is a cautionary tale for any up-and-coming talent trying to make something from nothing. Vick was blessed with a unfathomable amount of gifts, except for one: Common sense. Does it seem logical that a man making millions would throw it all away for pennies? No, but how many great athletes have succumbed to the same fate? Before Sean Taylor was a Redskins tragedy, he was a knucklehead who didn't know when to walk away from the streets. Maurice Clarett went from promising running back prospect to being tailed by police with an M-16 and a bottle of Grey Goose in his SUV. Allen Iverson spent the prime of his career doubling as the NBA's top scoring machine and # 1 bad boy. Even before Vick was a dog killer, he was wearing out his welcome in the ATL with everything from hiding weed in water bottles to flipping off the fans. Is he deserving of our sympathy? No, but what kind of people are we if we chastise people for not using their heads and then kick them while their down? The great irony of this Vick fiasco is that the people who are most outraged over Vick's violence towards animals are the ones thirstiest for his blood.

---Dave