I'm "advocating official banishment from the NFL", he harmed innocent animals for no reason but for self gratification. He's a fine a QB, but I'd prefer a QB who is credible and has integrity.
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Michael Vick Sentenced to 23 Months
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I'm "advocating official banishment from the NFL", he harmed innocent animals for no reason but for self gratification. He's a fine a QB, but I'd prefer a QB who is credible and has integrity.
While I understand what nbs2 is saying, I think that banning him from the NFL can be justified quite easily.
It's a job. It's a lucrative job, but it's still a job. You don't need to employ a man with such poor ethics, even if he's good at his job. Same with the real world. I'm sorry, but if a man working at an office is good at his job, he may still be fired if he was found to have raped many women. Even if he goes and serves his jail time, I could totally understand why his employers wouldn't want him anymore, whether he was good at his job or not.
That's Michael Vick --- a man who's good at his job, but......
It's a job. It's a lucrative job, but it's still a job. You don't need to employ a man with such poor ethics, even if he's good at his job. Same with the real world. I'm sorry, but if a man working at an office is good at his job, he may still be fired if he was found to have raped many women. Even if he goes and serves his jail time, I could totally understand why his employers wouldn't want him anymore, whether he was good at his job or not.
That's Michael Vick --- a man who's good at his job, but......
The NFL shouldn't be handing down any kind of moral judgments. It's not their place to dispense justice to their players unless said players are directly breaking the rules of the League. Michael Vick should absolutely be able to return to his job once he's served his sentence. The difficulty in finding employment after a conviction, especially one with a lengthy prison term, certainly plays a role in determining if an individual is an ex-con or a con-waiting-to-happen. I believe in rehabilitation once you've served your debt to society.
That being said, I in no way agree with the almost comically lenient sentence this and other acts of animal abuse are served. Cruelty to animals can be a precursor to sociopathic behaviour, and organized dog fighting of this nature has many links to an underground criminal element that is involved in gang violence, racketeering, and drug dealing, beyond the obvious moral reprehensibility.
That being said, I in no way agree with the almost comically lenient sentence this and other acts of animal abuse are served. Cruelty to animals can be a precursor to sociopathic behaviour, and organized dog fighting of this nature has many links to an underground criminal element that is involved in gang violence, racketeering, and drug dealing, beyond the obvious moral reprehensibility.
There's a new Commish in town now though who is playing it hard-nosed on the league's reputation and the standard of behaviour expected from players - not just on the field but off it. There is a clause in each player's contract I believe which says something along those lines which is where the Commish gets the power from. There's extra days at the rookie symposium where the rules are clearly laid out and advice given on how to handle the fame and money these kids are going to have.
I don't think Vick's inital lies directly to Goodell etc will have helped his case - and he's screwed that franchise over. Matt Schaub wouldn't have been traded if this had been known about.
Michael Vick is an a*****e who should never again be put in a role-model position. He can lead a normal life, but he should never again be looked up to by the youth of America.
If you were looking to hire a person for a job as a camp counsellor or something, it doesn't matter how great they are at counselling, you would never consider someone who was convicted of such a despicable crime. Nor should the Falcons or any NFL team.
If you were looking to hire a person for a job as a camp counsellor or something, it doesn't matter how great they are at counselling, you would never consider someone who was convicted of such a despicable crime. Nor should the Falcons or any NFL team.
The NFL is free to choose with whom it associates with however, and it can choose to say that it doesn't want to associate with a dog killer.
Considering how public an organization the NFL is, I think that's perfectly reasonable. Frankly, if the NFL wants to retain any kind of respectability, it will not let him return to the league. Michael Vick doesn't deserve to play again (and make millions while at it).
I don't think there's any doubt he'll go back to playing once he's finished serving his sentence.
The only way he might not be playing in the NFL once he's out of prison would be because he himself chooses not to (which is a possibility).
He probably won't play for the Falcons, but he'll play somewhere. Teams will be happy to sign him, most NFL fans won't care about his past (there's dozens of players that have been convicted of crimes happily playing in the NFL, some just as serious as Vick's charges) and it will bring the league attention, which they're always happy about (there's no such thing as bad publicity).
The only way he might not be playing in the NFL once he's out of prison would be because he himself chooses not to (which is a possibility).
He probably won't play for the Falcons, but he'll play somewhere. Teams will be happy to sign him, most NFL fans won't care about his past (there's dozens of players that have been convicted of crimes happily playing in the NFL, some just as serious as Vick's charges) and it will bring the league attention, which they're always happy about (there's no such thing as bad publicity).
I don't at all agree with the sentence, but I do think he has a right to be treated as a man who has been rehabilitated and given a second chance after he's paid his dues.
This is one of those situations where what I'd like to see happen and what I think is "right" are strongly at ends. As much as I'd love to see him rot in a cesspool somewhere, once he's been prosecuted to the full extent of the law and served his sentence, he should no longer be treated as a criminal.
However, you might be right about the public image of the NFL. But then it raises questions about drawing the line when it comes to employee discrimination when it comes to ex-convicts. It's a tough call, and you make a good point.