Chicago Sun Times calls him Sick Vick
>A disgrace to humankind
So now he's 'very remorseful,' wants to apologize and 'accept full responsibility for his actions.' It's too late. Sick Vick has got to go.
August 21, 2007
BY JAY MARIOTTI
INDIANAPOLIS -- As sure as the cranes of a massive new stadium rise over a heartland skyline, the NFL will survive Michael Vick. The official logo is made of teflon and thick scar tissue, immune to even the scummiest of creeps and sick images that he drowned, hanged and electrocuted dogs. Still, there can be no wiggle room when it comes to executive punishment for a unique miscreant.
The league should throw the Bad Newz scrambler for a lifetime loss.
You read correctly: a ban forevermore.
Just because a multibillion-dollar cash register cha-chings along, with the Bears and Colts and Good Rex/Bad Rex attracting good TV numbers for their spirited Monday night scrimmage, doesn't mean Roger Goodell should stop swinging his hammer. I fully expect this can-do commissioner, who is purging his domain of stench while Major League Baseball and the NBA float along in scandalous sludge, to recognize the historical magnitude of his decision and hurl the book at Vick. Some will call it overly harsh, that a year to 18 months of prison time and two or three years out of the league are sufficient punishment with proper doses of remorse and relentless public-service announcements.
Sorry, no mercy should be attached to any circumstance involving the Vick case, including his plea bargain Monday. If Goodell found reason to suspend Adam (Pacman) Jones for the 2007 season without a conviction, he should remain consistent in enforcing his conduct policy and use Vick's guilty plea to remove him from the league permanently. The sheer horror of dogfighting, and all the accompanying blood and gore that have made grown men cry, mandate that Goodell strike a powerful guideline for players who come from backgrounds that somehow tolerate and encourage this despicable conduct. The NFL is popular and strong enough to deflect one dogfighting crisis. But no league can afford a flurry of similar episodes, knowing the anger America has vented in rebelling against Vick and the violent abuse of animals.
There is so much ammunition for a lifetime ban, Goodell could announce it in his sleep. Nothing is more indicting than Vick's blatant lie in April at the NFL draft, where Goodell asked him point-blank about reports linking his Virginia residence to dogfighting. ''His comments to me were very consistent with what he said publicly: That he does not have any involvement in dogfighting, that he loves dogs, that he would not have interest in that, that it wasn't happening at his property, and that was his discussion,'' Goodell told Sports Illustrated's Peter King. ''And I was very clear with him that if it's happening on your property, it's your responsibility.''
He even lied to his mother
Lying to the commissioner's face can't help Vick's chances of playing in the league again. He lied to Goodell. He lied to Arthur Blank, the Atlanta Falcons owner who thought Vick was revolutionizing the quarterback position three years ago and gave him a $130 million contract. He lied to fans throughout the nation who were captivated by his skills, lied to his mother after promising her last month that he would clear his ''good name,'' lied to the people of Atlanta who used to worship him but watched him flip an obscene gesture at them last year. Worst of all, he lied to himself. ''We totally condemn the conduct outlined in the charges, which is inconsistent with what Michael Vick previously told both our office and the Falcons,'' Goodell's office said in a release.
If deceit doesn't nail Vick, gambling might. As detailed in the indictment, the Bad Newz Kennels dogfights involved racketeering. Vick was mentioned specifically by Tony Taylor, one of several chirping members of his former entourage. The NFL prohibits links with gamblers, and any player found to be involved in illegal gambling can be banned for life. ''It's certainly an issue,'' Goodell said. ''Law enforcement may be concerned about certain things about this. We may be concerned about other aspects of this. That's why we want to evaluate what the government has. We don't know all of the facts on that.''
He is about to have all the gruesome facts. With Vick backed into a corner by the fiercest rush of his life, unable to escape with feet that rarely have failed him, Goodell will realize how humiliatingly quick Vick was to bail out. Just a few weeks ago, at a courthouse in Virginia, he portrayed himself as a victim who looked forward to having his day in court. Again, he was just lying, which reduces attempts to explain his actions to so much pathetic drivel.
''Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made,'' said Billy Martin, Vick's attorney. ''Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter.''
All of Vick's attorneys want us to know that he's ''very remorseful,'' that he made mistakes in choosing his associates, that he ''wants to get his life back on track,'' that the ''healing process'' must begin.
Said James D. Williams Jr., another member of Vick's legal stable: ''Michael is a father, he's a son, he's a human being -- people often times forget that.''
Forgiveness is impossible
Why would we want to think of Vick as a father, heaven help us, when these horrifying images of abused dogs are paralyzed in our minds? The images are what make forgiveness impossible. Depending on how long he is imprisoned, a sentence that could stretch to five years if U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson so rules, it's hard to believe any employer in this country would want to give Vick a second chance, much less the most desperate NFL franchise. A murderer of animals should become a societal pariah, and if the Arena League or Mark Cuban's proposed league want to give him a chance to sell tickets, they might be surprised how the protesters will outnumber the fans.
Never has an athlete fallen so far so quickly. I was in New Orleans seven years ago when Vick introduced himself to the football world, redefining the art of two-way quarterbacking for Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. I was in Lambeau Field a few years later, watching him romp through the snow and beat the Packers and Brett Favre in a playoff game. He was worthy of the hype. He was worthy of the hope.
Now, he is a disgrace to humankind. The games go on, but Michael Vick should be expunged as a colossal waste of talent and an awful human being. Never shall he set foot in this league again.< |
