Letters to the Editor
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Great article.
Thank you. I am so tired of columnists calling black players charged with crimes "thugs", and it is always so refreshing to read your nuanced and thoughtful perspective on off-the-field issues.
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Thanks, King
for an intelligent article on a very disturbing topic. As an alum, its sad to see Virginia Tech taking two terrible hits in one year.
After seeing another promising athlete, Marcus Vick, totally waste his talent with incredibly stupid and immature acts a few years ago (and I'm not even talking about the 15 year old girl thing, I gave him that) we always had Michael to look back on in awe for bringing the Tech program to the nation's attention. Now I understand why sending Marcus into Michael's care for one year didn't pan out very well the following season.
Even though Micheal really seemed to be focused and clean during his college career he apparently was involved in his dog business as early as his NFL draft days. Its so frustrating to try to understand why he'd need this when his future was so promising back then. I was even pissed when he knocked up a girlfriend in his early pro years. It just seemed like such a stupid thing to do at his level and he didn't seem to get that he needed to protect himself and his money.
Hopefully his experience will help guide other great athletes of promise to realize that they can't have it both ways. If they want the big bucks they have to realize they're a commodity to a team and need to return on that investment in them. Basically, for the millions they're getting paid in contracts and endorsements they have to give up old lifestyles for the lengths of those terms and prove that they're worth the price. Its not a free ride and they have to realize that to some degree they are giving up their identity for that price.
I support Atlanta in trying to get back some of the millions already paid out to him. He had the rest of his retirement years to hang out with old friends and do stupid stuff. During his contract Atlanta essentially owned him and thats the price you pay for stardom. He's a commodity and they were investing in his brand. Anything that would tarnish that brand name is violating the contract. That may not sound nice, but its not much different from the corporate world. Sports is business after all.
Fans still wore #7 shirts to the VT games last season, even after all these years. He was that important to us that we always identified with him as a Hokie and not as a Falcon. Even though it was Coach Beamer who brought the program to the level it is today, Vick was still viewed as the one who made us a recognizable name, the one responsible for a national championship appearance. It will be interesting to see if anyone will be wearing his shirt this fall.
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An education
The Vick case has taught me that vicious pitt bulls aren't just owned by white trash redneck morons, but black trash morons too. Who would have guessed it.
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What a waste.
I, too, am a Virginia Tech alum. And though I graduated before Vick's seasons, I did make it back for games and I have to say that watching him play live was an incredible experience. A play would come apart and he’d start moving out of the pocket and the whole stadium would tense and inhale as one.
The anticipation of what could happen was amazing. You just never knew what might occur. And you knew that the position of college quarterback was changing before your eyes.
And now I look at what has happened with frustration and regret, because I remember that feeling. I remember the end of the 2000 Gator Bowl (Which VT was in after being hosed out of a BCS berth by a typically undeserving Notre Dame team) where the crowd was yelling “One more year! One more year!” as Vick walked off the field. I remember the excitement of being at 1999 Sugar Bowl for the national championship game, a game we were at because of Michael Vick.
I remember all of that good stuff and wonder why. Why would someone do something so stupid? I simply can’t wrap my head around why.
Oh well. Let the NFL have him. Let the NFL have their boring sameness, their consistency of product. I’m looking forward to another year football where football began. Another year of college football. Football that comes with Boise’s blue field, Oregon’s ugly uniforms, and UVA’s fight song set to Auld Lang Syne. Football where every team doesn’t run the exact same offense. Football where there’s some variety, some traditional, some uniqueness.
And maybe, just maybe, find another spark of the amazing that Vick brought.
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Stupid? Try Depraved.
How come every article about Michael Vick speaks to how "stupid" he is to throw away millions of dollars and an NFL career? I'm sorry but stupidity is not this man's main character flaw. The actions of which he is guilty suggest a deeply depraved human being.
How could he be so stupid, you ask? How could someone "slam" a dog to death? It isn't a shame that Vick is an idiot. It's a shame that he is a sick bastard.
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Stupid is as Stupid Does
Give a mediocre running back the football to throw and suddenly he is the next great thing? Micheal Vick's abilities have always been just marginal. A quarterback in the likes of Joe Montana or Donanvan McNabb, he had no chance of becoming.
Then it turns out he has always read only his positive press and believes he can do anything he wants.
It is not only Micheal Vick who is stupid, it is all of those who thought he was the second coming to pro football.
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Maybe, just maybe, Vick can redeem himself.
Sometimes in cases of cruelty to animals, the perpetrator's punishment includes assisting in animal shelters or other sanctuaries for abused and neglected animals, with the goal being to instill empathy and compassion for animals in the perp. This can work when the perp is not a sadist or habitual animal abuser, e.g., an enraged teenager who beat a dog.
The problem with Vick is that he apparently was a cold-blooded abuser, torturer, and killer of dogs, over a period of time. There may not be any capacity for empathy for animals within this man, and trying to instill some in him by having him work at a shelter could simply be a farce.
However, Vick and other superstar athletes are role models for children. When kids see their heroes abusing animals, or beating up people, or going around with violent entourages toting guns and harassing people, it teaches these kids that this sort of behavior is acceptable. The opposite is true, too, and if Michael Vick ever develops true remorse for what he has done, he can make amends by becoming a champion of animals rather than their abuser.
All of the big league sports need to rid themselves of the thugs and criminals on their teams. It doesn't matter how talented a thug is: get rid of him. There's always another talented guy somewhere out there who deserves a chance to play. The thugs don't deserve that privilege, along with the money and prestige that comes with it. No, sports isn't just for kids, and athletes don't exist only to be role models, but the fact is that they are, and the children who admire thugs like Vick will grow up to be dangerous adults, and not just for animals.