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Lawesome's point of view on the Vick debate. Enjoy.
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It is time for a bit of perspective on the man. He is a supreme athlete. He may be the most gifted athlete in the NFL's history. He is a winner on the football field. He is a convicted felon. He has done hard time. He lied to a court of law, and to investigators. He has suffered enormous monetary loss, as well as the loss of his freedom. His reputation is destroyed, permanently. He does not appear to be, in any way, a "good" guy as traditionally defined.
Now that we have laid that all out, we come to a debate as to what debt he owes society and, by extension, the National Football League for his activities. Michael Vick served 19 months in prison. He still has 4 months of home confinement remaining. He has paid thousands in fines and many millions of dollars in legal fees, many relating to asset protection, as well as his criminal defense. I think it is fair to say he has hardly gotten off scott free.
Let us contrast this to two relatively recent cases involving atheltes, death, and humans. Leonard Little and Dany Heatley each killed fellow human beings, and got a relative slap on the wrist. Vick killed animals, and the lumber was laid to him. I am in no way condoning the killing of animals, especially for sport. The sad thing is that each day thousands of animals are killed in cruel ways because their owners can't afford them, they get angry at them, etc...
Vick is truly paying for trying to cover up what he did. He certainly deserves this part of his penalty. Lying under oath is something that should not be tolerated. This is why you have the right to remain silent, because it is the people's burden to prove you guilty based on evidence. If you speak, and lie, then you make the original charges almost moot. Either tell the truth, or say nothing. This has been a hard lesson for Vick.
This brings us to his future in football. The NFL has an absolute right to safeguard its product. It has made it clear it will little tolerate the continuing decay of conduct among its ranks. What isn't so clear is that this policy is directly in relation to the big money culture the NFL has created. Too many times the players in the league were getting away with their criminality due to their financial stature. Sure, guys like Rae Carruth did not get away with it, but all too often, crimes that you and I would possibly go to prison for resulted in players getting a small fine and, maybe, probation.
Now that we have laid that all out, we come to a debate as to what debt he owes society and, by extension, the National Football League for his activities. Michael Vick served 19 months in prison. He still has 4 months of home confinement remaining. He has paid thousands in fines and many millions of dollars in legal fees, many relating to asset protection, as well as his criminal defense. I think it is fair to say he has hardly gotten off scott free.
Let us contrast this to two relatively recent cases involving atheltes, death, and humans. Leonard Little and Dany Heatley each killed fellow human beings, and got a relative slap on the wrist. Vick killed animals, and the lumber was laid to him. I am in no way condoning the killing of animals, especially for sport. The sad thing is that each day thousands of animals are killed in cruel ways because their owners can't afford them, they get angry at them, etc...
Vick is truly paying for trying to cover up what he did. He certainly deserves this part of his penalty. Lying under oath is something that should not be tolerated. This is why you have the right to remain silent, because it is the people's burden to prove you guilty based on evidence. If you speak, and lie, then you make the original charges almost moot. Either tell the truth, or say nothing. This has been a hard lesson for Vick.
This brings us to his future in football. The NFL has an absolute right to safeguard its product. It has made it clear it will little tolerate the continuing decay of conduct among its ranks. What isn't so clear is that this policy is directly in relation to the big money culture the NFL has created. Too many times the players in the league were getting away with their criminality due to their financial stature. Sure, guys like Rae Carruth did not get away with it, but all too often, crimes that you and I would possibly go to prison for resulted in players getting a small fine and, maybe, probation.
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