It's time to give Vick his second chance

Post by David Helman —

So the NFL's greatest rushing quarterback of all time is an unrestricted free agent, available to anyone, and nobody's scrambling to make a deal?

The guy who did this is on the open market, and nobody's buying?

Oh. Right. That.

Yeah, Michael Vick ran a dog fighting and gambling ring in Virginia for six years or more. Yeah, he (or at least his "employees") executed and abused dogs.

But yeah, the dude has served two years in prison. He's serving three years probation and his public image is ruined beyond any hope of repair. He's basically completely broke, and the odds of NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell lifting his suspension in time for him to play in 2009 are slim to none.

So that's three seasons without football, two years in prison and countless fines, legal fees, etc. to pay back.

It sounds to me like the dude has paid his debt to society.

Granted, I'm not asking you to forgive the guy. In truth, I pretty much think he's an asshole myself. But we're talking about dogs here, not people. And as much as I love dogs, they weren't exactly a group the Founders had in mind when they drew up the Constitution or the American legal system. As heinous as his actions were, killing a dog isn't a crime, or else our parents wouldn't make us read Old Yeller.

Yes I know, animal abuse and gambling on dog fights are crimes, hence the two years in prison and three months of probation.

Vick's punishments are more than any NFL player has served in recent memory — including Adam "Pacman" Jones, who has been involved in at least two assault charges and an infamous shooting in Las Vegas in 2007, and all of those crimes involve people, not dogs.

There are other names to consider, like Baltimore's Ray Lewis, who was not incarcerated or suspended after being accused of murder and eventually convicted of obstruction of justice, or defensive tackle Terry "Tank" Johnson, who served 45 days in jail and an eight game suspension for upward of 10 illegal gun charges.

These are all crimes perpetrated against humans — crimes that put people, not dogs, in danger.

So with all this in mind, why can't Vick have another shot?

Educated opinion says Goodell likely won't decide his status until well after his window for playing in 2009 has closed, so he'll have another year to keep himself out of trouble, try to repair his image and generally show remorse. You might not like him, you might not want your kids looking up to him and you certainly don't want him pet-sitting, but he's done everything asked of him to get another shot at pro football.

Which leads me to an even better point: What better stage is there in all the world to serve out a punishment and subsequent redemption than the many fields of the NFL?

As sports fans, we would be merciless. Imagine the fun that the Saints' St. Bernard mascot Gumbo could have at the expense of Vick, or imagine if Vick ever had to play in Cleveland's infamous "Dawg Pound."

If he managed to return to his old form despite it all, he'd deserve whatever accolades he got. And he'd probably be a better man for it.

So I say we give the guy another shot. If all dogs go to heaven, what's the big deal?