So, I accidentally trolled a Michael Vick's face book page which turned out to be an interesting experience. He was recently named as one of four captains for the 2020 Pro Ball - astonishing given he's a convicted felon and has an extensive history of animal abuse of epic proportions. The dog fighting charges happened back in 2007 so when he was named of course the Internet has been flooded with articles, etc. about his crimes. I was curious to see if he had a face book page and he does - there were all sorts of congratulations so I just added that we should all pray no one gives him a puppy for Christmas. It was off the cuff, yes I was mad and yes, it was snarky. The first thing I noticed was I got about 40 likes within a few hours so I'm not the only person taking a Sunday Troll through the park. But then his supporters chimed in - and I do find it's interesting that no one addressed what I said but focused on hurling insults. Two of them said I looked like some obscure secondary actor (??) and I was impressed that anyone would spend that much time working trying to find someone to insult me with so I can't look too bad. Then they started fighting amongst themselves and got so caught up in calling each other names what I said was relegated to the back burner - I haven't checked back but I'm sure by now they don't even know what they're arguing about.
They didn't know what they were talking about - but then again, did I? I was basing my opinion on what I read and like the Trumpeteers it depends on who wrote it. So I started to research Michael Vicks.
All You Ever Needed To Know About Michael Vicks
In 2007 during the time Michael Vicks was the quarterback for the Atlantic Falcons it was discovered he was the co-owner of a property named the BadNewz Kennel. The reason it was being investigated was due to reports of dog fighting. Purnell Peace, Quanis Philips and Tony Taylor were also indited for dog fighting, animal cruelty and illegal gambling. 70 dogs were seized of which 53 survived, bodies of the dogs that had been killed were also found on the property. The manner that the dogs that did not perform up to standard were killed was horrifying - some were hosed down and then electrocuted, they were shot and hung, drowned in a 5 gallon bucket of water, one dog died by being repeatedly slammed to the ground. Vicks himself was aware of what was going on and eventually admitted to killing two of the dogs himself. They strung up clothesline between two trees and hung multiple dogs at once - look at your own dog and think about that. He was convicted on two counts - promoting dog fighting and engaging in the torture, ill treatment, beating, maiming, mutilation and killing of animals.
He DID serve time(I've read in several places he didn't, not true) - he ended up serving 18 months of a 23 month sentence which was more than his co-conspirators served due to his deliberate, false statements. He served out the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. He had 3 years of supervised probation that he was not allowed to own any dogs, fined $5,000, ordered drug and alcohol treatment which he had to pay for, $928,073 restitution for the 53 surviving dogs from his property - one dog in particular Georgia had all of her teeth extracted with no medication so she could not fight back from forcible breeding. He went bankrupt in prison, lost multiple endorsements and was suspended from the NFL
In 2009 after his release from prison he started working with the humane society speaking out against animal cruelty, he spoke at schools and events saying he wanted to be a positive change and help break the cycle of cruelty. This was not due to his remorse but his manager's suggestion that it would help his public image.He became the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2010 and was reinstated to the NFL.
In 2012 he got a dog.
So, did any of this change my mind? A little I suppose - although to this day he has never expressed remorse or regret for what he did to those poor animals he did make an effort(regardless of sincerity) and since his conviction he hasn't participated in dogfighting. The only good thing was the whole nightmare shone the light hard on illegal dog fighting and started helping get better protection for animals. If this happened this year I can pretty much guarentee he would not be the quarterback of anything and he certainly would not be a dog owner (and I hope his current dog sleeps with one eye open, just saying..) And I guess the NFL's concern is with making bank, not employing good people. My biggest objections have more to do with him being a role model - there are so many other players that should have been put in that position that ARE worthy of the admiration and accolades. On his facebook page there's a parent standing next to him with his 3 kids smiling proudly and all I can think is...why are you smiling?? And I'm not the only one, there was a petition with thousands of people that feel the same as I do - yes he paid for his crime but no, he does not deserve to be a captain. Brock Turner did his sentence too, but doesn't mean we should forget.
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