Michael Vick has been an Eagle for less than 24 hours and already, the country is in an uproar. It's almost as if it flares up every time something good happens to him. He gets out of jail, but "he should still be locked up." He gets conditionally reinstated, but "he should never play again." The Eagles sign him to a one year deal, and suddenly, "The Eagles have no character."
I would think that this shows how much character the Eagles do have. What kind of message would it send if they didn't take him because, "Michael Vick isn't worthy of a second chance?" What does that say about America? I thought this country was all about second chances?
Just for the record, I don't believe that "second chance" crap at all. There are people who still haven't forgiven Metallica for cutting their hair.
But some of the things that people are saying are really ridiculous and I just don't understand them. I'm pretty sure Michael Vick doesn't understand them either, but that's what you get when you settle for a Virginia Tech education (hey-ho!). I don't speak for Vick, but I do speak for me, and methinks you sound like an idiot when you make the following statements:
"What has Michael Vick done to show that he's a changed man?"
I'm really sick of hearing this one. What has he done? He went to jail. In America, there's no "kiss-ass" clause that you have to meet before you resume your life after prison. You serve your time, you serve your probation, and you go about your business. I've never read the entire penal code before, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing in there about "groveling before a self-righteous population." If there was, we'd have higher recidivism rate than we already do.
"He hasn't shown remorse for his crimes."
First, you don't know that. It's just that when you believe it's all about you, you believe that he has to do it where you can see it. You didn't see him in jail. You don't know what he did in there or after he got out. And he doesn't owe any of you and explanation.
What are we, ostriches? It didn't happen because our heads were in the sand? Just because it didn't happen in front of you doesn't mean it didn't happen. That's like assuming that just because you didn't see the Bush Administration stealing your civil liberties doesn't mean they didn't actually do it. Meanwhile, you're sitting in jail on a "dissenting thought pattern" charge.
How do you show remorse, anyway? What, do you want him to get out there and cry? The Humane Society has already taken his money, so he can't give that away. What more do you want from him? I really don't understand what people expect him to do to "show remorse." Thing is, this is the first time anyone's ever been expected to show remorse. No one was looking for Mike Tyson to be contrite after he went to jail for rape. We just let him go right back into the ring. Are they going to ask Donte Stallworth to "show remorse" for his crime? Maybe if he got out there and softshoed for you, you'd leave him alone.
For fuck's sake, are you afraid he's going to stomp puppies into a stain for good luck before he goes onto the field?
"Playing football isn't a right; it's a privilege."
So is working at Burger King.
What if you went to jail for running a meth lab or whatever you do, and when you tried to get your job back stocking shelves at Food Depot, but they told you, "Working at Food Depot isn't a right; it's a privilege," before security escorted you out?
I don't even know what this has to do with anything. It's not like he's being disrespectful towards anyone while he tries to get his life back. He's not taking anything for granted here, because if he was, he'd be giving the world a totally different message than he is right now. He's not even a troublemaker, as troublemakers go. He's not Pacman Jones. It's just that the one time he REALLY got in trouble, he REALLY got in trouble.
"I hate Michael Vick."
I hate Kanye West, but it didn't keep "808s and Heartbreak" from going platinum. No one cares.
Look, Jesus is considered by many to be perfect, and he wouldn't piss and moan about this. You know why? Because he's all about forgiveness (and NOT judging), which is why he defended that professional snakeslurper against an angry mob. He also has scary, supernatural powers, and if I had those, I wouldn't care about your earthly affairs, either. But even he would let this go. Everyone makes mistakes, and at some point, we have to atone for those mistakes. He has. And even if you hate what he did (which you're certainly right to do), rubbing his face in it forever isn't going make things right. You're the one who's angry. He just signed a million dollar contract and is trying to atone for his sins. Hell, give him a chance to do it. Do you people ever read your Bibles?
Because at the end of the day, dude...really. It's just football.
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