I'll be the first to admit I'd love to see Michael Vick make a comeback in the NFL

[LynneSin]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090403/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_vick_bankruptcy_25

Michael Vick says prison gave him time to think

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Suspended NFL star Michael Vick told a bankruptcy court on Friday that his time in prison has given him a chance to think, and he's realized he needs to make some changes.

The ex-Atlanta Falcons quarterback, who is serving a 23-month prison sentence for bankrolling a dogfighting operation, said he knows he committed a "heinous" act that was very irresponsible.

"I can't live like the old Mike Vick," he told a courtroom filled with his family, friends and fiancee. "I was very immature. I did a lot of things I wasn't supposed to do being a role model."

In prison, he's filled his days by reading, writing, playing basketball and working a 12-cent-an-hour job as a janitor, he said. The experience has given him a chance to develop he called "an exit strategy."

Yes, what Vick did was inhumane and he has served his time in jail. But I think Vick can become an even better role model not just for the fans who watch him play football but the people who join the ranks as a professional sportsplayer only to let the excessive go to their head and spend like there is no tomorrow. I think Vick has learned a serious case of humility and might be a good role model and well, I'd like to see if the guy still has it.

[Bertha Venation]

1. Hi, Lynnesin! I post to you a friendly . . .

:popcorn:

[LynneSin]

2. The guy did his time and has shown remorse

If anything the NFL return would only be to help repay his creditors.

[tigereye]

25. that's kind of what I thought...

He showed horrible judgment, but like everyone else who has committed a crime, he deserves a second chance after doing his time. It raises interesting questions about how bad a celebrity's behaviors have to be before they are ostracized from their profession.

[Critters2]

29. A second chance means being able to get a job at McDonald's.

Making millions being adored for throwing and running? He has no right to expect that.

[tigereye]

32. as much as I wish that non sports folks like me and you made millions

for what we do, the football world is very, very strange.

[MrCoffee]

3. What is wrong with you?

His name is spelled V-I-C-K. It says so right in the article you posted!

[LynneSin]

7. What you think Jeopardy gives you the right to be a Grammar Nazi???!!!

:hide:

[Shell Beau]

4. I don't know. I try my best to forgive.

I hope he really did learn from is atrocious acts.

[TZ]

5. If he's sincere sure.

I'm just not convinced of that, yet.

[LynneSin]

6. I'd like to think I'm open to giving the guy a chance

but well, I still think he's slime. But people can make a change in their life

[flvegan]

8. Me too.

But only if that means I get to see him taken off the field on a stretcher in each of his starts.

Matter of fact, if I could get that guarantee then I hope the Bucs pick him up. I'll buy season tickets to see that live.

Oh like anyone expected me to post anything different.

[MissMillie]

12. yeah,

I was gonna say.....

[MissMillie]

9. my head says everything that you just said

after watching the Dogtown episode about the Vick dogs... well, my heart says he should have all his teeth surgically removed and be tied down to a rape rack....



I'll go w/ my head on this one, but just the mention of his name makes my heart ache, my teeth clench, and the veins pop out of my forehead.

[Shell Beau]

10. I just couldn't watch that. If I had, I would want to kill him myself.

[MissMillie]

11. I cried for those dogs

One of them has been ordered to never leave Dogtown... they think she is that much of a risk.

And I believe that dog is the one they tied to the rape rack, and had her teeth removed (surgically!)

I wonder if they take volunteers at DogTown. I'd go for a week or two.

[flvegan]

16. They most certainly do take volunteers.

You can go and volunteer for a day, week, month...whatever. I have a friend that goes once a year for two weeks.

As for Vick, unless something has changed and slipped under my radar, he NEVER apologized for what he did to those dogs. He apologized for hurting his family, being a bad role model, etc. He never apologized for the acts he committed and had committed against those dogs. I will never forgive him.

[MilesColtrane]

13. "I can't live like the old Mike Vick,"

Apparently prison didn't give him enough time to sort out the difference between third person and first person.

[nomorenomore08]

27. Primary symptom of an overinflated ego? I think that's it right there...

Talking about yourself in the third person, that is. :P

[jobycom]

39. How is "I" not first person?

[southpaw]

14. Hey, Mr. Vick

I applaud your ability to see that a large segment of the public see you as scum and will mobilize to keep you from making any sort of comeback unless you put on a really convincing mea culpa act.

Now crawl into the dark basement of obscurity where you belong!

[LostinVA]

15. I think he should be banned for life from football

The only remorse he's shown is being sorry he got caught. He should be serving 25+ years in prison.

[petronius]

20. I agree that his sentence was too light and his remorse hollow, but I don't see why he

should be banned from football - it's his profession, after all, and his crime has no relation to his employment...

[Lucian]

22. Agreed.

[Critters2]

30. +1 nt

[northernlights]

17. Unless his "exit strategy"

includes a lifetime spent donating the bulk of his earnings to helping save dog's lives, and until he acknowledges what he did was despicably cruel and inhumane, he can rot in jail for life for all I care.

If he doesn't do all of the above, and he sets foot on a football field again, I hope some player kicks his teeth so far down his throat that he spends the rest of his life chewing his food in his butt.

[LynneSin]

19. Unfortunately the IRS and debt collectors are getting that money first

but yeah, I thought the same thing too

[Bryn]

18. No way!

Vick will NEVER change for who he is.

Dogs come first. Vick doesn't deserve to be back in football. I will do everything in my power to protest his return.




For the dogs who suffered at hands of Vick.

[madinmaryland]

21. I'm sure a few looney tunes in the sports forum will say that he will

be joining the Cowboys.

:idea:

Hmm. He might make a good back-up for Tony Romo.

[TZ]

24. I'm waiting for someone to make Dan Snyder references..

Gee now who do we know who might say that?:think:

[madinmaryland]

26. Hey! Aren't you supposed to be my little puppet???

That's what I heard over in teh sports forum!!

:rofl:

[TZ]

33. You know whats sad about teh sports forum

Because of certain umm attitudes I find myself hoping the 49ers lose as much or more than the Cowboys..:crazy:

[madinmaryland]

34. Now that you mention it, I think the same way about the 49'ers and Redskins!

:wow:

Brain-rot!

[BulletproofLandshark]

28. Nah, he's got silver and black written all over him.

I hope no one thinks he should playing QB again. His NFL future, if he has one, is as a receiver or a situational back.

[madinmaryland]

35. I'd love for the York Family to pick him up for next season.

I'd love to see the twins defend that one!!1!!

[TZ]

37. hehehe.

That would be pretty funny wouldn't it....

[jobycom]

40. I was about to. Even before I saw the Cowboys reference.

:P

[Drunken Irishman]

47. Cowboys or Raiders.

[Orsino]

23. *A* heinous act? "Some bad choices?" "Immature"?

The story's short on direct quotes, but I don't see evidence that Vick is facing up to the scope of what he did--or of much humility. His was a pattern of abuse and irresponsibility, and vague semi-apologies aren't persuasive.

Nothing here suggests that he's ever going to be a good role model.

[Forkboy]

31. No, I don't think so.

[dropkickpa]

38. The Dropkick family don't either

We'd like to tell him to quietly go fuck off somewhere and leave the world alone.

[lukasahero]

44. Jeez dude - a warning please!

I agree with you but I didn't have to see the pics to do so.

[Shell Beau]

46. A warning next time please. I could go the rest of my life

without seeing that. It really kills my soul. :cry:

[SoxFan]

36. Nice post, Al Davis

[jobycom]

41. Sure, why not? I hate the whole attitude that a person can be punished professionally

for unrelated personal acts, anyway. Personal punishment should be up to the criminal system, not an employer, and I think that should be a Constitutional Amendment, assuming that the Constitution shouldn't already be interpreted that way.

Having said that, do you want Vick on your team? He makes Pacman Jones look like a reliable bet. I'd love to see him come back and be the definitive example of a rehabilitated criminal. America needs that example very badly. I just want someone else to take that chance. :)

[dropkickpa]

42. Felons are denied employment all the time

Fuck him in his ear. There are morality clauses in NFL contracts. Torturing animals violates that.

[jobycom]

43. And should not be. Not for that alone.

The morality clauses in the NFL contracts, as in any employment, to me violate the Constitution and everything this nation stands for. I understand the other opinion, I just disagree passionately with it.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

45. Fuck him -- he should NEVER be let out of prison

He's a fucking sociopath, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear of him raping/killing somebody eventually.

Edited to add, you can't believe a word out of a sociopath's mouth. All they do is lie.

[MrSlayer]

48. I think he should be eaten by rabid dogs.

And secondly, he sucks as a QB. Flat out sucks.

[KamaAina]

49. Alas, if he does, it won't be with the Falcons

that certainly would have further enlivened the Dirty Birds' annual visit to the Superdome: Ten thousand dogs in little Saints doggie sweaters, thunderous boos and loud barking under "At quarterback, from Virginia Tech, number 7, Michael Vick!", followed by "Who Let The Dogs Out?" at maximum volume on the PA!

And, we'll never know what the Mardi Gras Krewe of Barkus would have done with it...

edit: punctuation