Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself
Following are lengthy quotes from sports writers that I respect and admire, opining about Michael Vick in the wake of his confession of guilt. Because I couldn't have said it better, I'll let them speak for themselves.
"Folks, this wasn't a bad decision made in a night club under the influence of Grey Goose. This "mistake" was a lifestyle that unfolded over a period of years. It's something that Vick likely would still be doing if his property in Virginia hadn't been searched by authorities in late April." Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk.com, Aug. 21, 2007
"It's the newest cautionary American tale: Football icon flips American dream on its head. It's so totally overwhelming and wildly extreme it's difficult to know where to begin. Vick is alleged to have not just run a dogfighting ring, which by itself is illegal and heinous, but to have tortured and killed dogs with his bare hands, lied to the man who's paying him $105 million about his involvement and lied to the NFL commissioner's face about his involvement. You wonder what Vick was thinking as the federal government knocked him out in what amounts to less than one round. Could the feds have had a more solid case against him? The dog-killing is such a showstopper, most folks don't even realize the feds could have nailed him for gambling as well." Michael Wilbon, Washington Post, Aug. 21, 2007
"Lying to the commissioner's face can't help Vick's chances of playing in the league again. He lied to Goodell. He lied to Arthur Blank, the Atlanta Falcons owner who thought Vick was revolutionizing the quarterback position three years ago and gave him a $130 million contract. He lied to fans throughout the nation who were captivated by his skills, lied to his mother after promising her last month that he would clear his ''good name,'' lied to the people of Atlanta who used to worship him but watched him flip an obscene gesture at them last year. Worst of all, he lied to himself." Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 21, 2007
"So let’s go ahead and redefine “keeping it real,” shall we?
We might as well, now that Michael Vick kept it real stupid and probably is headed to a federal penitentiary, the vacation destination of choice for men who believe criminal behavior and a lack of education are cultural benchmarks...
The Atlanta Falcons and owner Arthur Blank introduced and ushered Michael Vick into a brand-new world, a world that required Vick to carry himself in a more mainstream manner, a world of wealth, privilege, responsibility and the appearance of ethics and morality.
It’s a world all starting quarterbacks are asked to join. The position is the most prestigious in sports.
Vick wanted to do things his way. He wanted to customize the position in terms of style of play and off-field demeanor. He wanted to keep it real by keeping his feet in the seedy world he once knew and the new world that demanded a squeakier image.
The worlds don’t mix.
Michael Vick should not have abandoned his boyz from the hood, the gentlemen who predictably and quickly accepted plea agreements and squealed on Vick. He should’ve demonstrated the courage to demand that they join him on his new journey. He should’ve forced them to abandon him." Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star, Aug. 21, 2007 (emphasis mine)
"So deep is the disappointment in how this once charmed tale turned ugly that the Falcons general manager at the time of Vick's drafting, Harold Richardson, won't discuss any facet of the rise and fall. Not even the best part of the story, because Richardson knows how it ends. In the road-building business now, he steers clear of potholes.
Dan Reeves, the Falcons coach at the time, said, "There was a lot of excitement about (drafting Vick). He was one of the most exciting players I'd seen on film, and I was extremely excited about bringing that kind of talent to Atlanta."
If this is the day to begin the writing of Vick's legacy in Atlanta, then you go back to the spring of 2001 where all that promise was born. At the same time, according to the federal indictment outlining charges against Vick, beneath the giddiness there was Bad Newz brewing.
"...in or about May 2001, (Tony) Taylor identified the property at 1915 Moonlight Road, Smithfield, Va. as being a suitable location for housing and training pit bulls for fighting."
Right away, Vick was marked for financial greatness. The 20-year-old who had grown up in the Ridley Circle housing project in Newport News, Va., signed the richest NFL rookie contract to date, with a $3 million signing bonus up front. Money enough to make any dream come true; money that could elevate a family for generations.
"...on or about June 29, 2001, Vick paid approximately $34,000 for the purchase of property located at 1915 Moonlight Road...From this point forward, the defendants used this property as the main staging area for housing and training pit bulls in the dog fighting venture and hosting dog fights."
In the context of where Vick was at the time, these passages from the indictment become all the more unsettling. They lay the rails of an unseen parallel track that Vick traveled even while building his name and his fortune. And rather than answer any great questions about his fall, they only make it all the more incomprehensible." Steve Hummer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 21, 2007
"There will be all this speculation about what kind of football future Vick has now that he has pleaded guilty to these federal dogfighting charges, involving conspiracy and interstate commerce and all the rest of it, charges that can get you five years in prison but will probably get Vick just one. There will be all this speculation about what kind of player he might be after doing time. But for as long as he is in jail, Vick ought to think about what kind of person he wants to be when he gets out, whether he finds another team that wants him or not. He ought to wonder what kind of person got involved in something as terrible as dogfighting, however much he was involved, ask himself what kind of athlete thinks that is some kind of acceptable sport.
He sure ought to think about what kind of friends he had or thought he had, ones to whom he always said he had to be so loyal. This case isn't about race, even though there are people who want it to be. It is about values and judgment and skewed definitions of friendship, and accountability. If it isn't some kind of alarm sounding throughout sports, where a lot of guys, white and black and Hispanic, aren't taking a closer look at all those around them, it ought to be.
You can talk about the irony of the public, a public that loves the violence of pro football, finding a different kind of violence shameful and unacceptable. You know there are athletes who have committed other crimes, been behind the wheels of cars when people died, been accused of rape, and never have seen the inside of a jail cell the way Vick will. And yet what Vick and Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace and Tony Taylor are accused of, will plead guilty to - including the execution of "underperforming" dogs - is the behavior of bums. Sometimes you still go to jail for that." Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, Aug. 21, 2007
"In sports, it's good to be original. The first to dunk. The first to throw a knuckleball. The only time you don't want to be original is when it comes to bad behavior.
Michael Vick is finding this out. Using drugs? Sexual assault? DUI? Waving a gun? As pathetic as it seems, those offenses no longer shock in the privileged world of professional sports.
But dogfighting? Betting on it? Hanging the weak dogs? Drowning them in buckets? We have not seen that before. Vick, in being accused of such crimes, has invented his own category. Not good. He is out there on his own more than he ever was as a quarterback scrambling from defensive linemen.
And the government now has him by the knees. All that is left is how hard the judge knocks him over. Vick will plead guilty to heinous charges -- despite once claiming a trial would clear his name.
In these ways, Vick is an original.
And he is done." Mitch Albom, Detroit Free-Press, Aug. 21, 2007
All that matters now is the settling up.
"Folks, this wasn't a bad decision made in a night club under the influence of Grey Goose. This "mistake" was a lifestyle that unfolded over a period of years. It's something that Vick likely would still be doing if his property in Virginia hadn't been searched by authorities in late April." Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk.com, Aug. 21, 2007
"It's the newest cautionary American tale: Football icon flips American dream on its head. It's so totally overwhelming and wildly extreme it's difficult to know where to begin. Vick is alleged to have not just run a dogfighting ring, which by itself is illegal and heinous, but to have tortured and killed dogs with his bare hands, lied to the man who's paying him $105 million about his involvement and lied to the NFL commissioner's face about his involvement. You wonder what Vick was thinking as the federal government knocked him out in what amounts to less than one round. Could the feds have had a more solid case against him? The dog-killing is such a showstopper, most folks don't even realize the feds could have nailed him for gambling as well." Michael Wilbon, Washington Post, Aug. 21, 2007
"Lying to the commissioner's face can't help Vick's chances of playing in the league again. He lied to Goodell. He lied to Arthur Blank, the Atlanta Falcons owner who thought Vick was revolutionizing the quarterback position three years ago and gave him a $130 million contract. He lied to fans throughout the nation who were captivated by his skills, lied to his mother after promising her last month that he would clear his ''good name,'' lied to the people of Atlanta who used to worship him but watched him flip an obscene gesture at them last year. Worst of all, he lied to himself." Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times, Aug. 21, 2007
"So let’s go ahead and redefine “keeping it real,” shall we?
We might as well, now that Michael Vick kept it real stupid and probably is headed to a federal penitentiary, the vacation destination of choice for men who believe criminal behavior and a lack of education are cultural benchmarks...
The Atlanta Falcons and owner Arthur Blank introduced and ushered Michael Vick into a brand-new world, a world that required Vick to carry himself in a more mainstream manner, a world of wealth, privilege, responsibility and the appearance of ethics and morality.
It’s a world all starting quarterbacks are asked to join. The position is the most prestigious in sports.
Vick wanted to do things his way. He wanted to customize the position in terms of style of play and off-field demeanor. He wanted to keep it real by keeping his feet in the seedy world he once knew and the new world that demanded a squeakier image.
The worlds don’t mix.
Michael Vick should not have abandoned his boyz from the hood, the gentlemen who predictably and quickly accepted plea agreements and squealed on Vick. He should’ve demonstrated the courage to demand that they join him on his new journey. He should’ve forced them to abandon him." Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star, Aug. 21, 2007 (emphasis mine)
"So deep is the disappointment in how this once charmed tale turned ugly that the Falcons general manager at the time of Vick's drafting, Harold Richardson, won't discuss any facet of the rise and fall. Not even the best part of the story, because Richardson knows how it ends. In the road-building business now, he steers clear of potholes.
Dan Reeves, the Falcons coach at the time, said, "There was a lot of excitement about (drafting Vick). He was one of the most exciting players I'd seen on film, and I was extremely excited about bringing that kind of talent to Atlanta."
If this is the day to begin the writing of Vick's legacy in Atlanta, then you go back to the spring of 2001 where all that promise was born. At the same time, according to the federal indictment outlining charges against Vick, beneath the giddiness there was Bad Newz brewing.
"...in or about May 2001, (Tony) Taylor identified the property at 1915 Moonlight Road, Smithfield, Va. as being a suitable location for housing and training pit bulls for fighting."
Right away, Vick was marked for financial greatness. The 20-year-old who had grown up in the Ridley Circle housing project in Newport News, Va., signed the richest NFL rookie contract to date, with a $3 million signing bonus up front. Money enough to make any dream come true; money that could elevate a family for generations.
"...on or about June 29, 2001, Vick paid approximately $34,000 for the purchase of property located at 1915 Moonlight Road...From this point forward, the defendants used this property as the main staging area for housing and training pit bulls in the dog fighting venture and hosting dog fights."
In the context of where Vick was at the time, these passages from the indictment become all the more unsettling. They lay the rails of an unseen parallel track that Vick traveled even while building his name and his fortune. And rather than answer any great questions about his fall, they only make it all the more incomprehensible." Steve Hummer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Aug. 21, 2007
"There will be all this speculation about what kind of football future Vick has now that he has pleaded guilty to these federal dogfighting charges, involving conspiracy and interstate commerce and all the rest of it, charges that can get you five years in prison but will probably get Vick just one. There will be all this speculation about what kind of player he might be after doing time. But for as long as he is in jail, Vick ought to think about what kind of person he wants to be when he gets out, whether he finds another team that wants him or not. He ought to wonder what kind of person got involved in something as terrible as dogfighting, however much he was involved, ask himself what kind of athlete thinks that is some kind of acceptable sport.
He sure ought to think about what kind of friends he had or thought he had, ones to whom he always said he had to be so loyal. This case isn't about race, even though there are people who want it to be. It is about values and judgment and skewed definitions of friendship, and accountability. If it isn't some kind of alarm sounding throughout sports, where a lot of guys, white and black and Hispanic, aren't taking a closer look at all those around them, it ought to be.
You can talk about the irony of the public, a public that loves the violence of pro football, finding a different kind of violence shameful and unacceptable. You know there are athletes who have committed other crimes, been behind the wheels of cars when people died, been accused of rape, and never have seen the inside of a jail cell the way Vick will. And yet what Vick and Quanis Phillips and Purnell Peace and Tony Taylor are accused of, will plead guilty to - including the execution of "underperforming" dogs - is the behavior of bums. Sometimes you still go to jail for that." Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, Aug. 21, 2007
"In sports, it's good to be original. The first to dunk. The first to throw a knuckleball. The only time you don't want to be original is when it comes to bad behavior.
Michael Vick is finding this out. Using drugs? Sexual assault? DUI? Waving a gun? As pathetic as it seems, those offenses no longer shock in the privileged world of professional sports.
But dogfighting? Betting on it? Hanging the weak dogs? Drowning them in buckets? We have not seen that before. Vick, in being accused of such crimes, has invented his own category. Not good. He is out there on his own more than he ever was as a quarterback scrambling from defensive linemen.
And the government now has him by the knees. All that is left is how hard the judge knocks him over. Vick will plead guilty to heinous charges -- despite once claiming a trial would clear his name.
In these ways, Vick is an original.
And he is done." Mitch Albom, Detroit Free-Press, Aug. 21, 2007
All that matters now is the settling up.
Labels: dog-fighting, guilty as hell, Jason Whitlock, Jay Mariotti, Michael Vick, Michael Wilbon, Mike Lupica, Mitch Albom, ProFootballTalk.com, Steve Hummer
posted by van walker | 8:13 AM
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