Janelle and I caught the Michael Vick interview on 60 Minutes tonight. The interview was conducted by NFL sportscaster James Brown, and featured some tough questions mixed with quite a few pointless soft lobs. Sitting on either side of Vick were the irreproachable Tony Dungy and, surprisingly, Wayne Pacelle -- president of the Humane Society of the United States.
Vick handled himself admirably throughout the interview with Brown. He was appropriately contrite and remorseful, never mincing words when taking full responsibility for his dog-fighting days. At one point he admitted that "football doesn't even matter" compared to what he did, and that he didn't deserve to have that $130M contract he forfeited when he went to jail. I kept waiting to hear him try to blame anyone else, but he never tried to make excuses for his actions. The closest he came was when he told the story of his first exposure to dog fighting at the tender age of 8, and how police looked the other way even though they knew what was going on.
I don't know whether or not I believe Vick when he says that he is sorry about what he did to the dogs, and that he is a changed man and loves animals. But if he's lying, he's certainly an outstanding actor. He played his part well, and his team of superlawyers -- hired to rehabilitate his image -- have trained him perfectly. He seems credible, but I don't know if I trust my eyes.
But I do believe Vick may very well be rehabilitated, and that he intends to walk the straight and narrow. Not because of anything he said during the interview, but because of my own intuition. I think it's meaningful that a man of such character as Dungy stands by him, that a former enemy like Pacelle wants to believe in him, that a savvy businessman like Jeffrey Lurie (the Eagles owner) chooses to take a calculated gamble on him. I think it's significant that all the people who have spent time actually talking to Michael Vick -- Dungy, Pacelle, Lurie, coach Andy Reid, commisioner Roger Goodell, even his agent Joel Segal -- think that he has what it takes to turn his life around. They may all have ulterior motives for saying they believe in him, but you have to admit it's a long list.
I'm also impressed that he managed to surround himself with the right people. He is saying all the right things, making all the right promises, and even arranged a timely national interview on a respected show like 60 Minutes. At the very least, this is a very well-coordinated effort to get him back to his life. If you think about the list of disgraced athletes over recent times -- Mike Tyson, OJ Simpson, Barry Bonds, Kobe Bryant, to name a few -- you realize what a difficult feat this is to achieve. Not everyone manages to organize so well. So there's that.
Cynics say that he's only sorry because he lost all the money and the lifestyle. They say the Eagles signed him only to win, to make more money and not just to give some poor schmuck a second chance at life. Well *of course* the Eagles are in it for the money and the athletic potential that Vick brings to the team. That's so obvious, it doesn't even deserve to be mentioned. What the team's brass, from top to bottom, have been addressing is the risk that's involved in signing a convicted felon who has done time behind bars for cruelty to animals. They're spending all their effort in managing the public relations aspect, but it goes without saying that the Eagles signed Vick because they believe he can help them win.
And I'm sure a lot Vick's remorse is based on the shock of losing everything he had, all the benefits of being an NFL superstar that he thought were his god-given right. And what's wrong with that, exactly? Anyone who said they were only sorry about the dogs and weren't the least bit sorry about losing the money would be lying. I don't mind if the money is part of the reason he's sorry; that's natural. What I want to know is that he realizes what he did was wrong, that he won't ever do it again, and that he will go out and try to prevent other people from making the same mistake.
Vick is now under a microscope. He has gotten so much press coverage in the last week that everyone will be watching to see what he does next. Being in a large media market like Philadelphia will only further ensure that he does not escape the spotlight. People will watch to see if he behaves well, keeps his nose clean, and follows through on his pledge to be a champion for the Humane Society. And this is as it should be.
I believe Vick has earned the chance to come back, as well as the right to live his life. I do not forgive his past actions. But he has confessed his guilt, and he has paid the penalty according to the law. He has a long road ahead of him, with millions of eyes watching his every move. But anyone who begrudges him the opportunity to make his living in the NFL, doing the only thing he knows how to do, doesn't believe in this country's justice system or its penal system. Those people who lobby actively for the further ruination of Michael Vick, instead of sitting back and watching what happens, are essentially vigilantes demanding mob justice. They believe that people who commit wrongs in society should be judged and penalized by the public rather than by the legal system.
Keep in mind that fellow NFL player Donte Stallworth spent just 30 days in jail for killing a person while driving drunk, and will only be banned from playing for one year. Keep in mind that fellow Philadelphia newcomer Pedro Martinez is known to have been involved in cockfighting, but has never been banned from playing his sport. Yet we hear very little outcry about those cases. The mob mentality, you see, is fickle and inconsistent. That's why we have a legal system instead of mob rule.
If Vick fails to say and do the right things from now on, and his detractors would then like to say "I told you so" with their noses in the air, I think that's fine. But we should give him a chance to show whether his rehabilitation is real and his remorse is genuine.
No comments:
Post a Comment