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Forgiving Michael Vick
By Edward Grinnan
They are already trying to induct him into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, piece by piece. The keepers of the NFL's legacy requested that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and ex-con, Michael Vick, donate the jersey he wore in a recent 59-28 massacre of the Washington Redskins wherein No. 7 ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 333 yards and four more touchdowns, including an 88-yard missile to DeSean Jackson that was as aesthetic as it was athletic, truly a thing of soaring beauty. No serious pro football fan could fail to be awed. Already there is talk of Vick's suddenly electrifying presence leading the Eagles to Dallas for Superbowl XLV on February 6.
Yet I am both football fan and animal lover so I am seriously conflicted. I see Vick standing there in the shotgun calling signals and identifying blitzers and I can't help but think, Dog torturer. Sports fans have conveniently short memories but everyone knows that Vick was released from prison not long ago after serving time for running an illegal dogfighting operation where the animals were abused, starved and killed. At the time Vick, who ran the ring out of his own backyard, seemed stupendously clueless as to why this would trouble anyone. Defenders tried to attribute this to the culture Vick was raised in, which condoned dogfighting, but I have difficulty swallowing that argument. Anyone who has owned or loved a dog or even interacted with one on a regular basis can understand. These animals have evolved because of their loyalty and devotion to us. God and nature have hardwired them with a tremendous affection for man. To abuse one seems to be not just a betrayal of their trust but a betrayal of our own humanity.
True, some might say professional sports has worse miscreants. NBA megastar Kobe Bryant of the Lakers appears to have bought his way out of a sexual assault prosecution. The thuggish Ray Lewis of the Ravens escaped a murder rap a few years back and pled guilty to a lesser charge. And at the very least, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is a serial lout.
But there is something particularly odious and craven about a man who tortures dogs for sport. Think about someone hanging your dog upside down by its hind legs and beating it. Then try to get excited the next time Vick turns a busted screen play into a 40 yard gain.
This is where my problem comes in. I do get excited, not just by the run itself and Vick's magnificent grace as an athlete, but by the larger drama of redemption playing out on a field. Redemption is in our national DNA. Americans claim a virtual constitutional right to personal redemption. We are a country of second acts (see Spitzer, Eliot). Sports have been the grand stage for personal redemption throughout American history, and never more so than today, and much of that redemption is phony. Many athlete/transgressors simply think they have beaten the system and go back to trying to beat it again. They are arrogant and brazen and never really suffer any consequences unless they happen to spontaneously develop a conscience. But Vick suffered for his crime--maybe not as much as his dogs yet he did hard time in a state prison and went bankrupt. Justifiably he was vilified by animal rights groups around the world. I mean folks hated Michael Vick. I hated him. Dog torturer.
My faith tells me that I must forgive the transgressor. That I may hate the sin but not the sinner. And that I may even cheer for that sinner when he rolls out and scrambles for a first down on third and long. And still a part of me still wants to see him viciously blindsided by a blitzing linebacker...maybe someone like Ray Lewis. I want to forgive but it is hard, though that forgiveness is for my own benefit as it will release me from feelings towards Michael Vick that I am not proud of. I can't imagine not loathing him for what he did yet am amazed that it might actually be football that gets me there.
So this Thanksgiving, in the maw of another NFL season, on a day that provides a surfeit of both food and football, I would be most grateful for the gift of forgiveness. I pray I receive it before February 6.
Edward Grinnan is Vice President of Guideposts Publications and Editor-in-Chief of Guideposts magazine, which will launch an year-long editorial series this January on the power of forgiveness. He has a book coming out this spring on personal change, both his and others.
By Edward Grinnan |
November 23, 2010; 2:17 PM ET
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Posted by: itsthedax | November 28, 2010 4:23 PM
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It doesn't matter how good a football player Michael Vick is, I will never forgive him for his abuse of animals.
I have two pit bulls, both rescues, both with former owners who were training them to fight. We have come a long way with rehabilitating them, but there is psychological damage to both dogs that no amount of love lavished on them seems to be able to overcome.
If Michael Vick were trapped in a burning building with a mangy stray dog, I'd save the dog and let Vick burn to death.
I think people who fight dogs should be stripped naked, slathered in Alpo, and thrown into a ring with their own dogs.
Posted by: lepidopteryx | November 28, 2010 10:50 AM
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Our society hates people who are cruel to animals. We've all seen the stories about how one defendant got a longer sentence for killing a dog than someone else got for negligent manslaughter of a human.
Football is a violent game, and too many of its players come from backgrounds in which violence is normative. A lot them carry weapons because the old friends who didn't get out of the old 'hood are going to come looking some day, like for Sean Taylor.
Posted by: WmarkW | November 26, 2010 11:58 AM
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You should be ashamed of yourself. If he wasn't having all that success on the field, he would still be vilified instead of worshipped. So much for your god-derived morality. I hope a linebacker blitzes him on puts him on permanent injured reserve. Vick is a sociopath unable to feel empathy for fellow sentient beings. As such, I have none for him.
Posted by: mbeck1 | November 26, 2010 12:52 AM
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Michael Vick tortured animals for fun. He knowingly engaged in criminal behavior, including an illegal gambling ring. When caught, he lied to the public, his team, his employer and to law enforcement. When backed into a corner, he admitted to the bare minimum offenses that it took to get a minimal sentence. He is a coward and a punk. I recommend that anyone reading this article also read The Lost Dogs by Jim Gorant. It gives a very clear account of exactly what he did.
He is not "redeemed" because he served the minimum time on his plea deal. If he wants be redeemed, he should be pushing a mop in an animal shelter, not playing a game on television.