It's been too long since my last post. I've got a lot of half finished ones that I keep putting off, but as a metro Atlanta resident there's one current event I can't wait to post about. That's right - Michael Vick.
For those of you living in a Dixie cup he is the Atlanta Falcons quarterback and a huge NFL star. He was recently indicted on federal charges related to dog fighting. The indictment is full of horrific stuff; I'll leave you to find the details on your own. Sufficed to say, the details are gruesome, and he was in the thick of it. There's a special room in Hell for folks that do the things he's accused of doing.
The question in the past week has been what will the NFL commissioner or team owner Arthur Blank do in response? For those not in the know, the commissioner has complete discretion to sanction Vick. The team owner can either cut him or impose a four game suspension. Comissioner Goodell has been bringing the hammer down on low-lifes in the NFL since he took office. He can't look weak in the Vick situation, but he has to move carefully. There are factors like the players' union agreement with the NFL, and the conditions of Vick's contract that have to be taken into account.
We learned on Monday and Tuesday what will happen. On Monday Goodell ordered Vick not to report to training camp, which starts tomorrow. On Tuesday the Falcons held a press conference, and announced that prior to the commissioner's directive they were going for the max themselves, which is a four game suspension. The commissioner asked them to hold off until he completed his review. When asked if he ever expected Vick to play as a Falcon again Arthur Blank gave what is essentially a negative response. What it all boils down to now is that it is obvious Blank has had his fill of Michael Vick's embarassments - incidents like Ron Mexico/herpes, fake water bottle, skipping congressional hearing, flipping a bird at the fans, etc. etc. Reading between the lines you can tell that as far as Blank is concerned Vick is out. And, it's obvious that Goodell will bring the hammer down hard, and soon. My guess is that he will suspend Vick for the season, after which the Falcons will cut him, regardless of how the legal case plays out.
Now, many Vick apologists or general mamby-pamby folks say that Vick is innocent until proven guilty, and we should give him the benefit of the doubt. My answer is that the legal process is the legal process. He'll end up guilty or innocent. It has nothing to do with the NFL. The commissioner has the discretion and authority to discipline players that violate the league's personal conduct policy. The players' union expressly agreed to that. A player can appeal it, of course...to the commissioner. I love it.
So, has Vick violated the personal conduct policy? Is he deserving of punishment? Of course! Aside from the many embarassing incidents he's been involved in over the years, he is clearly guilty of three things:
1. He chooses very poor company
2. He has very bad judgment
3. He has been terribly negligent
The result has been one black eye after another.
He owns the house/property in Virginia where the dogfighting occurred. Let's say for the sake of argument that he knew nothing of it. At the very least, he deserves to be punished for allowing something like this to occur under his nose. He is responsible for his property and how it is used. And that's if you believe he knew nothing was going on. His cousin lives there, for Pete's sake! How naive are you?
He's brought negative publicity and embarassment to the league, the team, and the town too many times. He deserves to be cut, or at the very least suspended for the entire next season.
Let's be clear about one thing - unlike a lot of people I wanted Mike Vick as quarterback. I was eager to see what new coach Bobby Patrino and his staff were going to make out of him this year. I think that if he applied himself properly and the right coaching staff took hold of him he could be much more than an incredible runner with a mediocre arm. I'm terribly disappointed that we won't see Vick the athlete on the field this season. The Falcons are probably half as likely to win a game without him than with him. But I'm more than happy to see Vick the person go to jail or get run out of this town on a rail. As exciting a player as he is, good riddance to bad rubbish.
It terms of NFL history this is a huge loss. Vick will now become one of sports greatest "what if's". What if the Vick had taken football more seriously? What if he had worked harder? What if he had used better judgment off the field? What if Arthur Blank hadn't wasted three years with coach Jim Mora and staff? And the biggest one of all...what would this season have been like if Vick had played? We'll never know. Vick has cheated himself, his team, and NFL fans everywhere out of quite a lot...so he could conduct and watch dog fights. Well done.
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