Just Can’t Help Themslves — Michael Vick
Michael Vick, who entered a guilty plea to federal charges related to a dogfighting enterprise, got back into the NFL on a lick-and-a-promise. Following his release from prison, the Philadelphia Eagles took on the quarterback with the NFL’s imprimatur, provided he could live the clean life. The promise was licked on Vick’s 30th birthday celebration in Virginia Beach. Keeping company with one of the co-defendants in his dog-fighting case, the celebration somehow reached a point of exchanging gunfire. Vick’s role remains unclear but, as Sports Illustrated noted, the video and Vick’s side of the tale of birthday parties gone bad do not match. All of Vick’s church attendance and talks with youth about the evils of dogfighting cannot atone for ongoing poor decisions. An ex-con on probation with both the Feds and the NFL should shun both birthday celebrations in bars and former co-defendants. Mixing the two up was bound to produce some crime and the accompanying video. Neither the judgment nor the remorse is there. The NFL should have known better. And the Eagles need to give up on his rehabilitation.
