Why NFL Shop Should Sell Michael Vick's Jersey

Here's something I don't understand: Why are Nike and NFLShop.com preventing the sale of any Michael Vick merchandise?

Vick hasn't even been convicted, and already people are passing judgment. Haven't we learned from our mistakes?

If you ask me, companies like Nike and NFL Shop are no less selfish than the pariah athletes they distance themselves from.

That's one strike against NFL Shop.  

Barry Bonds, meanwhile, is standing on the doorstep of history...and everyone knows he lied, cheated, and stole his way into the record book. Still, Bonds' jerseys are being sold all over the country.

What makes him a better person than Vick?

Both Vick and Bonds are destroying society's moral fabric—one is promoting animal cruelty to young fans, the other is promoting performance-enhancing drugs to young athletes.

If you won't condemn Bonds, you can't condemn Vick. That's strike two for Nike.

And then there are the the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Hurricanes. In an era of bad boy jocks, no two teams have caused more turmoil on the gridiron...and yet few teams manage to sell more apparel.

If the Cowboys can be "America's Team," Vick's jersey at least belongs on the rack next to all those Big Blue Stars.

Sorry, boys—that's strike three.

I'm sure there'll be a backlash against my defense of Vick. But let's face it—there are worse people in the world than the Falcons QB, no matter what PETA says.

My proposal: Until NFL Shop reinstates Vick merchandise, everyone in the state of Georgia wears a Number 7 jersey. I for one am on my way to the store to buy my own—and I hope I run into a PETA supporter on the way.

After all, there's no better way to show support for a game I love than by spitting an apple in the face of a society gone mad.

 

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