Lay Off Michael Vick! They Were Animals, Not People

I am an animal lover.

I am—yes, am, not was—a Michael Vick fan.

I am a Chicago Bears fan, and being a Chicago Bears fan means hating the Green Bay Packers.

When I was in high school, I remember watching Vick do amazing things on the football field. My dad laughed at Vick and said he ran too much, that he couldn't throw and would never be a good quarterback in the NFL.

In northern Wisconsin, there are two sports: milking the cows and football. The Packers are practically a religion, so in 2003, when the Packers faced off against the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL Playoffs, you better believe my dad and I sat down together to watch.

I predicted a final score of Falcons 24, Packers 21. My dad asked me what I was smoking. The game was at Lambeau Field, and the Packers were undefeated at home in the regular season, the only team to accomplish the feat that season.

Also, the Packers had never lost a playoff game at Lambeau Field.

Then Vick showed up.

He didn't have staggering numbers, rushing for only 64 yards and passing for just 117 yards and one touchdown. However, he scrambled his way across the field and around defenders with alacrity, avoiding sacks and making Green Bay's defensive line and linebackers look like a junior high team.

Did I mention it was snowing and below 32 degrees? Brett Favre never lost in those conditions.

I went off to college and then got married. We moved from the West Coast to the Deep South—believe me, these people eat grits with anything.

Meanwhile, Vick was arrested a month after our wedding on dogfighting charges. He was then sentenced to prison followed by probation.

Now, don't get the wrong idea. Vick deserved jail time. He broke a law that was punishable with imprisonment.

However, it was dogfighting, people. Vick did not kill a person; they were dogs.

Like I said, I love animals. I abhor the thought of pitting dog against dog in a fight until one or the other dies or cannot continue. It is cruel and almost obscene to think about.

That being said, dogs are not people, and any crime against a person should be considered more serious than a crime against a dog.

In today's society, athletes are idolized and lifted high for all to see and worship as heroes. Do I think Vick deserves this? No, absolutely not. But does Ray Lewis? What about Adam "Pac-Man" Jones? Kobe Bryant?

What about Leonard Little's manslaughter when he killed a woman while driving drunk?

Remember that?

What about the image of Ray Lewis in a jumpsuit just days after the Super Bowl?

Now I know both of those incidents were a few years ago. However, they make my point. Both of these guys played after they were charged. Lewis was found not guilty. Little was not imprisoned for any length of time.

In 2002, Randy Moss was playing for the Vikings. He ran down a traffic cop. He got a slap on the wrist.

Did you catch that people? He ran down a traffic cop.

The Packers' tight end during the Super Bowl in the mid '90s, Mark Chmura, was charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.

What about Latrell Sprewell?

Most people get fired for choking their boss. They also go to jail for assault and battery. Sprewell ended up playing in a bigger city with a bigger contract.

My point is, Vick committed a crime, but it is forgivable.

I have heard him called "worthless n-----" just because of his arrest.

I have heard him described as a thug who deserved arrest, all of this by Falcons fans.

If he deserved arrest, great, but don't demean him because he was involved in dogfighting.

He served his time.

Lay off.

At least he didn't pull a Barrett Robbins.