Enough with the Michael Vick Hypocrisy: Many Athletes Have Done Worse

Is anyone else tired of hearing about Michael Vick? While I’m sure the answer to that question is affirmative, I bet not many people are fed up with the topic for the same reason I am.

I think he should be left alone and that all the hypocritical, misguided many should simply move on.

Just in case you’ve spent the last three years on Mars, let me explain that Vick has just finished a prison term of roughly two years for his involvement in illegal dog fighting. The cruelty to animals that happened as a result of his involvement, both directly and indirectly, is truly horrible.

Now, he’s signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, adding the next chapter to the second most overplayed topic in sports (the first being Brett Favre, who I wish would go to Mars). Soon, the minions of PETA will be posted outside the Eagles' training facility—PETA, who even the Humane Society and the SPCA think is a bit wacko.

Pay attention, because now it’s time for some direct honesty. Yes, abusing animals is very bad. Here’s the news flash, however: There are many things that are worse.

The NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and other professional sports organizations are peppered with human examples of just what is higher on my list of crimes. There are (both simply accused as well as convicted) wife/girlfriend beaters, child abusers, drug addicts, individuals who have killed people, and felons of every order who play professional sports.

So why do they get special dispensation?

PETA will no doubt be smearing red paint symbolic of spilled K-9 blood around the greater Philadelphia area. Animal lover fans will cry in outrage.  It’s Philly—Vick will be lucky if fans at the Linc don’t storm the field and draw and quarter him. 

The problem is that there will be no protests over the lineman who killed a woman while driving drunk—and no, I’m not referring to Donte' Stallworth, who’s a receiver. There will be no public outcry over the receiver who has put his paramour in the hospital on numerous occasions and been suspended by the league for domestic violence charges when he takes the field.

What does that say about priorities? Where does that leave common sense? 

I’d suggest we all move on, but who’d listen anyway?