Dear Philadelphia:
My opinions on Michael Vick are my opinions. I know there are people that disagree. But this Eagles fan has lost all respect for my team and has cashed in my green jersey and will not be supporting the team further. If the Eagles feel it is good business and good football sense and good community relations to decide not to pay an upstanding citizen like Brian Dawkins or Jon Runyan or Tra Thomas and give it to a reprehensible thug like Michael Vick, I will no longer be donating to the coffers. For crying out loud, they wouldn’t even give the city the money they owed and help keep public pools in poor neighborhoods open. Michael Vick over poor kids. Good decision.
I represent no one but me, but judging by comments on social networking, online, on the television and radio, and among my friends, the large majority empathizes with my opinion. Maybe if this was the Lions or Raiders something, I'd feel different. But it's not. And how the Eagles have always preached about taking the moral high-ground and how that they're not like other teams, how character matters? Out the window. Gone. I'm joining PETA.
Change that. I wouldn't feel different if it was the Lions or the Browns or the Saints. I just wouldn't care or take it to heart. I'd just throw my hands up and say those teams only care about money and not their morals or fans and wait for them to sign the repeat-offender child-molesting priest that runs a 4.0. This is not a troubled franchise. Other teams can sign Michael Vick, but this is my team. The one I root for. The one I schedule into my week. The one I give my hard-earned money to. I'll be keeping my money now, Mr. Banner and Mr. Reid.
Someone said that I haven’t provided one ounce of evidence as to why this is a bad football decision. Exactly right. I have not provided any evidence to why this is a bad football move because to me, as a human being and animal lover and citizen of the planet, it doesn't matter because I cannot forgive Vick. At this moment, I don't care about football. I care about the Eagles signing a morally-reprehensible human being (I use the term lightly).
I'll take 9-7 without Vick than 12-4 with him. It's not about football, it's about being a member of the human community. Would the Vick defenders have felt the same way if the Phils had signed juice-headed Barry Bonds even if he could have still hit 50 homers? Would you have signed Rafael Septien after he was convicted of producing child porn if he could still boot a 55-yarder? Would you have signed OJ Simpson if he still had a 1000-yard season in his cleats? And stop with this second chance crap. What he did was no accident nor lapse in judgment. Don’t forget, they found the dogs on Vick’s property because the cops were searching for drugs after he was caught trying to sneak pot on to an airplane. It was a long-term, controlled decision to participate in brutality, he knew exactly what he was doing. And, as Brian Startate pointed out, if the Eagles are all about second chances, why then not re-hire Dan Leone? Hypocrites. All hypocrites.
Defenders point at the Eagles taking on Terrell Owens. Terrell Owens is no Michael Vick. Not even close. TO is a jackass. Vick promoted the torture and killing of dogs. Thanks Michael Vick for turning me in to a Terrell Owens defender.
Defenders also want to point fingers at Phillies fans about Brett Myers in light of the Michael Vick signing, claiming hypocracy. Yes, I'm still pissed at Myers for what he was accused of doing, but his wife, the victim herself said the situation was overblown and completely forgave him. When the dogs that were beaten, tortured, electrocuted, shot, and drowned forgive Vick, maybe I will too.
What about football? A) He hasn't played since 2006, there's no saying he's any good. B) He wasn't that good in his last season he did play. C) He's not even eligible to be allowed to play until possibly after Week 6. Oh, and D) He advocated and promoted the killing of animals. Almost forgot about that one. The Eagles have. Andy Reid said that Kolb and Feeley aren't going anywhere. Vick is not your backup quarterback. He's Kordell Stewart with a rap sheet and blood on his shoes while Neil O'Donnell was leading them to the Super Bowl.
Maybe the Eagles should re-sign Donté Stallworth now for 2010. He’s apparently an advocate for stopping overpopulation. When's Ray Lewis available? Can Plexico Burris bring his gun to training camp? What's Mike Tyson up to? Are there any baby-seal clubbers available for special teams?
Time and time and time again the Eagles have talked about taking the moral high-ground and talked about leading by example and about how being upstanding members of the community was as important as playing football. Reid's uses the exact phrase 'character players'. ‘Character’ Michael Vick bankrolled the beating, shooting, electrocuting, drowning, torture, and murder of animals. Defend that. Michael Vick is not remorseful about doing that. He’s remorseful about being caught. In my opinion, he's more concerned about having hurt his career than hurting innocent dogs.
I hope that Tony Dungy is right about Vick. Society will be better if he is. Will I eventually soften up on this? Maybe. Will I still root for the Eagles come opening day? Probably. Will I still be excited when the Eagles score with Vick on the field? Fly Eagles Fly. Have the Eagles irreparably damaged my feelings for them in my mind? Absolutely. Will I root for Michael Vick? Never. To quote James Brown in his interview with Vick, “What about the dogs? What about the dogs?”
Michael from Monto
1 comment:
The Sports world is full of amazing athletes who often turn out to be less-than-amazing human beings. There are those who abuse drugs and alcohol or substances that are banned by the leagues in which they play. There are those who drive drunk, beat their wives, bring weapons into nightclubs and accidentally shoot themselves in the leg... but we are not talking about anyone in particular here - except for someone who was convicted of being cruel to dogs - and served Federal Prison Time for it - Michael Vick.
Vick did some terrible things, and he's not the first professional athlete to run into this kind of bad P.R. Professional sports franchises, the leagues, (and their fans, often) tend to forgive many of the transgressors within their ranks.
But I was talking to my mother yesterday, who is a life-long Eagles fan now in her 60s. She happens to be an animal lover, too. She is really up set that HER team signed MICHAEL VICK. She told me that she cannot and will not support the Eagles anymore. She says she won't even watch them play on TV now. She has never been this passionate about sports (that is, if you still want to call this a sports issue.)
So there you have it: Wife beaters, drug users, dope dealers, concealed-weapon carrying off the-field-players are a trivial nuisance in Sports, but if you kill cute animals, then you've effectively thrown the whole team out with the bathwater, so to speak.
I am upset, too. By signing Michael Vick, my team appears all-too-willing to cast off a wide base long-time fans. I haven’t crunched any numbers on this, but I would think that if you are a female football fan who still supports the Eagles this year, then you have become a remarkable statistic and a true minority in the world of Sport. These fans have every right to be mad, and I don't like losing fans who had been among the most loyal. It's like losing credibility. Getting this fan base back will be very hard - probably impossible - as long as Vick wears Eagle Green.
It just feels like it is going to be a long season, doesn't it?
The J Kane
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