Michael Vick: Champion?

When I was young I did some foul shit. I never tortured an animal or molested a child, but I did a lot of illegal stuff. And while I was doing it all, I can honestly say was I was unconsciousness and didn't see anything wrong. My awakening came later. It is a fact that unconsciousness runs rampant in humankind and many times has grave consequences on our society.

When I heard about the arrest of Michael Vick and read about what he did to dogs, it made my stomach hurt. However, I was never like so many of my friends and co-workers who were on the "convict Michael Vick and put him away" bandwagon. I felt, as I do now, that he is worth more to people and animals, free and able to speak out about his crimes. I spoke to Michael today, and listened intently as he explained how sorry he is and how he now understands (and feels) that he was, yes, here is that word again, unconscious, when he participated in the killing and torture of those dogs.

We talked about how impressionable people are and how when they are raised in an environment that abuses women, children or animals, it gives their conscious free range to repeat that cycle. Children who grow up numb to the suffering of others are in danger of repeating what they know and are clearly in dire need of mentors to show them the evil in their actions and lead them away from them. These kids need someone who speaks their language to tell it to them straight -- that dog fighting is one of the cruelest practices in the world today.

That voice of reason, I believe, can be Michael Vick.

I always look for the best in people, and when Michael tells me that looking into the eyes of people who love and respect animals and seeing their pain and disgust -- it changed him. I choose to believe him, and realize that I may be in the minority amongst the animal rights community that I proudly am a part of. We can never undo the suffering those innocent dogs endured or bring back the many, many lives that were lost. All we can do is try using Michael Vick as an instrument, to stop dog fighting in the community while we save the lives of those innocent animals and change the karmic effect that will be felt by those who wake up and realize what they have done. That is my only prayer.

I was encouraged that even though Michael has been re-instated to play football and is getting his life back, that he still understands that his true calling is just beginning. I hope that the people who are illegally torturing pitbulls in back alleys and laundry rooms across the world will hear Michael Vick when he tells them that it's wrong, cruel and criminal and will only lead to their own suffering and eventually to jail. I pray that the message that he learned, "not from being incarcerated, but from those who cared about the welfare of animals," will reach every person who harms an innocent animal.

Michael has a lot of work to do. I support his efforts and have high hopes for his success, not only on the field but much more importantly, in the community, where animals are waiting to be saved and people's levels of consciousness are yearning to be lifted.

Comments

[guajiro]

Sorry Russell, it's a no-go for me. You use the word "Champion?" in your title, but I see no champion in Vick. Vick is no teenager, he's pushing 30, and the actions you and others on this site proclaim that "everyone" has done doesn't fly either. Yes, people have done egregious things, but not repeatedly again and again as Vick did to those dogs. At any rate, his knowledge of the game does not preclude him from working. He could open his own gym, as many ex-professional athletes have done and do. He could coach. He could be a scout, etc. The reality is athletes at the NFL level are emulated by kids and the lesson that could be taught to others to follow, and there will be others that follow, is lost when they see him spend 18 months in jail-camp and then get millions all over again.

[Modesto]

First Dungee then Russell Simmons. That's pretty good support for Vick. I support Vick, I trust he knows/feels he messed up big time. And I hope he goes back to the NFL, plays well and keeps it civilized and positive from here on out. What scares me though is that this man paid his dues, he did a crime and did the time and paid a huge fine considering the millions he lost. Yet people still want him to suffer and be harrassed by the PETA's and dog lovers across the country. That scares me, they start rambling how corporations should bail on what ever team he plays on and the public should be at the games hating and cursing him till the day he gives in to all the hate for him, a man who paid his dues. Some people who commit crimes against other people don't pay for the repercussions like Vick did. Some of you people out there hating need to think patience practice slow and stop pretending you never did anything wrong in your life.

[JoeSchmuk]

"It is a fact that unconsciousness runs rampant in humankind and many times has grave consequences on our society."

It is this comment that lends a very specific veracity to this article, its author, and his contention. I am such as he; was once unconscious, at large, and basically sociopathic, if not actually psychopathic (although if lack of empathy is a criterion of the latter, then i was that too). All that changed in one evening when i encountered, serendipitously, my own awakening, and i can honestly and with awareness of what it actually means repeat that "I was unconscious and didn't see anything wrong." In a very real sense, I was not responsible for my actions. I was very fortunate that my awakening did not include incarceration (or a religious conversion).

Mr. Simmons thinks that Mr. Vick has awakened, and sees what before was not apparent to him, and i am inclined to go with Mr. Simmons judgment. Awakening is a psychological shift in perception, and one needs to experience it to fully comprehend it. Those who have not experienced it will never really understand the ramifications of such an experience, nor really understand how a person who as undergone such a shift can become, in many ways, a different person.

This is what real rehabilitation is all about.

Good luck to Mr. Vick, and thank you Mr. Simmons for your article.

[tttom]

Rightly or wrongly Mr. Vick will never play for theNFL again. The animal rights lobby is just too powerful and passionate about him and any commercial sponser associated with a team that hired him would betargeted big time.And the team itself would be fairly tarred as well. As for myself I love BBQ, Big Macs and stories of human redemption, but David Mamet is also one of my favorite writers, and I know a con job when I see one. If this unfeeling person really wishes to make amends, and open up his heart he'll have plenty of time to do so and plenty of ways to do it. And it doesn't need to have anything to do with dogs. Maybe just needy children who love them.

[SeriousBlack]

"I hope that the people who are illegally torturing pitbulls in back alleys and laundry rooms across the world will hear Michael Vick when he tells them that it's wrong, cruel and criminal and will only lead to their own suffering and eventually to jail."

OK, Mr. Simmons, let's say I give YOU the benefit of the doubt by giving VICK the benefit of the doubt that the IS actually going to speak out on the subject like you are saying he is going to.

Only... I'll believe it when I ACTUALLY SEE IT.

Yep, let's see if Vick says one word about it if he is lucky enough to be hired by another NFL team and starts living the high life again.

As I said... I'll believe when I ACTUALLY SEE IT.

[mcarlsonus]

Wow! Michael Vick was, "unconscious" for such a long time, are we sure he wasn't actually in some sort of, "pyschotropic ambulatory coma?"

REALITY: Michael Vick is unemployed. Michael Vick has no income. Michael Vick is a convicted felon. Michael Vick has no prospects. Michael Vick USED to live the, "high life," and I'm certain he misses it. Michael Vick relies on the foolishness of others in an attempt to reestablish himself as anything OTHER than what he really is!

[marco01]

Have you ever grown as a person?

You can't say for sure if Vick has or not. It is certainly possible, it happens to us all.

[Gunga-Din]

good call

[laddieluv]

Well-said!! Agree!

[den1953]

Everyone deserves a second chance Mr Vick got caught up into a game of chance with dogs a poor choice and i believe he knows it now the test will be can he turn this negative around to a positive i think many Americans want to see him do well!

[LeftLeanWing]

I think he learned more from going to jail,losing a multimillion dollar contract, millions of dollars as well as the respect of everyone.

Woof !

Life can be a Pitbull aimed at YOUR tail !

[WorkingClass]

Vick bears watching. Don't turn your back on him. But compared to say, Dick Cheney or Rush Limbaugh, Vick is an upstanding citizen.

[Shacked]

had to throw that in there didn't you, give it a rest it is a new day.

[thtrmgr]

Cont: I for one am not convinced that Vick is rehabilitated. I think people who think that dogs are not worthy of humane treatment, much less, respsect, can't be taught this kind of mindset in prison--or by looking into the eyes of others who are filled with disgust. He's a bit past the age of being influenced by the goodness (or arguments, or punishment) of others; he's got to learn it for himself. And the only thing I can literally think of that might get through would be if he were forced to train therapy/assistance dogs via positive reinforcement (under heavy supervision). Maybe then he could see for himself that dogs do have value beyond earning money through cruelty and that they give much more than they ask--and that they're intelligent, sentient creatures. Only then will he be convinced that not only what he did was wrong from society's standpoint but from a moral and ethical standpoint too.

[Nommo]

Why should he be forced to do anything? He has paid the debt mandated by the courts. End of story.

[thtrmgr]

We have 3 rescues--all formerly abused and/or abandoned. They are truly family members. Heck--they get better medical care (and sometimes food) than we do. So for me, I know their value and their beauty and can't imagine ever not having canine companions. They ask so little but give so much. And to think anyone would knowingly inflict pain and suffering on any animal is reprehensible. I am by nature a pacifist, but watching the animal cops shows on AP makes my blood boil. Vick may have "paid his dues", but the price, IMO, wasn't set nearly high enough.

That said, there are many many people out there who not only don't see dogs the same way I do, but see them as nothing more than "things" put on this earth to serve man. Tools. Or worse, as annoyances. Creatures that are worthy of no more than contempt. In their eyes, dogs are just "its" and nothing more. And therefore to abuse an animal is no "big deal", and people who profess outrage at the Vick situation are therefore making mountains out of molehills. To these people, what Vick did was no worse than committing any other petty crime. And so he paid his debt and therefore should be able to resume where he left off. Trying to convince these people that dogs are much more than that, judging by the comments I've read throughout this whole case, is a losing proposition. Cont...

[Zekemcf]

This downblog is as naive as it is misguided and delusional. How can you change a guy who believed that dogs were worthless - who didn't believe dogs could feel pain or fear, as VIck did what he did for his own amusement. If someone saw, say, a video of Vick's dogfights... or how he and his boyz shot or electrocuted dogs, with zero compassion or connection, then all of these "he paid his debts to society" comments - made expansively over a cup of Starbucks - would evaporate. The only reason Vick is contrite is because he wants to play f-ball again and make money. That's it. If Vick truly wants redemption, then he should go work for a couple of years at an animal shelter in Atlanta. if he wants to prove he has found love and compassion for dogs, then leave your cleats at home - and go work for the ASPCA.

[dzuh]

Speaking as a long-time animal protection activist who wrote about the Vick controversy for a national non-profit when the story first broke, I'd support letting him back on the field IF:

1) He donates a substantial proportion (at least half) of his salary to anti-dog fighting efforts.
2) He very publicly uses his voice to speak out against dog fighting (through PSAs, talks at schools, and other forms of outreach).
3) Russell Simmons personally teaches him about all the ways different animals are abused for food, fashion, entertainment (like circuses & rodeos), science, etc.

If Vick has truly changed, he can be a powerful ally for the animal protection movement. While his misdeeds have left dozens of dogs dead, they have also raised countless people's consciousness about the evils of dog fighting. Vick's redemption could get even more people to think about animal abuse (much of it legalized) in a much broader context, so, for the billions of animals still suffering, we must give him a chance to become a more decent and humane person.

[winningticket]

Michael Vick paid his debt to society, and him getting back into the NFL is no skin off my back. I hoped that Michael learned a valuable lesson: animals can't speak on their own behalf.

[tkondaks]

Good luck to Mr. Vick in his rehabilitation efforts.

I do find it ironic, however, that in a society that kills and eats animals by the hundreds of millions every year (yes, HUNDREDS of millions of chickens, cows, and others) that the law came down on him as hard as it did. I do NOT believe that he deserved any jail time. Michael Vick engaging Fido in a fight to the death is no less vicious than the cow -- who provided us humans with milk, the sustenance of life -- who is led to the slaughterhouse and then cut up, minced up, and eaten the next day in your Big Mac.

[martinchill]

tough call. willful mistreatment of dogs, which a new study shows have the intelligence of two-year-old babies, could be considered more egregious than the regulated slaughter of cows in factory farms for society's consumption.

not for me to say.