Venus Trapped in Mars Sports and Lifestyle Blog Dallas

14 March 2013

Should Vick be Furgiven?

See what I did there?
Replaced Forgiven with Furgiven?
Had to work too hard on my end for that one. 
Unless you got it to begin with, in which case, you and I are pun master besties.

----Disclaimer----
 I felt this post needed to be written by a hard core animal lover and big hearted sports fan that is not an over the top, only sees one side of the story, PETA spokesperson. 
I'm not sure just yet what will come of this, but if it gets out of hand, I'll take the post down!

As all great athletes, celebs, politicians, reality television people and Real Housewives do...
Michael Vick wrote a book. 

Just a brief background: Michael Vick is was an outstanding quarterback. He was a star at Virginia Tech then went on to play QB for the Atlanta Falcons for six seasons. 

Then dog shit hit the fan.
Vick plead guilty in court to directly participating in dog fights, overseeing gambling on the fights,  financially supporting the operation of executing dogs that did not perform well in the pit bull fighting ring, along with operating an interstate dog fighting venture known as the "Bad Newz Kennels."

Dang, I saw Bad Newz Kennels just had a Groupon for a 3 night dog stay. 
Whew, glad I decided to skip that daily deal, General would have been scared to death...


So any who, Vick did 18 months in prison and 2 months house arrest. 
He then was allowed back in the NFL and signed with the Eagles. 

I just want you to have all of the facts before I open the floor blog for debate. 
Since prison, Vick has:

Vick and his new book, published by a Christian publishing company mind you, was set to go on a book tour in just a handful of locations. It was cancelled.

It was cancelled because of numerous death threats, but not just threats to Vick.
Threats to HIS TWO DAUGHTERS 
What the heck did they do?

I am a dog lover. I do social media and all the graphic design for a very large animal rescue organization here in Dallas, so I am heavily involved in animal rescue.
I. just. love. dogs.

My Notes to Add:
1. I'm so thankful to hear that many of Vick's dogs that were rescued are now thriving, loved so deeply by their new families!
image via
Meet Jonny Justice
image via
Jonny participated in a program called Paws for Tales, where dogs provide a non judgmental audience for children struggling with reading. 

That is so sweet I now have a toothache.

2. The Virginia property where Vick's dog fighting ring operated has been purchased and will be turned into a sanctuary for abused dogs. 

3. Here is a note from the Humane Society of the United States, "Just as former drug addicts are able to reach people struggling with addiction, former dogfighters are some of the most effective voices against the crime. We realized the potential that Vick has to reach at-risk youth and pull them out of the quicksand of animal fighting."

4. What Vick did was horrific, disgusting, vile, pathetic and just downright sad.

5. How many animals has Vick now indirectly/directly saved with his speeches to youth against dog fighting, the 30 new laws passed to crack down on dog fighting and the drastic increase in dog fighting raids since Vick's conviction. 

6. The worst problems still lie in urban areas. Who better to go into those urban areas than Vick and say, "Hey, I lost everything I had because of this cruelty and stupidity I took part in. I was a superstar with endless potential. I was rich. Now I'm bankrupt, endangered my family, my two daughters and although I am trying to rehabilitate, forgiveness is really never going to come from the public." 

I dunno if he says that, but if I were his speech writer that is what I would say. 

So I'm not saying that I forgive him or do not forgive him.
 I am just saying I appreciate the changes that have been put in place to project man's best friend from cruelty and abuse since the scandal broke.

So now your turn... go.... (Please don't hate me for writing this) 


Venus Trapped

16 comments :

  1. He makes me sick, but I'm happy to see that he's trying.

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    1. Totally agree, he is a scumbag for what he did... forgiveness is hard to earn!

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  2. great post. i am a huge dog lover so i can't forget but i can forgive. but i think he should never own a dog or any pet ever ever again.

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    1. You won't believe this... but he now owns a dog!!!! But again, I'll give both sides, his daughters begged and pleaded to have that pup and they named her Angel... http://www.petfinder.com/?p=20827

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  3. 1. i drafted vick two years in my fantasy football league (glad i didn't draft him this past season - yikes). he performed mediocre, at best.
    2. what he did was disgusting.
    3. he did his time and paid for his crimes.
    4. i think his situation goes to show that people can truly change. his volunteering and continued contribution to animal shelters says a lot about the fact that he's changed.

    and lastly - in situations like this people are damned if they do and damned if they don't. if vick had showed no remorse he would have been crucified for it and everyone would have been all "called it. told you he was a dog-hating piece of shit." but now that he IS giving back and trying to somehow right his wrongs people want to crap all over him for that too. i won't go so far as to say that i feel bad for the guy but let's give him some credit for trying to make amends. and let's for sure leave his kids out of it.

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    1. Very nicely written. I still can't wrap my head around someone threatening to kill his little girls. Just absurd.

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  4. I really like this post. I think it's absolutely vital that he be out to tell his story, help other people (especially youth) understand the true malicious nature of dog fighting and what they stand to lose. Considering he's basically past his prime (and that's being nice) in the NFL, I don't see why people are resorting to threats to keep him off this tour which could help strengthen the fight against these rings!

    I also think that organizations like the SPCA have gone past forgiving Vick and reconciled with him, building a relationship that is mutually beneficial. If organizations that protect animals are willing to do that, I think the least 'animal lovers' can do is forgive him.

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    1. Very nice comment, thank you!! I couldn't agree more, if the premier organizations have not only forgiven but embraced him, why can't we? More importantly.... yes.... he is totally passed his prime :) #fumble #interception #fumble

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  5. I can see both sides of Vick's situation, but it is my opinion that he is only sorry because he got caught. Yes, he is doing all of the right things (now), because he wants a paycheck. Even though I don't believe he's in earnest, I'm glad that animals might be saved by Vick's appearances, public service announcements, etc.

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  6. I'm with Helene. I can forgive, but I will never be his biggest fan. Glad he's keeping busy in a productive way though. Great post.

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  7. He made his bed and it's time for him to lay in it... forever. It sucks that it's going to stay with him and he'll always have to deal with those meme's and other stupid things, but whatever, he made that decision. The fact that he volunteers or went to prison or speaks out against animal cruelty really doesn't do anything for me, I mean, don't get me wrong, it's GREAT, but is someone really going to try and tell me he sat down one day and was like "I should go walk dogs at the Humane Society!" -- No, his PR people had him do it so that articles like that would be written and people would think maybe he isn't a horrible person. And he didn't have a choice about going to prison so I don't know why anyone would care about that. None of this was necessarily out of the goodness of his heart. (Okay, so I don't know his heart, but these are my horrible assumptions that I'm going to burn in hell for.)

    MEH.

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  8. Alright my opinion, might not be the most eloquent and I might rant, but yeah, here goes: I have forgiven him. We have to be able to forgive each other. If a woman had an abortion because she was 16 and "oh crap I shouldn't have had sex" and then goes to church and decides to save herself for the man she marries and gives up the child so that the child does not grow up without all the best life has to offer, should we shun that girl forever? No we forgive. Should she never be able to have another kid because she already gave one up? No just like we can let Vick have a dog again. Yes she was a kid and Vick was grown man, but that is why his punishment is more severe. He should have known better. But should he really? This guy grew up in a poor socioeconomic group where money and crime talk. The Micheal Ohers are one in a million. Many of the poorer football stars have criminal records and hell football helped in saving most of them from anything worse. Most of us can think that we know what is right or wrong and that he should have known too, but really who was there to teach him as a child when his father bailed out and his mom was never at home trying to work two jobs to put food on the table. Who was there to guide him and teach him lessons?

    I believe yes that part of the reason he is so sorry is because he got caught but I think regardless he has changed. Ray Lewis really didn't get caught and I believe that he has changed. But I don't think Vick is doing what he is doing for a paycheck. Why would he keep talking publicly about Animal Rights if he wanted people to forget about what he had done? Yes he does need money, but don't we all. He grew up not ever learning how to budget, so when he was extra money, he blows it because he doesn't know what to do with it. He used that money and capitalized with it in the ways he knew how (ie. betting). I guarantee you no one is sitting all the kids in the hood down teaching them about the stock market.

    All and all, I forgive him.

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    1. First I just want to say thank you for taking the time to write this comment. Really, it was very well thought out, I really appreciate it. Second, that is the perfect analogy for the situation. In an effort not to have PETA/Joanna from Real Housewives Miami knocking down my doors I tried to stay neutral but I really like your point of view here.

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    2. Actually I just re-read it and I take back the part about comparing it to the girl with the abortion. I don't think it is really much of anything like that. It is an interesting moral situation for us to all ponder.

      Haha Joanna! I would pay for her to knock on my door so I could give them a swift slam of my door! ;-)

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  9. I am so glad you wrote this, have you already read the book or did you just get it? I want to read it too now. I'm a huge Eagles fan and I love dogs as well, I think he did mess up, but I also think he has learned and paid for his mistake and should be given a chance.

    I'm also so glad you emailed me so I could find your blog too!

    x
    Tab

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  10. I agree with what Lauren said. People tend to forget that a lot of pro athletes come from less than ideal situations and don't know the norms of "upper class" society (granted anyone should know that fighting dogs is disgusting and not cool at all). These men (and women) are thrown into a different world where anything goes because they are treated like gods, then when they mess up we all point our fingers at them and blame them...until they play another game and lead their team to the W. I think as a nation America needs to reevaluate who we put on a pedestal. I think if anything Vick should be looked up to now for the changes he made and trying to live out what he learned.

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