Vick Talks About Dogfighting with Students
Michael Vick, speaking to a group of Philadelphia high school students Tuesday, warned against the dangers of peer pressure and offered himself as a cautionary tale of what can happen when someone is a follower instead of a leader.
The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback addressed a rapt audience of 200 freshmen on their first day at Nueva Esperanza Academy, a North Philadelphia charter school. He urged students to make the right choices and to resist the temptation to follow the crowd.
Vick used his conviction for operating a dogfighting ring as an example of the result of bowing to peer pressure. Speaking without notes, Vick told the students his decisions imperiled the goals he had set for himself since childhood.
"Growing up, I had dreams and I always wanted to have this great, lavish life and make it to the NFL, go and accomplish great things and leave a great legacy. That was my goal from a young kid," Vick said. "My future was promising ... at some point, I got sidetracked. I started listening to my friends and doing some things that were not ethical and not right."
Vick visited the school with Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
Once the highest paid player in the NFL, Vick spent 18 months in prison and was suspended from the league following his conviction in August 2007 on charges of conspiracy and organizing the dogfighting ring. He was released from federal custody on July 20 and the Eagles signed him last month.
Several animal rights groups criticized the team's decision to sign the quarterback, saying he is a poor example for young people.
Eagles spokeswoman Pamela Browner-Crawley has said the team has an obligation to the community and work with children particularly, to discourage them from engaging in dogfighting or any animal abuse.
Vick is suspended for the first two games of the regular season. The Eagles have placed him on the exempt list and he cannot practice with the team until Week 3.
In two preseason games, Vick completed 11 of 15 passes for 45 yards with one interception and rushed for 36 yards on eight carries with one touchdown.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback addressed a rapt audience of 200 freshmen on their first day at Nueva Esperanza Academy, a North Philadelphia charter school. He urged students to make the right choices and to resist the temptation to follow the crowd.
Vick used his conviction for operating a dogfighting ring as an example of the result of bowing to peer pressure. Speaking without notes, Vick told the students his decisions imperiled the goals he had set for himself since childhood.
"Growing up, I had dreams and I always wanted to have this great, lavish life and make it to the NFL, go and accomplish great things and leave a great legacy. That was my goal from a young kid," Vick said. "My future was promising ... at some point, I got sidetracked. I started listening to my friends and doing some things that were not ethical and not right."
Vick visited the school with Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.
Once the highest paid player in the NFL, Vick spent 18 months in prison and was suspended from the league following his conviction in August 2007 on charges of conspiracy and organizing the dogfighting ring. He was released from federal custody on July 20 and the Eagles signed him last month.
Several animal rights groups criticized the team's decision to sign the quarterback, saying he is a poor example for young people.
Eagles spokeswoman Pamela Browner-Crawley has said the team has an obligation to the community and work with children particularly, to discourage them from engaging in dogfighting or any animal abuse.
Vick is suspended for the first two games of the regular season. The Eagles have placed him on the exempt list and he cannot practice with the team until Week 3.
In two preseason games, Vick completed 11 of 15 passes for 45 yards with one interception and rushed for 36 yards on eight carries with one touchdown.
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Try "Vick Talks to Students About Dogfighting". Word order is important in the English language. Unless Vick is trying to expand his legacy and actually get the students to dogfight.
Warning kids about the dangers and consequences of both stupid and illegal actions is surely as dangerous and Obama telling them to stay in school.
Somebody, do something! Isn't it time Glen Beck got involved in denouncing this?
"Vick is not trying to remake his life and reset his value code. Vick is trying to make his life to go back to where it was before he got caught and reset the vaule of his income potential."
That was in response to my post immediately preceeding his(hers?).
I will not argue your premise. In fact, as things stand now, I agree with it. But I am not willing to write him off either - yet. This early on, there is no way either one of us can tell FOR SURE whether he's connin' us (again) or whether he is sincere.
If he IS sincere (and I am not sure he is) then I will summarize the following tasks I believe he must accomplish before I can say he's learned important life lessons and has grown from the experience
1. He must abandon the value code and worldview he was brought up in. It would be better if he publically repudiated it and worked to discourage anyone else from adopting it or anything similar.
2. He must continue reaching out to school children and skeptical adults and use his fall from grace (such of it as he ever had) as a cautionary example of the consequences of engaging in activities he KNEW were cruel and criminal.
3. Over the course of his football career any money over and above that necessary to maintain a lower middle class existance needs to be donated to causes advancing animal justice. I also think some of that discretionary money he earns(?) could or even should go to such as homeless shelters, food banks and other programs addressing human social needs.
4. He must expect to take years, perhaps decades of near-flawless good behavior and strong character before we can see that he has, indeed, turned his life around. He must also expect that character to be tested by people who wish heartily he falls flat on his face. Believe me, there'll be plenty of them and they will be very clever about seeing to it he fails. He will have to rise above all that.
5. He must understand under no uncertain terms that he gets no more do-overs. If he f***s up, no matter how far along in the "rehab" process; he is through.
6. He also must understand to the same degree of finality as in bullet 5 that making such a major change in one's inherent being and way of life is damnably difficult. It will take a greater degree of effort than he has ever put into anything he has done up to now. THEREFORE....
7. He can not do it alone. He will need to man up and admit he needs help. Professional help. No, Tony Dungy as a mentor is not anywhere nearly enough. Moreover he must do this on his dime and on his time. If the NFL pays for part of this treatment, fine but the responsibility to get this job done is his.
And finally,
8. No matter how successful he is at making himself over; no matter how much of a good example he sets and no matter how completely he folds into the kind of human reasonable people admire most - there will always be some who will never forgive him and dismiss him as no more than a punk and a fraud. He will have to learn to live with that.
Can he do it? Yes, I think it's possible. WILL he do it? I hope so but I'm not that confident. I guess we'll all have to wait and see.....
It amazes me how, at the time, so many of the people who want to defend Vick for dogfighting showed no similar sympathy for Michael Phelps for getting high.
People were clamoring to take away every source of income Phelps had, but were ready to plug Vick right back into the money machine.
They couldn't stand to think of a guy who took a hit on a bong being on a Wheaties box, but they want a guy who tirtured and killed animals to come to their children's school as a role model.
That just does not make sense.
by spiritwalk September 8, 2009 3:52 PM EDT
spiritwalk, I will admit I'm not an expert with DUI's but I have never heard of anybody getting over two years in jail for one. In fact, the last football player that killed somebody while driving under the influence only got 30 days. I wouldn't consider two years in jail "a little jail time". Please get your facts straight before mouthing off.
spiritwalk, I will admit I'm not an expert with DUI's but I have never heard of anybody getting over two years in jail for one.... In fact, the last football player that killed somebody while driving under the influence only got 30 days. I wouldn't consider two years in jail "a little jail time". Please get your facts straight before mouthing off.
Considering that you admit that you know nothing about the subject you certainly express a lot of opinion on the subject. As for what you say about the last football player getting 3o days for killing someone in a DUI did you by chance realize that you were actually making my point for me when you wrote it.
The football hero gets a break whether he kills animals or peoples, just because you idol worshippers think sports figures are above the law.
Is there some kind of special code we're supposed to decipher?
The NFL, designed the whole thing to get Vick back into the NFL and that's that. Look at the timing and the short senteces, etc...just in time for the season hoooray...Good job NFL, keep the thugs at all costs and lose the non-tug loving fans in the process.
by saturn05
Who says everyone is upset? I would say only the right wing lunatics are.