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More Michael Vick: At long last, have you no decency?
By David S. Greene
December 23, 2009
I admit it. Before I click on my browser’s bookmark for Pet Connection each day, I click on ESPN.com. I’ve been a sports nut longer than I’ve been pretty much anything else. This morning, a sports headline nearly knocked me out of my chair. Michael Vick has been voted the Philadelphia Eagles’ recipient of the 2009 Block Courage Award.
The Block Award is named after Ed Block, who was a well-known humanitarian and former head athletic trainer of the Baltimore (now Indianapolis) Colts. Quoting from their own website:
The Ed Block Courage Award Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of neglected children and ending the cycle of abuse. The purpose is to raise Awareness and Prevention of child abuse. That objective is coupled with the Foundation’s commitment to celebrating players of inspiration in the NFL.
This is, basically, the NFL’s lower-profile version of baseball’s Clemente Award, named for Roberto Clemente, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates until he was killed in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while delivering relief supplies to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake. The Block Award exists to recognize and celebrate notable good works off the field more than on-field performance. Even more importantly, you should know it’s voted on by each team’s players, not front office, fans or media.
This means Vick’s teammates decided he was such a good guy, such a role model for his public works on behalf of others, that he deserved to be lauded as their own community role model. Going back to the mission of the Block Award “…dedicated to improving the lives of neglected children and ending the cycle of abuse. The purpose is to raise Awareness and Prevention of child abuse.” Abused children and abused dogs have a lot in common. Neither are able to defend themselves against marauding people bent on causing them harm, and neither deserve the horrors visited upon them. The Block Courage Award is dedicated to ending the cycle of such abuse. Michael Vick perpetuated, and indeed encouraged the abuse, going so far as to slaughter dogs himself, according to eyewitness reports (from his own former employees).
In the past year since he was released from prison and reinstated by the NFL, I’ve lost count of how many interviews I’ve read and seen from players, his colleagues, who have said substantially “Look, the guy was punished for his crimes. He did his time. He gets to resume his life now, so back off, leave him alone, and let the man earn a living.”
He isn’t a star, and in fact Vick’s only played an ancillary role in the Eagle offense this year. I don’t like his presence in the NFL, but that’s not my call. Now, though, he’s lauded by his teammates as a role model? How have we gotten to the point where we not only celebrate poor behavior (i.e. the movie “Mean Girls,” the ongoing fascination with stories such as Jon vs. Kate and balloon boy, etc.) but now the convicted felons receive prestigious awards?
Fine, he’s earning a living. But calling him a “player of inspiration” is beyond the pale. The memories of the dogs in whose slaughter he assisted are again insulted. The award, and the other 31 (more worthy) 2009 NFL recipients are also duly insulted. Vick shouldn’t be mentioned in the same breath as Mike Furrey of the Cleveland Browns, who truly is a good citizen, or Shawntae Spencer of the San Francisco 49ers, who returned from a devastating knee injury in 2008 to become a team leader and star.
Vick has done nothing laudable, courageous or even exemplary. He’s a convicted felon whose crimes are often minimized by some as “just a part of his upbringing in a tough neighborhood.” Instead of a cautionary tale, today I can imagine kids in Vick’s hometown of Newport News, Va., saying to themselves “Hey, no matter what we do wrong, no matter how much trouble we get into, we can still play in the NFL, and our teammates will say we’re OK.”
To Vick’s teammates on the Eagles who voted for him, all I can do is quote Joseph Welch in front of the Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954. “Have you no sense of decency sir[s], at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
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Un-freakin’-believeable!
Comment by Susan — December 23, 2009 @ 3:50 pm
Oh, no, Susan. You don’t get it. They’re JUST DOGS.
Rot in hell, Michael Vick, and take your teammates with you.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 23, 2009 @ 4:02 pm
David, thanks for bringing this to light, and for saying it as well as you have done, because I am so disguested I can’t even think of how to express it. Utterly and completely disgusted.
Comment by mountain kimmie — December 23, 2009 @ 4:03 pm
Head spinning.
The Eagles players are all masters of irony, right? This is a performance piece, an excursion into existential black humor!
Right?
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 23, 2009 @ 4:05 pm
The actions of Vick and his cohorts at Bad News Kennels were monstrous, and given how readily available many documents in the case are - they’re up at The Smoking Gun, for grief’s sake - it’s beyond my comprehension how anyone could be so deluded, so mooncalf foolish, as to sincerely believe that a few carefully scripted generic apologies to everyone but the dogs could possibly absolve them.
Morally bankrupt, on the other hand, that I can believe. And yes - may they suffer karmic justice. That’s all I want. Karmic justice.
Comment by Eucritta — December 23, 2009 @ 4:19 pm
That’s right. The Philadelphia Eagles roster is chock full of literature majors. They’re all well steeped in the works of Becket, Kafka and Vonnegut, and are merely lending their own unique brand of ironic, absurdist commentary today to the already surreal nature of life in the NFL.
Or, alternately, they’re rock stupid, knuckle dragging nitwits who can’t understand the difference between right and wrong and couldn’t spot evil if it stood up and smacked them across the face. You tell me.
Comment by David S. Greene — December 23, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
And his humility is downright heart-wrenching! From http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/.....id=4767825 :
“I’ve overcome a lot, more than probably one single individual can handle or bear,” Vick said. “You ask certain people to walk through my shoes, they probably couldn’t do. Probably 95 percent of the people in this world because nobody had to endure what I’ve been through, situations I’ve been put in, situations I put myself in and decisions I have made, whether they have been good or bad.
“There’s always consequences behind certain things and repercussions behind them, too. And then you have to wake up every day and face the world, whether they perceive you in the right perspective, it’s a totally different outlook on you. You have to be strong, believe in yourself, be optimistic. That’s what I’ve been able to do. That’s what I display.”
Yeah, my heart bleeds for the guy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 23, 2009 @ 4:37 pm
I love how his work with the HSUS played a part in this. They should be so fucking proud of themselves; what a PR success story! Too bad about all those dead dogs though…
Comment by K.B. — December 23, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
I think I am going to throw up. What a crock and what a bad example—so since there is a connection between the abuse of animals and then humans—they think that he is a good example?
Puh-lease!
Comment by Ark Lady — December 23, 2009 @ 4:50 pm
Have they totally lost their marbles? What is in the air lately that makes some people act like such baffoons?
Comment by Sandi K — December 23, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
Geez, Pat, thanks for sharing that. Turns out really CAN throw up some more.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 23, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
Good for you, David. Thank you for expressing so well what we all feel about this.
Comment by Kim Thornton — December 23, 2009 @ 5:06 pm
i work as a volunteer with rescued and abused horses and dogs i see what humans can do to the animals that they say they love and want,mike vick did not love his dogs mike vick didnt want his dogs not the ones that lost fights that is he was a abuser and still is a abuser his talent is in a sport that is abusive he only knows that the strong survive and the weak are losers,and he knows money talks and being a well paid athlete its his job to crush the other team. to score points,and to Win but he is a loser abuser and a criminal he caused the death of animals not only in the fighting ring but also in the learning ring how many training dogs were killed before they became winners,he himself killed losers by strangling them.is he a hero? i think not hes a coward and fool he never stood up in a real fight lets try him on a field in iraq and see how much a man he is when others are just as mad and want to kill him i bet he would crap his pants and be the coward he is and poop dont look good in the seat of football pants.he sucks
Comment by richard walters — December 23, 2009 @ 5:09 pm
Thank you David. As for Sick Vick and the Eagles and football in general, my comments would never pass the PetConnection censor.
Comment by Anne T — December 23, 2009 @ 5:15 pm
I KNEW from the title I should have waited to read this until at least an hour after eating. (Beats head on table). Can we take a page out of Tom Coburn’s playbook and ask everyone to “pray” that Vick finds himself unable to attend the rest of the season? Now, like good ol’ Tom, we’re not wishing that he be visited by any harm …
Comment by Susan — December 23, 2009 @ 5:29 pm
Oh, well isn’t his $#!+ ice cream now.
Comment by Valerie — December 23, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
I cannot believe the Eagles vote for Vick as if he is some kind of hero. Yet I see nothing but quotes from him that say basically “poor me. I have suffered.” What about the dogs he electrocuted? Or the ones he shot because they were not good fighters? He— and the entire Eagles organization— disgusts me. Hope they “suffer” years of losses.
Comment by JC Tullo — December 23, 2009 @ 5:32 pm
Thanks to HSUS the Face of Evil gets a feel good award.
“The purpose is to raise Awareness and Prevention of child abuse” How interesting. Well he certianly did raise awareness of abuse any way. I guess it doesn’t matter if the abuse was at his hands.
As for the Eagles players, I wonder if they did this out of spite for everyone that has protested Vick’s being back in the NFL?
Comment by BeckyH — December 23, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
Unreal!
The NFL is lost in some fantasy land…
Comment by glock — December 23, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
I haven’t watched or even checked the standings in the NFL, nor will I support a product with an NFL spokesperson due to the NFL’s stance on the Vick issue. Not to mention fellow players outspoken viewpoints on why they think there was nothing wrong with what he did. I used to watch and follow the NFL regulary, but this just re-enforces my hatred for the lack of humanity and morality that exists in the NFL.
Comment by Dan Martin — December 23, 2009 @ 5:45 pm
Vick has no decency. He is simply SICK and the people who continue to support his sick behavior are equally as ill. The dogs were defenseless and harmless. Shame on Vick for even accepting the award. Lets believe in Karma…”what comes around goes around….”
Vick - meet your maker!
Comment by Tina — December 23, 2009 @ 5:50 pm
Just threw up in my mouth. Thank you David I should think this excellent will put you in the plus 100 comment club.
Comment by Nancy Freedman-Smith CPDT — December 23, 2009 @ 6:00 pm
excellent post. I am so angry, that even after digesting this for a while my hands are shaking mad.Total brain disconnect.
Comment by Nancy Freedman-Smith CPDT — December 23, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
“Or, alternately, they’re rock stupid, knuckle dragging nitwits who can’t understand the difference between right and wrong and couldn’t spot evil if it stood up and smacked them across the face.”
Definitely the alternative - ‘cept you left out “greedy”.
and… I’d be happy to do the smacking. Do you think a big bag of fresh dog poop would be appropriate?
Comment by Janeen — December 23, 2009 @ 6:08 pm
“The Philadelphia Eagles roster is chock full of literature majors. They’re all well steeped in the works of Becket, Kafka and Vonnegut, and are merely lending their own unique brand of ironic, absurdist commentary today to the already surreal nature of life in the NFL.”
Missed that the first time around, David. I am now choking on my Vielle Ferme. Priceless!
Comment by Anne T — December 23, 2009 @ 6:20 pm
BeckyH wondered if this was the Eagles players’ spiteful response to all the negative jibes they’ve likely heard all year from pesky animal lovers. My take is that’s exactly what the motivation was. They’re flipping the finger to everyone who dissed one of their fellow teammates. It’s unconscionable to all of us who see the big picture, but athletes are very good at creating us vs them mentalities. He’s there with them in the locker room, and none of them SAW or were affected by his past misdeeds, so I’m sure the ‘Poor Mike’ vibe ran high. I think it’s thoroughly illegitimate, but if you’re wondering “what were they thinking”, I’ll bet folding money that was a big (if not the biggest) facet.
Comment by David S. Greene — December 23, 2009 @ 7:09 pm
Of course Vick’s teammates think he’s a great guy… they’re not DOGS. He may very well be a funny, outgoing guy to other human beings, but when it comes to animals, he has no empathy or value for their lives, and enjoys watching them suffer and die.
How many other sociopathic killers have been described by their family or friends as ‘such nice young men’, meanwhile the killer’s victims experienced a completely different side of their personality.
Comment by Pai — December 23, 2009 @ 7:19 pm
Amen. He is nobody’s role model!
(you are, however, wrong about Mean Girls, which is a devastatingly accurate and funny portrayal of a girl’s encounter with cliques - led by Tina Fey and based on the nonfiction Queen Bees and Wannabees. As the mom to a young teen I HIGHLY recommend it)
Comment by Betsy S — December 23, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
I’ve got to agree with the other posters who have said that HSUS is, at least partially, behind this lovely white wash of Vick from dog killing criminal to kid hugging saint. They’ve allowed their reputation (ill earned as I and many others believe it to be) to cloak him in a veil of respectability.
After all of this, it looks like the Vick/H$U$ lovefest has been a perfect fit. Two completely shameless entities, willing to trade on the suffering of others for their own financial gain. It’s a match made in media whore heaven.
Comment by FrogDogz — December 23, 2009 @ 8:29 pm
I am actually speechless.
Comment by EmilyS — December 23, 2009 @ 8:45 pm
Please tell me this is some sick practical joke. I am literally nauseated from reading this.
Comment by Diane — December 23, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
eckyH wondered if this was the Eagles players’ spiteful response to all the negative jibes they’ve likely heard all year from pesky animal lovers. My take is that’s exactly what the motivation was. They’re flipping the finger to everyone who dissed one of their fellow teammates. It’s unconscionable to all of us who see the big picture, but athletes are very good at creating us vs them mentalities.
Comment by David S. Greene — December 23, 2009
Having had a fair amount of exposure to professional athletes — my dad was one, and I grew up calling future Hall of Famers “Uncle X” and “Uncle Y” — I have to say David’s right on. But that’s not all of it, I think.
Elite athletes — and children who show promise of becoming one — are made to feel special and wrapped in a cocoon from early ages — and most their “friends” are really suck-up lackeys. That all breeds a certainly attitude towards us “mere mortals” as well.
By the way, it also leads to pretty abrupt crash-landing for those who don’t reach the top, or those who are coping with the end of a career. In my dad, it led to the Mother of All Mid-Life Crises including half-hearted, thankfully unsuccessful suicide attempts.
Others succeed at that last thing. One of the best books ever about pro athletes and the cruel and corrupt world they live in is “Almost a Famous Person,” (1980) by the late, great Herb Michaelson. A great read, and a story still being played out today.
And NO NO NO, I am not excusing Michael Vick in any way. He’s a sociopath, and I also agree with commenters that the HSUS was absolutely, utterly and shamefully wrong to launder the dirtbag and allow him to feel, once again, that he’s special, that what happened “to” him was just another challenge in a child’s game played for money — and that he’s exempt from the moral constraints of the little people.
I don’t expect better of a sociopath like Vick. I don’t expect better of morally challenged greedheads like his agents, lawyers, image consultants et all, or the NFL. But the HSUS? Shame on them.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 24, 2009 @ 7:54 am
Add to the list of morally challenged: The sports “journalism” industry, a/k/a the publicity machine that keeps the little people interested and the money flowing.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports.....ture_N.htm
By the way, this crap was why I left sportswriting in my 20s.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 24, 2009 @ 8:18 am
What a slap in the face to Ed Block! Even though Vick killed dogs and not kids, I can’t help but wonder how Ed would feel. As a person who was so passionate about fighting child abuse, I’m guessing he’d be upset they picked a dog killer to receive the award.
Comment by Therese — December 24, 2009 @ 8:33 am
Sickening. Excellent response from dogtime.com http://dogtime.com/michael-vick-courage-award.html
Comment by phil d — December 24, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
This is such total bullshit-Vick DID NOT serve one minute for animal abuse-it was for racketeering-he did NO TIME for animal abuse! He has never acknowledged that he abused animals nor showed any regret…rather it seems he is sorry for being caught
Comment by Sandi MR — December 24, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
Here’s another take on this. Its pretty good almost to the end. The comments, however, are mostly disappointing:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/bl.....nfl,210601
Comment by Valerie — December 24, 2009 @ 12:30 pm
Thanks for that link, Valerie. I liked that the author also mentioned Mike Furrey from Cleveland, and he had the same take I did. I could only read the first page of comments, which said, by and large, what I would have expected. I didn’t have the stomach to read more than that. Therese, I agree with your sentiment, and nearly wrote something to that effect. It is, of course, a terrible slap in the face to Ed Block, but I’m sure none of the Eagles had ever heard of him before, much less cared about honoring *his* legacy.
Comment by David S. Greene — December 24, 2009 @ 12:57 pm
It’s scary to think that this guy is a role model.If you can’t be empathetic to such an intelligent and social animal then you are missing something.If you cant feel for a common pet like a dog or a cat then you probably are not very empathetic or sympathetic to humans either.Yes he’s paid his dues but i wont be rushing to be his friend anytime soon.What i would love is that by some miracle this guy actually felt genuine disgust of what he did,only then would i welcome him back.
Comment by acilio — December 24, 2009 @ 1:14 pm
The Philadelphia players who voted for Vick have obviously been hit in the head once too often.
Comment by Social Mange — December 26, 2009 @ 7:47 pm
Ya, maybe all those head concussions got to the teammates and made their thinking distorted. A good excuse for them—don’t ya think?
Comment by Colorado Transplant — December 26, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
Somewhere on the Eagles roster there is some quiet man who does good works of some sort. There’s got to be — out of 53 players on an NFL roster, someone has to be a mensch. They aren’t all 100% self-serving turds.
But his teammates decided to flip him a fat FU, too.
And the public will never know who the real guy — the one who wouldn’t have sent Block spinning in his grave — is.
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 27, 2009 @ 10:32 am
I’ll tell you who it is: starting quarterback Donovan McNabb. Like me, McNabb is a Syracuse alum (Go Orange!). But in addition, along with having more guts than any other 20 people I know, McNabb is an outstanding citizen. He’s raised a ton of money for about 30 different causes, including fighting diabetes http://www.donovanmcnabb.com/ssp/overview. He runs something called the Philadelphia Baby Shower. He gives away game tickets to local kids. The list goes on and on. Donovan McNabb is the real deal, and a true role model. Those guys DO exist, but are often overshadowed by sociopaths and bad seeds.
Comment by David S. Greene — December 27, 2009 @ 3:01 pm
Agree: McNabb seems to be a class act.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 27, 2009 @ 3:38 pm
Even I knew the name. Turns out, guy on the Chunky soup commercial, that’s how.
I’m glad I was right about that, at least.
But NFL, you are dead to me.
Perfesser Chaos wants to know if he got the award in a previous year and it’s a no repeats thing?
Comment by H. Houlahan — December 27, 2009 @ 3:44 pm
Excellent question. Mr. Sports Guy can tell you the answer is no. McNabb has never won the award. I shall refrain from editorial comment on that little piece of trivia.
Comment by David S. Greene — December 27, 2009 @ 4:00 pm