Michael Vick is in big trouble.
He is supposed to be in Falcons training camp on Thursday. Instead, he will be in federal court in Richmond, Virginia, to face indictment on animal cruelty charges. This stems from a dog-fighting ring at a home he owns in a rural area near Norfolk. The feds have reasonable evidence that he is in on the fighting along with his friends. Dogs were fighting to the death at his house. I'm no animal rights advocate, but this is disgusting. It is definitely not entertaining. And, it's illegal. Vick is in big trouble with the law.
Now, the NFL is investigating the incident, in light of the league's new player conduct policy. The Falcons had planned to suspend him for four games, until the league intervened and told them to hold off. The league is exercising their due diligence, desiring to make sure that he is innocent before proven guilty.
Peter King from Sports Illustrated quotes Bucs CB Ronde Barber as saying: "I would bet you that every player in the NFL knows somebody that has been to a dogfight". That's sick. It's one thing to watch dogs playfully wrestle. It's another thing to watch dogs fight to the death. It disgusts me to think that anyone would be entertained by this.
In the meantime, Joey Harrington is now the quarterback in Atlanta, with yet another chance to renew his career. I believe the Falcons would like to have a do-over on the Matt Schaub trade to Houston.
As for Michael Vick, perhaps he called a Dallas law firm with the phone number, 1-800-THE-DOGS. He needs some legal help right now.
4 comments:
Norm read some of the report on the radio last week. It's pretty sad. Not only were the four accused fighting dogs, but killing them if they were unhappy with them ... sometimes not quickly.
Also, there is a witness or witnesses who heard Mike Vick's name called in the middle of one of the matches. I'm not sure if he was there - iirc, one of his dogs was fighting.
Just like the Duke thing, I do want Ron Mexico to get a trial before any severe consequences happen.
I agree, I'd like to give him every benefit of the doubt. I'd also like for him to have the benefit of a trial by jury, instead of a trial by talking heads.
It looks like if he gets out of this without going to jail, he'll be playing football somewhere other than Atlanta.
With that being said, if he is innocent, he should have not let all that craziness happen. I know he can claim he wasn't there, but he still owns the property and there's a responsibility there.
I agree. He's been hanging out with people that are bad for him.
I know he wants to take care of his posse, and wants to be true to the 'hood, but he also has had an opportunity that few have: to possess an incredible talent and to make a whole ton of money playing a game. He is in the process of blowing that.
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