I don't like Michael Vick and I don't support him in going back into the NFL but its not like my opinion matters

I'm not necessarily against Vick being allowed a second chance to be in the NFL. Maybe he learned something, maybe he regrets his actions, right now its hard to say through all the PR.

My main problem is - why the Eagles? The Eagles are a high profile team that generally do well (although not quite well enough), draw crowds and viewers, and make money. I know in terms of professional football $2 million is nothing, but its more than he deserves. The man should have had to start from ground zero playing for some sad team like the Lions for chump change, it somehow feels wrong that he gets a prime team like the Eagles ford a cool 2 mil. I'm just upset that out of ALL the teams in the NFL, it has to be my Eagles that snatches up the ex-con puppy killer.

A guy who does what Vick did is already a rotten tomato. He's not going to be a role model anytime soon, so let's hope he'll at least be a good player.

Michael Vick is the scum of the Earth. If you torture defenseless animals, you don't belong in society, let alone a football team and you definitely don't deserve to make millions of dollars like nothing happened. You belong in a mental institution.

The video where they throw paint at him, which can be seen on YouTube... that should've been fish guts.

Worse than a child molester? Or a rapist? Shut the fuck up.

You forgot something important, Coldguy: Vick is bankrupt. He's making about 2 million this season, but he's also got about 20 million dollars he owes in liabilities, which liquidating several of his possessions hasn't helped relieve, and is on a strict monetary plan to only live on an annual budget of $300,000; that's roughly the minimum salary for an NFL player.

There are ex-convicts out there struggling to get work and resorting to crimes just to make a living.

Vick is making ore money now then most other ex cons will make over the course of their new lives.

No one should feel sorry for him.

In my opinion there are worse athletes out there than Michael Vick. What Vick did was horrible and atrocious, but I'm proud to see that he took his punishment for it(whether that punishment was suitable for the crime is a discussion for another time, though), and I wish more athletes would do so. But even then, his actions only endangered animals. I love animals, but they're not people. Athletes who put people, be they fans or fellow competitors, at risk of harm are far worse than Michael Vick. Therefore, I say that Nelson Piquet, Jr is a shining example of the worst type of athlete in the world. And he's not receiving ANY sort of punishment for what he did.

It's a dog. The man did more time than some people do for doing physical damage to other human beings. I find the abuse of animals to make people seem barbarous and like lesser human beings, but I don't think 2 years in prison is due. I don't condone animal abuse, but I think Vick did more than enough time than was necessary.

rattlehead91, it's not A dog ... it's HUNDREDS. The rotten SOB should be in jail still for what he did.

First off he was not given 2 years in prison for the actual dogfighting, he was given 2 years in a Federal prison for racquetering charges that crossed state lines. He had a gambling ring off of the dogfighting that was interstate. That's just arguing semantics, but on to the football arguement. What has Micheal Vick done in his career that would make him a better option than McNabb? He got to one NFC championship game, McNabb has been to 5 and one Superbowl. This may very well be a move to replace McNabb but I don't think it would be the right one in my opinion. I Love dogs as much as the next guy, but have we heard anything about Donte Stallworth since he was suspended? No, not a peep. He KILLED someone and got 24 days in jail. When it comes to animals people lose their rationality. Yes it was a heinous crime, but is it anymore heinous than someone who hunts deer? Why does anyone need to hunt deer? Are there still people in this country that have to hunt to eat? No, there are not, but there is a large group of people who consider killing deer a sport.

cook316: Donte Stallworth did NOT kill anyone. A guy jumped out in front of him - there was video proving it. Reasons for it don't matter, the fact that the person ran out in front of Stallworth's car removes ANY responsibility for the incident from Stallworth. His only crime was being a tiny bit over the limit, and thus he plead guilty to drunk driving. Contrary to reports, it was not a plea bargain, he plead to the maximum charge prosecutors could bring. The judge did let him off easy because he was cooperative and shwoed remorse. Despite the fact that he would have liekly won, he settled with the man's family with no real negotiations.

Drunk driving is rather serious issue, but let's base our opinion on the facts: Stallworth had been at a party.... THE NIGHT BEFORE. By all accounts, his BAL should have been below the legal limit long before he'd gone driving. Even the police officers who investigated the case found it hard to believe his BAL was .12 given how long it had been since the party and how much he had drank, combined with the fact that he never showed any indication that he was over the limit.

Given the circumstances, you can't fault Stallworth for going out. He had no reason to think he was over the limit when he went out, and had some random guy not stepped out in front of him, nothing would have happened. But the fact is he was over the limit, he took his punishment for the crime he committed, and moved on. And now he's a villain because some random guy on the road didn't look before trying to cross the HIGHWAY. If this is how athletes who do the right thing get treated, then we shouldn't be surprised when future athletes get shit for doing the right thing when they make a mistake. People like you who look at the basic information and don't do research into the actual facts of the case contribute to the problem of turning many good athletes who we SHOULD be able to look up to into assholes.

Donte Stallworth has my respect for standing up, admitting his mistake, and taking the punishment the courts found appropriate.

Stallworth struck the guy at around 7am. You really think he wasn't drunk, if he'd been partying the night before? You drink alot, sometimes you wake up drunk. Who knows if he even slept? And who's to say how much he drank? You think the breathalyzer lied?

Way I see it, the law treated him like a golden-boy and he got off easy. I think it's fair to suspend him, since he never paid the debt to society.

Excellent job of avoiding the main part of my argument and responding by implying I said things I did not. I never claimed he was not drunk, I never claimed the breathalyzer lied. I noted the FACTS OF THE CASE. For the record, information on how much he drank was verified by multiple parties, and Stallworth was a REGULAR partygoer who knew his limits. There are always exceptions to the norms of how our bodies process such things, however, and while Stallworth should have considered this the fact is that by all available evidence he SHOULD have been okay. But the fact remains that he was not. The ONLY reason he was charged with anything is because of this fact. If the man he hit had not run out in front of him, he would have been charged with murder.

You can argue about the sentence all you want, but he plead guilty to the highest charge prosecutors could legally bring under the circumstances. That is not speculation, that is a FACT.

And frankly, I'm GLAD that Florida won't prosecute your for murder when someone jumps out in front of your car, even when you are drunk. I wish Ohio was that smart.

If he has your respect than why wouldn't Vick? Did he not stand up and serve his time. On a completely unrelated note, don't pedestrians have the right of way? If someone just walks out without looking in front of my car am I allowed to speed up and think to myself "HAHA dumbass, you didn't look so I won't get any jail time for running you over." No ones faulting him for going out. My point is that a HUMAN was killed during the ordeal and no one seems to care about that but Vick is somehow worse. Vick has served his time and should be left alone to prove if he has changed or not. It's a double standard that I do not care for.

Pedestrians do NOT have right-of-way ON AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. Legally, unless your car broke down and you're trying to walk the distance to get service due to having no cell phone(or you're a construction worker assigned to the area), you're not even allowed to be in the area of an interstate highway on foot(that obviously doesn't apply to surface streets that cross over or under the highway). Additionally, if a pedestrian INTENTIONALLY jumps out in front of a driver(which might have been the case here, depending on who you listen to. And no, Stallworth is not making that claim - he has refused to speculate on why the person he hit chose that moment to enter the road), the driver is not at fault, the pedestrian is.

I do have respect for Vick for coming out, admitting his guilt, and serving his time. However, what Michael Vick did was INTENTIONAL, and what Donte Stallworth did was an ACCIDENT. In our legal system, intent very often means more than the act itself. The crimes committed, due to the level of intent behind them, elevates Vick's crime to a higher level than Stallworth's. By how much is a matter of debate, but committing a crime on purpose is always worse than on accident since, if it was an accident, it's oftentimes not really a crime at all. Obviously Stallworth's case is still a crime, but in the big scheme of things, it was a minor one.

Had Stallworth simply waited one more hour before leaving(which would have almost certainly had him below the legal limit), or had the person he hit actually LOOKED before crossing a roadway where he had no legal right-of-way, he wouldn't have been killed even if Stallworth was still there. This is not the same as seeing a guy crossing a road and accelerating into him, or even intentionally abusing and killing animals(for the record, I'm not opposed to killing animals for food or in self-defense, I'm only opposed to meaningless abuse and killing of them). This was just two poor decisions coinciding into a serious incident. And as I said, by all available accounts Stallworth SHOULD have been okay to drive, as past history indicated it had been long enough since his last drink for his BAL to go down. If he had not been over the limit, he never would have been charged with ANYTHING, because miscalculating his BAL was the ONLY thing he did wrong.

Yes, drunk driving is a serious matter, but if it didn't directly contribute to the incident(and the investigation concluded it did NOT) then it's not worth making a big deal out of.

1) as a vegetarian, and animal-rights sympathist, i was less appalled at vick's actions than i was the public's hypocrisy regarding treatment of animals.

2) for the record i think he has served his time and deserves the chance to prove that he has been rehabilitated.

2.5) my favorite nerd-site also covers sports now? way too perfect.

p.s. do you really think college qb's are riskier now? many first-year (first-round) qb's have been really successful lately.

Lately yes, track record tells you otherwise. Also look for the smaller schools to have better QBs then big schools, track record also tells you that, I am looking at you Deleware!

Also if a lot of people like this sports roll I might want to do more topics on it...let me know

I'm a dog person too. Celebrities and athletes seem to be able to get away with a ton. I wonder if there is anyone in the prison system found guilty of the same crime he was, who is still serving time.

probably

well the latest crop of college QB's get a lot more credit than they deserve. Take a look at the last "super class" the one that was supposed to live up to the likes of Elway, Marino and Kelley's draft class.

1) Peyton Manning: great player, kind of a choke artist but great none the less
2) Ryan Leaf: lol, the poster child for draft busts right next to Ki-Jana Carter
3) Cade McKnown: might still be a back up some where
4) Akili Smith: I think he played like 4 games for the bengals
5) Dante Culpepper: Injury shortened and affected carrer but honestly how good do you have to be to throw the ball to Randy Moss and Cris Carter

The typical order is you will get like one or two good QB's in a draft class and the rest will be chumps. Lets look at some of the "stars" of today

Matt Ryan: He has an elite WR, top tier RB, now the greatest TE of all time and a voracious defense. He really did no better than the likes of Kyle Orton last year and could not really win you a game, just not lose it.

Joe Flacco: the real star young QB in my opinion since he has done it with fewer weapons but that defense also is the reason that Trent Dilfer has a superbowl ring.

Mark Sanchez: rookie but similar deal, amazing defense, respectable weapons on Offense and he gets pretty good field position and a great coach.

Matt Stafford: this Is what usually happens with most young QB's. Top tier QBs don't go to powerhouse teams, guys like the Jets and Ravens typically have to trade up and this guy going to the lions was rough for him. True it could have been worse than playing with a great WR and RB but still, very underwhelming thus far.

historically the touted great young QB's typically have one of three things going for them, a great Defense to capitalize field position and make up for rookie mistakes (see Eli Manning and Big Ben), a solid running game (Matt Ryan), or plenty of time to sit and watch a great QB at work and learn the play book (Aaron Rodgers, Matt Schaub, and soon Matt Leinart) when they are good and almost none of them do it all alone.

Now look at Vick

The guy came as the first overall pick to a terrible team and turned them into an offensive machine. In just a few years the Falcons were in the NFC championship game before being beaten by McNabb and an all around superior Eagles team. No I dont like the Eagles but they are my second favorite NFC East team (Go Cowboys!!!, Boo Giants!!!) and I can give credit where credit is due. But still can you name one player other than Vick on offense for that team? Honestly I cant right off the top of my head because he WAS the offense. That is something that you will not see in any young QB straight out of college. That kind of dominance led to him being the highest paid player in the NFL and then he screwed it all up. But in all honesty the eagles were lucky to get a guy like this. Once he learns the playbook and gets back to NFL speed (not only is he still young but those months in prison he wasn't getting tackled 20+ times a game) he will be so dominate once again that he will command 10-15 touches a game and do well in those attempts. Be happy eagles fans becuase your opponents are more worried about him than McNabb, Westbrook, Jackson, McCoy, and Celek COMBINED.

There are a couple of points I'd like to make here. The first is for the "it's just a dog" people. First of all, "it's just a..." has been used in the past (and some parts of the world today) to rationalize away the consequences of cruelty to certain groups of people. Remember Emmett Till? Second, it's the nature of the crime, not the powerlessness of his victims, that makes Vick such a monster. Vick didn't just kill dogs; he killed lots of dogs in exceedingly cruel fashion and delighted in their suffering. He didn't have failed fighters put to sleep. He drowned them, hung them, beat them, and even electrocuted them! Electrocution is right up there with burning alive for the most excruciating way to die. Anyone who takes pleasure from that type of "entertainment" is a potential danger (including anyone who would do the same to Vick). Also, cruelty to animals is one of the strongest predictors of violence against humans.

Michael Vick should not be playing for any team. He should be serving thousands of hours of community service cleaning up dog doo at dog parks and animal shelters.

Michael Vick should not be playing for any team. He should be serving thousands
of hours of community service cleaning up dog doo at dog parks and animal
shelters.

Then Stallworth should be doing the same at a nursing home.

I can't believe that some people are actually suggesting that because we put someone in jail for torturing conscious beings, that somehow means we value dogs more than people. The fuck? The jail time he had was minuscule compared to how much time he would do if he did the exact same thing to people. If we don't punish people who torture conscious beings, especially rich people who can afford to pay fines, what, you think animal cruelty should be legal? Why? Yeah there are worse things than animal cruelty but that doesn't make it somehow not horrific. People should most definitely get jail time for torturing any conscious being that feels pain, because it shows lack of empathy, and people like that can turn to harming people.

And yeah, I know that sometimes people who kill or torture other people get lesser sentences, but I'm not arguing that that's not an injustice. People who hurt people should most certainly be punished to the full extent of the law. But that doesn't mean people who hurt animals should get off scott-free.

And personally I only favor hunting when it puts food on the table, not for sport, and not being exceedingly cruel. Vick tortured these dogs very unnecessarily, and also for sport.

And people tend to feel sorrier for animals because they tend to be more "innocent" than people, if you will. They don't know better like people do, so like children, people sometimes feel worse when a dog gets tortured and has no idea why. Personally it doesn't matter to me whether it's human or animal, if it's a conscious being then it's a conscious life and worth respecting at least in some fashion.

Though I think it is unfair to deny him a chance to repent. If he's really sorry and not just bullshitting through to get back on top, that is.

Mahatma Ghandi said “One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals”.

It can be whittled down to a single person as well. I am not willing to give him a chance until he proves that he means it when he says he's sorry. Just cuz a publicist or public relations person tells him he should say he feels soooo bad and he says it doesn't mean it's true. He abused his money and he shouldn't be able to have that opportunity until he has proven himself.

It takes alot of money and time to do what he did. Years of breeding and training. THe ways those animals were killed, some by his OWN HANDS. That doesn't even go into what the survivors of the fights look like. I have seen some with nothing but the front portion of their skulls, teeth and nostril slits exposed to the bone. This is NOT a person I want my sons looking up to, EVER.

If you ever wanted an insight on the dogfighting circuit, find a movie called "Off the Chain" it was made by the police and humane societies and has comments from real dogfighters and pictures and scenes from busts and rescues.

People say "Oh it's just an animal" but would you want someone who would beat an animal to death for no good reason, and would do it again, to watch your kids or handle your business? Someone who could so carelessly kill a living thing for his own entertainment is the mark of a sicko.

Was what Michael Vick did wrong? Hell yes.
Did he serve his time? Sure did.

On a side note, maybe he will "redeem himself"? People forget some of the horrible shit celebrities have done. Tim Allen? He was a coke dealer. Rick James beat women. It'll all pass in time. If you want to read more shit famous people have done try here: http://www.cracked.com/article/96_7-beloved-celebrities-awful-shit-you-forgot-they-did_p2

Gaah! I'm so sick of people saying some famous thug who "served his time" should get welcomed back with open arms as if nothing ever happened. Sometimes people do grow up and learn from serving time, but sometimes they just don't get it. Watch any interviews of Vick where they discuss the dogfighting. Every word out of his mouth is a lie. Look at his body language! His words are so rehearsed. The only thing he regrets is getting caught... and maybe betraying the trust of a few people. He should be made to stand behind a two way mirror and watch the reactions of real people who have to euthanize their beloved pets. Maybe, just maybe, if he has the capacity for human compassion, his icy little heart will grow three sizes, and he'll truly realize why his past behavior was wrong. In the meantime, though, he's just another jackass who got caught, payed a too small penalty, and expects everything to go back to normal.

p.s. If he wasn't a star quarterback, they'd have thrown the book at him. No one deserves a free pass simply because of celebrity.

He shouldn't be given a second chance, it wasn't like what he did was an accident. It was deliberate and ongoing. He's a disgusting example of humanity and got off way too lightly.

Mike Vick served his time to society. His legacy will forever be that he is a dog killer, I think I can bear to let the guy play football before he has to get a job as a clerk at McDonalds. Remember he is also 15 million dollars in debt, so for every year he makes the league minimum, he dosn't get a dime. I nor anyone else should be conserned. GET OVER IT. it's not the worst thing that could have happened, he could have been running an underground sex slave ring, or how about an underground consintration camp, NOW then I would agree with all of you extremist. Until that happens STFU and let him play, he won't be playing for much longer in the NFL, he's not that talented.

i'm sorry but thats like saying a rapeist could have done worse by killing her afterwords. but i hope your right and he doesnt spend much more time in the NFL. we differ in some opinions but we agree he isn't as great as he was (or supposedly was)

i can't dely the man's ability as an athelete. but when you do the research and see what people who fight dogs do to train and breed the dogs....it proves the man has no morals at all to put ANY living thing through that kind of torture. and thats what it is, torture. smashing all the teeth out of males so they can't bite females during breeding. the starvation, the sacrafice of OTHER animals like cats rabits (sp) and smaller dogs to get them the "blood lust" as they call it....you have to be soul-less to do that to another living thing. i don't care how bad he "feels" (and i don't believe for a second that he does.) or how many apologies he gives. he is a souless bastard who should be bagging groceries instead of making 1.5 million dollars, and standing to make more if he does well.
which brings about the point of sports players making more than fire fighters and police officers, but thats another opinion for another day.

People that complain about dogfighting here on how bad it is are all full of sour grapes. It's an issue most of you know nothing about. Vick isn't and wasn't the only one dogfighting. It's a common sport in the ghetto. It's like cockfighting. To them it's about money,respect and rep.They don't realize it's wrong and you all should be ashamed of yourselfs for jumping on a soap box you don't know about.

Does it excuse Vick? No, it doesn't. But you need to look at the fact that it's part of that culture. My cousin and several of my uncles were into dogfighting when they were young, so you think I should treat them the same way you're treating him? After all my cousin committed a felony and went to prison for 8 years.

You're a loser, ColdGuy. What sort of worthless loser would even consider forgiving him ? I don't know if you believe in Jesus, but didn't he, or GOD, say something like whatever you do to the least of you, you do to me ? What that means is how you treat the weakest, most defenseless among us is how we'd treat GOD or other loved ones. You've just put yourself down at Vick's level with that assinine comment. You probably get off on those commercials showing beat up dogs and abused cats.

Are you stupid ? Of course, they knew it was wrong. They just didn't care. And don't you dare say things like that to me about jumping a soapbox I don't know anything about. I DO know about it, alright ? I read and watch things like the news and see things with my own eyes. How dare you, sir ? You're the one that should be ashamed.

Yeah, but none of them abused animals. People can defend themselves; dogs and cats really can't when compared to a person.....loser.

It seems like your the one that's being stupid if your going to let the media control your view. Are you part of PETA? If you aren't then please stop acting like your an animal rights activist because you aren't. My aunt is one of the biggest animal rights activists out there and even she forgives Michael Vick.

How do you know if they knew better? You didn't grow up in the ghetto like my relatives did. Stop listening to the media and stop watching those propoganda PSA showing dogs and cats looking defenseless. You can't believe what they tell you.

Have you ever heard of the Far Side? In that comic strip there were dozens of cartoons depicting dogs and cats being beaten up for comedy( it was for fictional and cartoon purposes) and the creator in any way had no intention of offending anyone. Thus he had to deal with PETA and angry letters and boycotts from unreasonable animal lovers who were too blinded by bias for any logic or reasoning.

For you to hold a grude against Vick shows that you are totally insensive to pathos. Dogs are Dogs. They can be kind,loyal and gentle. It's the owners who are responsible for the dog's behavior. There are many vicious dogs out there, but it's the owner's fault not the dog. Would you treat someone who kidnapped and raped women and held them prisoner the same way? Or course you would. But you act like those Pit Bulls are more superior to humans. They aren't but who's fault would it be if they mauled a child?

Oh and you claim your a Christain? Well so am I. The bible says that animals are to bow at the feet of man and sumbit to him. also didn't you realize that in jewish custom animals were killed almost everyday as offerings? So are you offended at that? that jewish people killed animals for offering by cutting them with a knife and draining thier blood?

Michael Vick is a disgusting excuse for a human being.

Now obviously, as a god owner I'm biased, but still...Letting him go back to playing football is just not good enough, I don't follow american football as I'm not american (we have the real football right here in europe thank you very much) but I don't see how the fans can love this guy so much considering what he's done. Maybe they're just idiots, who knows, that's not the point.

The point is, Michael Vick should not be allowed to play football as sould really still be in jail.

To clarify, I don't hold a grudge against Michael Vick just because he hurt a lot of dogs, it's because by doing so he's proven he doesn't deserve my, or anyone elses respect.