Should Michael Vick be allowed to play in the NFL again?

[Dr Stankface]

Everyone knows the story of Michael Vick. Does anything think he should be able to play again? As a Falcons fan, I hope he never touches a football again. He was an absolute disgrace to the organization.

[MJ5150]

Yes, he does.

This isn't why I say yes, but this is why the NFL can not say no to Vick......Leonard Little killed someone, and he is playing in the NFL. Heck, he only got 90 days in jail and an eight game suspension for driving drunk and killing a woman. He also got popped for another DWI a few years later.

If there is room in the NFL for people who kill humans, there is room for people who kill dogs. Yes, I realize Little did not go out an intentionally kill this woman, while Vick did intend to kill dogs. But still...killing is killing.

-Mike

[CrashClint]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Yes, he does.

This isn't why I say yes, but this is why the NFL can not say no to Vick......Leonard Little killed someone, and he is playing in the NFL. Heck, he only got 90 days in jail and an eight game suspension for driving drunk and killing a woman. He also got popped for another DWI a few years later.

If there is room in the NFL for people who kill humans, there is room for people who kill dogs. Yes, I realize Little did not go out an intentionally kill this woman, while Vick did intend to kill dogs. But still...killing is killing.

-Mike

I have nothing else to add.

[jrthebassguy]

I believe in second chances and redemption. So in a word, yes.

[cassanova]

I think his ass needs to sit in a prison cell for the maximum amount punishable by law for what he did. Then and only then when his debt to society is paid for his crimes he should be allowed to return back to work for a much lower salary and perhaps as the number 2 QB for a team. He also has to repay his dues to the NFL as well and since he's been out of it for a while now he does not IMO deserve ludachris salary he once had nor a starting role.

[StanFan]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Yes, he does.

This isn't why I say yes, but this is why the NFL can not say no to Vick......Leonard Little killed someone, and he is playing in the NFL. Heck, he only got 90 days in jail and an eight game suspension for driving drunk and killing a woman. He also got popped for another DWI a few years later.

If there is room in the NFL for people who kill humans, there is room for people who kill dogs. Yes, I realize Little did not go out an intentionally kill this woman, while Vick did intend to kill dogs. But still...killing is killing.

-Mike

If that's the league standard then Vick should play. The fans, players, and media will still give Vick a hard time.

[wazzel]

Vic has been convicted of a crime and did jail time, he should not be able to play again. I know other do, but IMO they should not be playing either.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by wazzel

Vic has been convicted of a crime and did jail time, he should not be able to play again. I know other do, but IMO they should not be playing either.

Are yor comments directed at pro sports leagues only?

-Mike

[anyonefortennis]

Originally Posted by Dr Stankface

Everyone knows the story of Michael Vick. Does anything think he should be able to play again? As a Falcons fan, I hope he never touches a football again. He was an absolute disgrace to the organization.

He is a disgrace to humanity. Anyone that drowns, electrocutes, and shots dogs should have his nuts hooked up to a car battery.

As a side note, Pacman lost 2 years without a conviction. Vick was con'vick'ted (see what I did there? ) of a felony. Should be suspended at least 2 more years after he gets out but I'd say lifetime ban.

[doctorjazz]

I wouldn't mind. He's a good player. If I were in charge of a team, I'd hire people based on their ability to play football, not their relationships with their pets. The only reason I wouldn't take him back would be if the damage from a potential public outcry against him would outweigh his benefit to my team.

[MJ5150]

Originally Posted by doctorjazz

......a potential public outcry against him....

All that is going to be is a bunch of women crying and holding posters of abused puppies outside the stadium while the men are inside watching the game.

The NFL is a money making machine right now. The outcry by a small special interest group over one man in the league isn't going to hurt that. Heck, if Vick could get on work release to play for a team on Sundays, someone would have signed him by now.

I'm not indifferent to the crimes he committed, just "keeping it real" as my boy Chappelle would say.

-Mike

[Gard]

I think Vick is a nut case if he WANTS to come back.

In addition to the fan harassment he will receive at every turn, I would imagine that there will be plenty of players that will take every opportunity to give him a "shot", and eventually as a marked man, he'll go out for good.

He is an insult to humans, a waste, and he needs a suspension after his time served that should at the very least equal the one meted out to Adam/Pacman Jones by the NFL.

That said, once he faces his complete punishment, yeah, the league cannot keep him out.

However, if there is any real justice, both he AND Little would never play a game again (I agree, Leonard Little being allowed back into the NFL is a disgrace to the game itself).

[tomvelsor]

i dont see where the correlation is between hurting animals and playing football...

while one has nothing to do with the other, hes a dirtbag, and id rather not see him enjoy anymore success in his lifetime. but what good is that, hes already loaded..

[john turner]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Yes, he does.

This isn't why I say yes, but this is why the NFL can not say no to Vick......Leonard Little killed someone, and he is playing in the NFL. Heck, he only got 90 days in jail and an eight game suspension for driving drunk and killing a woman. He also got popped for another DWI a few years later.

If there is room in the NFL for people who kill humans, there is room for people who kill dogs. Yes, I realize Little did not go out an intentionally kill this woman, while Vick did intend to kill dogs. But still...killing is killing.

-Mike

i agree - what vick did was lame and disgusting, and i'm not any more of a falcons fan than i am any other non-cowboy team in the nfc (don't care one way or t'other, really). but he does not deserve to be banned from the game for life over that - he's been punished enough already. anything more than what he's got to endure is not justice, imo.

[Sundogue]

And who (besides Jerry Jones that is) would even want him as their QB?

I believe people should be given second chances, but who going to give him that? Then again I could see him in a Cowboys uniform. He fits the stereotype.

[anyonefortennis]

Originally Posted by doctorjazz

I wouldn't mind. He's a good player... snip

I stopped reading there. The guys has a carrer QB rating of 75. Just a hair above Rex Grossman.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

And who (besides Jerry Jones that is) would even want him as their QB?

A team that thinks their playbook is too complicated and that their receivers deserve to be overthrown on every second level route?

I wonder if the NFL would suspend him beyond his prison sentence. It seems a bit arbitrary to wait until his release from prison and THEN decide to punish him. I'm saying they couldn't or that it wouldn't be justified, I just think it would be a bit odd.

That said, Michael Vick will play professional football again. If not the NFL then the Arena League or whatever that new league is that Mark Cuban is involved in.

But despite his athletic ability, it isn't as if Vick was setting the league on fire before his arrest. Incredibly exciting, but where did that get the Falcons? And while he's only 28, two years off from NFL training for a guy whose whole game was based on physical gifts doesn't bode well. But it's not like he's going back to Va Tech for an engineering degree. He'll take whatever money he can get and play in whatever league he can hoping to get back in the NFL.

And as a 49ers fan who watched angrily as his team signed complete waste of skin Lawrence Phillips and then was even more upset to see him miss the block on a blitz that ended Steve Young's career, I hate having to root for scumbags. I imagine most fans are the same way. But while I think we'd all like to see him disappear, I don't see that happening.

[v-12]

Originally Posted by tomvelsor

.......

while one has nothing to do with the other, hes a dirtbag, and id rather not see him enjoy anymore success in his lifetime. but what good is that, hes already loaded..

he owes $4mil than he's worth.... he needs to get back in the nfl.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns

that said i think he deserves a lifetime ban. he represented a multibillion dollar industry, and his (and others) disgraceful actions should not be tolerated. there are plenty of other athletes who can step up and make great teams and the games will be just as enjoyable.

[hbarcat]

Reality check. The NFL is a professional sports industry that makes money entertaining football fans - they are not an organization that promotes or furthers any kind of moral cause. Those who think that the moral fiber of the athletes who are its employees means anything to the team owners or to league management are hopelessly naive.

If the bulk of the football fans are each still willing to cough up hundreds of dollars every game to watch their favorite players smash into each other fighting over an inflated pig bladder, then the management isn't going to lose sleep about what their employees do for fun - as long as they can still play.

[Vic Winters]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

Reality check. The NFL is a professional sports industry that makes money entertaining football fans - they are not an organization that promotes or furthers any kind of moral cause. Those who think that the moral fiber of the athletes who are its employees means anything to the team owners or to league management are hopelessly naive.

I have to disagree. At the very least they want to appear like they give give a crap. Otherwise the NFL wouldn't be associated with United Way and about a dozen other programs.