So, as a native of the Philadelphia area here in the US I'm confronted with something of a dilemma. Growing up in Philadelphia you are generally brought up with a healthy (and some would say unhealthy) bit of mania for the local professional sports teams across all major American sports. As a kid who played just about every sport available growing up and growing up in an era (late 70s and early 80s) when all of the local teams were challenging for championships I formed life-long attachments to my teams - the Phillies in baseball (that's the defending World Series champion Phillies I might add); the 76ers in basketball; the Flyers in hockey; and the Eagles in football (our version). Not having a sustainable professional league for most of that time and having limited-at-best access to European footie, I didn't develop my affection for Arsenal or DC United until later.
Why do I mention this? Because today (well, actually last night) my Eagles announced the signing of contraversial quarterback Michael Vick who is fresh off of 18 months in federal prison after being convicted of a variety of infractions revolving around running a dog-fighting operation and participating in some incredibly gruesome acts in putting down some of the dogs that lost their fights. I have to say I'm incredibly conflicted on a number of levels...
- Paying his debt? - according to our system of justice, Vick has paid his debt to society. His sentence came down, he served his time, his previous employers and those companies that had previously had him as an endorser exercised their rights to either stop paying him or taking back some of the money they had already paid. From this standpoint, I believe in his right to pursue whatever career people will allow him to have knowing his past history.
- Are sports different? despite believing in his RIGHT to be employed somewhere by whomever will have him, I don't believe that playing professional sports isn't an unalienable right. I think leagues have to be clear about what they consider acceptable behavior and what they don't and I think the lines are a little too blurred. We have people here in the States like Ray Lewis (allegedly stabbed a person to death), Donte Stallworth and Leonard Little (both killed people while drunk driving) as well as all manner of asaults and batteries and generally horrible behavior. I'm not sure where Vick's actions fit in the continuum of bad things - it is certainly horrible but is it worse than beating your wife/girlfriend or killing someone while driving drunk? Obviously it isn't my decision to make on behalf of the leagues but I think the least they could do is publish some standards that eliminate someone from further participation if they go over a line.
- Should talent make a difference? For those of you not familiar with Vick, he's something of an athletic freak of nature. This isn't a merely-better-than-average guy like Joey Barton this guy was one of the top ten talents in the NFL before his fall from grace. All of the PR is that this is a story about redemption and all of that but it's really about him getting another chance because he's a freak of nature as an athlete. If here were a lesser player, would he be given this chance? Would a team take a chance on him?
- My team? Despite my desires for more stringent rules, they don't exist and he has been allowed back. As I said above, I believe in his right to play for A team. Now I have to decide how I feel about him playing for MY team and how I'm going to react to it. A small part of me is intrigued as to what he might add to the Eagles current mix that was only two victories from winning their first championship of my lifetime last season. Overall though, my gut reaction is that I'm not thrilled about it. We've all seen teams who sold their souls for the sake of someone who has a talent that they currently lack. I'm just not wild that my team is the one doing it this time around.
So, where does all of this leave me? Well, I've rambled for quite some time. I know myself well enough that I'm not going to stop supporting the Eagles for this one decision even if isn't my favorite. Honestly, I even hope the best for Mike Vick as a guy, he did some pretty horrible things but I hope he has (and keeps) his act together and realizes the error of his ways. At the same time, I sort of hope that his return to the NFL fizzles and he is forced to earn a living like normal human beings do. I'm not sure if it is possible to root for a team while hoping one of the players on that team doesn't do well but I'm going to give it a try. I guess we won't know for sure how it will work out until he's on the field and I have to react to something he does.
Curious to know what everyone else out there thinks about the situation. What would you think if it was your team that was considering such a tainted player? What if it had the potential to push you over the top for a title you've been hoping for all of your life? Would you be willing to look the other way? Would you be satisfied with finishing out of the money but having your team making a moral stand?
