15 August 2009

Why Michael Vick deserves another chance

The Philadelphia Eagles' new two-year deal with just-out-of-prison quarterback Michael Vick has Eagles fans very vocally divided. Vick had been sentenced in 2007 to 23 months in federal prison for his role in a dogfighting operation.

Let me state upfront that I am not a sports fan, and I am certainly not a Michael Vick fan. I am an animal lover. I am a vegetarian. I am a compassionate human being -- too much so for a lot of people. And therein might lie the root of my disagreement with the majority on this particular issue.

While some Eagles fans and others have expressed their opinion that Vick deserves a second chance, those people appear to be in the minority. Since the news broke, I've been seeing mostly negative reactions. In fact, some rabidly loyal Eagles fans are threatening to boycott the next two seasons.

Vick did something very wrong. He is an imperfect human being. But he has paid his debt to society. He has atoned. But that's not good enough for his very vocal critics. They seem to want their athletes to be morally perfect. Let he who is without sin throw the first pass.

So they want Vick's punishment to continue indefinitely. That, dear reader, is not justice. It's revenge. And it illustrates the fact that these disgruntled Eagles fans aren't so morally perfect themselves.

America is supposed to be the land of opportunity. When you fall, you are expected to get back up, brush yourself off, and try better and harder to make something of yourself. But that is possible only if society will let you.

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