As always, the NFL has its own priorities and is not bound by things like "legality" and "due process" and "presumption of innocence." During an private interview with Roger Goodell, Vick stated that no dog fighting was going on at his home. That was clearly a bald-faced lie. Roger doesn’t like to be lied to. That’s all he really needs to suspend Vick for a year or so and hope he drifts out of the limelight. Expect something along those lines.
So Vick will have no income from football, no income from endorsements, legal bills up the wazoo, and potential jail time. He plead not guilty to all these charges (although that may be changing), but virtually all his co-defendants are pleading guilty. That sure looks like they are setting themselves up sing like canaries for a break in sentencing. I’m not going out on too precarious of a limb to say Mike Vick is toast.
Now, there’s always a chance at a miracle. A complete exoneration of all charges. Go on Larry King and cry and beg for forgiveness. Make an enormous donation to the Humane Society. Then maybe, just maybe, you can land a spot on a roster as a low-profile sub and hope the fans are in a forgiving mood. But that’s unlikely. You see, Vick is not the type to play that game. Judging by his past and the behavior of his equally distasteful brother Marcus, who once stomped on an opposing player in the middle of a college game badly enough to get kicked out of school, the Vicks are not ones to regret and apologize. They no doubt see it as a sign of weakness, or their arrogance simply won't allow it. Whatever bodies are left in their wake have no significance to them, they just step over them without a second thought.
Well, Michael is about to get his introduction to the concept of comeuppance. The next body to be stepped over will be his own.
What a mess, eh? All this stuff makes me yearn for the simpler days of Whizzinators and Terrell Owens (where has he been?). As for me, I’m ready for some football. So, what is coming up Real Soon Now with be some form of season preview, hopefully before the season actually starts. After that, as long time readers know, we go silent until about Week 8, when the season is in full swing, the bye weeks are almost gone, and there is a solid statistical sample to start our wagering process to function. Hypothetically of course. Gambling is illegal, and I wouldn’t want to find myself sharing a jail cell with Michael Vick. Not after what I just wrote about him.
Article comments
1 - RJ
Ah! Welcome back Mr. Mazzotta.
I full anticipate predicting every single game, every single week this NFL season, for the third year in a row. My goal this year is to thrash Theismann so badly in the weekly picks that he retires from ESPN with a compound fracture to his manhood. Also, I want to make Merril Hoge cry on live national television.
I'm somewhat unsure which of these goals is more realistic.
2 - Tinkerbell
One can only hope that Vick is subject to the same treatment to which he subjected those poor dogs...fighting to the death, electrocution, rape stands, starvation, chaining, maiming. And if he ever plays again and loses? Just like what he did to his dogs, may NFL fans raise his body above their heads and slam him to the ground, ending his life.
Even that would be too good for him.
3 - Matthew T. Sussman
I'm holding out for the news that there's a third Vick brother, and he's a med student or something.
The advent of Mazzotta means the football season is near. [Single tear]
4 - david mazzotta
Poor Joe is still wandering around in a daze about being booted from the Monday night booth, now RJ is out to finish him. He'll be wishing he for the good old days of Lawrence Taylor bearing down on him after this.
5 - Thomas Robinson
Well see how wrong you were, this thing with Michael Vick was more than just a misdemeanor. So could you have been wrong about anything else in this article and others you write.