Mike Vick was the Lebron James of the NFL. Hugely hyped when he came in the league and had the type of skills that translated very well to marketing prowess. Even though he didn’t match Peyton Manning’s endorsements and has never really lived up to expectations as a QB, he was nonetheless as much the face of the NFL as any other player. He was also such a freakish athlete, that he has the Bo Jackson “you never know what you might see when you watch him” factor. Some of the most amazing things I have ever seen on the football field were done by Vick. He may be the fastest guy in the league on the field and is so dazzling you can’t help but watch.
Of course he had is downside as well. Even though he led Atlanta to some victories, he never really seemed to fulfill his promise. He is not an accurate passer (to say the least) and also seems to lack a mind for the game that allows him to pick defenses apart like Manning and Brady do. But even with that, he was still perhaps the greatest active American athlete in terms of athletic ability, even if that didn’t always translate the way his team would like.
Now he’s in big trouble (massive understatement) and if the NFL continues to sit back and watch, it will be in trouble as well. Goodell has done a good job since coming in as commish. He has taken a strong lead to get the thugs to clean up their acts or bear the consequences. He has shown courage and decisiveness. That is critical because if the players start to alienate the fans by being criminals and just all around bad guys, the league will be in serious trouble. Right now, the NFL is at the top, but much of that is because they have avoided the problems that have plagued the MLB and NBA.
Steroids and recent strikes together with some brutally bad work by Bud Selig has tarnished baseball significantly. Plus, their lack of a cap or some kind of revenue sharing arrangement has made the MLB essentially a two team league in terms of media attention even though neither are the best team (Yanks and Sox).
Crime and general bad behavior, combined with a few other factors that can’t be blamed on the running of the league like the biggest name stars failing to become dominant championship winning players (Wade excepted), have led to an alienation of much of the fan base and hurt the image of the NBA. That said, I think Stern has done a great job and they are fairly quickly even cleaning this aspect up. And there are some great young stars in the league, so unlike baseball, I think the NBA will be fine.
But the NFL has been on a constant incline. It is more popular than ever and consistently puts a great product on the field. The labor agreement, the parity, the power of the team over the individual, it’s all great.
But like everything going well, it can go bad quickly. The Vick debacle puts the league at risk. Everyone from young and old fans, to animal rights groups, to politicians, to business owners and advertisers will be watching this situation very carefully. So how the NFL deals with this is critical. I really don’t think it can be overstated.
That is why I believe that the NFL can not take a wait and see approach. Don’t talk to me about “innocent until proven guilty.” Those are your rights against the government, not your employer. That is a standard designed to get at the truth by forcing the government to play fair. It is not even really about guilt and innocence. For example, no one is proved “innocent” in a criminal trial, just “not guilty.” There’s a difference. But all of that is when your freedom from prison is on the line. Your employer doesn’t need to wait to see if a prosecutor can prove what he needs to for a jury. Your employer can (and should) fire you for things that are not even criminal. So, the idea that the NFL should wait to see if a jury decides the charges have been proved is nonsense. The NFL should be the jury for Vick’s career. They should do what they need to do to become convinced of his guilt or innocence and act accordingly.
Here is what they should do. They should do their own investigation. They should contact the law enforcement people involved and the Federal prosecutors involved. They should hire their own investigators and they should do what any large company would do when one of their employees is accused of something that could hurt the company and find out the answers for themselves.
Then, if they find that Vick is involved in anything like the way that he is accused of, he should be banned for life. They don’t need to wait to see if he’s going to jail, they should just fire him and take whatever steps they can to get back the money the Falcons have paid him. Short of the murders and rapes that have occurred, I can not think of any worse conduct ever committed by an athlete. Worse than gambling, drugs or any of the others. I’m not a PETA supporter. I’m not a vegetarian. I believe animals are not of equal value to humans. But I’m also sickened by anyone treating animals cruelly, especially for no greater purpose than their own enjoyment. If he did what the indictment says, he should be banned from having anything to do with NFL for the rest of his life….oh and should go to prison for a long time.
But it shouldn’t end there. I am afraid that Vick might be the tip of the iceberg. Granted a very famous tip, but still just the starting point. I’m afraid there is a large underground culture where this kind of behavior is acceptable and thriving. Whether that is true or not, the NFL and all the other sports leagues need to investigate themselves thoroughly before it becomes the next steroids issue for sports.
I hope in my heart that Vick has been wrongly accused. But if I ran the NFL, I wouldn’t wait for a trial to find that out. And if I found out Vick was some kind of dog fighting kingpin, I would act as swiftly and harshly as I possibly could.
Time to step up NFL. We’re all watching.
Of course he had is downside as well. Even though he led Atlanta to some victories, he never really seemed to fulfill his promise. He is not an accurate passer (to say the least) and also seems to lack a mind for the game that allows him to pick defenses apart like Manning and Brady do. But even with that, he was still perhaps the greatest active American athlete in terms of athletic ability, even if that didn’t always translate the way his team would like.
Now he’s in big trouble (massive understatement) and if the NFL continues to sit back and watch, it will be in trouble as well. Goodell has done a good job since coming in as commish. He has taken a strong lead to get the thugs to clean up their acts or bear the consequences. He has shown courage and decisiveness. That is critical because if the players start to alienate the fans by being criminals and just all around bad guys, the league will be in serious trouble. Right now, the NFL is at the top, but much of that is because they have avoided the problems that have plagued the MLB and NBA.
Steroids and recent strikes together with some brutally bad work by Bud Selig has tarnished baseball significantly. Plus, their lack of a cap or some kind of revenue sharing arrangement has made the MLB essentially a two team league in terms of media attention even though neither are the best team (Yanks and Sox).
Crime and general bad behavior, combined with a few other factors that can’t be blamed on the running of the league like the biggest name stars failing to become dominant championship winning players (Wade excepted), have led to an alienation of much of the fan base and hurt the image of the NBA. That said, I think Stern has done a great job and they are fairly quickly even cleaning this aspect up. And there are some great young stars in the league, so unlike baseball, I think the NBA will be fine.
But the NFL has been on a constant incline. It is more popular than ever and consistently puts a great product on the field. The labor agreement, the parity, the power of the team over the individual, it’s all great.
But like everything going well, it can go bad quickly. The Vick debacle puts the league at risk. Everyone from young and old fans, to animal rights groups, to politicians, to business owners and advertisers will be watching this situation very carefully. So how the NFL deals with this is critical. I really don’t think it can be overstated.
That is why I believe that the NFL can not take a wait and see approach. Don’t talk to me about “innocent until proven guilty.” Those are your rights against the government, not your employer. That is a standard designed to get at the truth by forcing the government to play fair. It is not even really about guilt and innocence. For example, no one is proved “innocent” in a criminal trial, just “not guilty.” There’s a difference. But all of that is when your freedom from prison is on the line. Your employer doesn’t need to wait to see if a prosecutor can prove what he needs to for a jury. Your employer can (and should) fire you for things that are not even criminal. So, the idea that the NFL should wait to see if a jury decides the charges have been proved is nonsense. The NFL should be the jury for Vick’s career. They should do what they need to do to become convinced of his guilt or innocence and act accordingly.
Here is what they should do. They should do their own investigation. They should contact the law enforcement people involved and the Federal prosecutors involved. They should hire their own investigators and they should do what any large company would do when one of their employees is accused of something that could hurt the company and find out the answers for themselves.
Then, if they find that Vick is involved in anything like the way that he is accused of, he should be banned for life. They don’t need to wait to see if he’s going to jail, they should just fire him and take whatever steps they can to get back the money the Falcons have paid him. Short of the murders and rapes that have occurred, I can not think of any worse conduct ever committed by an athlete. Worse than gambling, drugs or any of the others. I’m not a PETA supporter. I’m not a vegetarian. I believe animals are not of equal value to humans. But I’m also sickened by anyone treating animals cruelly, especially for no greater purpose than their own enjoyment. If he did what the indictment says, he should be banned from having anything to do with NFL for the rest of his life….oh and should go to prison for a long time.
But it shouldn’t end there. I am afraid that Vick might be the tip of the iceberg. Granted a very famous tip, but still just the starting point. I’m afraid there is a large underground culture where this kind of behavior is acceptable and thriving. Whether that is true or not, the NFL and all the other sports leagues need to investigate themselves thoroughly before it becomes the next steroids issue for sports.
I hope in my heart that Vick has been wrongly accused. But if I ran the NFL, I wouldn’t wait for a trial to find that out. And if I found out Vick was some kind of dog fighting kingpin, I would act as swiftly and harshly as I possibly could.
Time to step up NFL. We’re all watching.
Comments