Fan Hypocrites
Hahaha, I can’t believe it. As of this writing there are almost 30k signatures on a petition to stop Michael Vick from signing with the Steelers. Are you kidding me? These same fans that openly champion a man twice accused of sexual assault (Big Ben) and a man who got arrested for domestic assault (James Harrison). Fans of a sport that has a whole slew of terrible people or people who do terrible things in it are drawing a HARD MORAL LINE at Mike Vick, a backup QB close to 6 years removed from his debt to society being paid off. Okay then.
These people are just a bunch of slacktivists taking an easy stance for easy moral validation. LOOK AT ME, I DO NOT LIKE MICHAEL VICK, TELL ME HOW GOOD A PERSON I AM. Do these fans actually believe that signing this thing is actually going to kick Vick off the team or change anything? The Steelers didn’t come out and say that if they got a certain number they’d reconsider, they have no reason to care. This isn’t a genuine threat to profits because very few of these people actually care enough to do more than sign a thing. Signing this petition is more or less the equivalent of hitting the like button on a facebook page. The real moral people who genuinely care actually went out and protested: all 5 of them. It’s so easy to say you hate Michael Vick, because Michael Vick did a really bad thing once. These people aren’t actually that morally invested, they just want to feel like they are good people, so they picked an easy target without actually stopping to think about the wider picture.
As a dog lover and an animal person, what Michael Vick did was appalling and abhorrent, and not something that will be forgotten or should be forgotten. But remembering the sin doesn’t inherently mean forsaking the sinner. Vick served his time, and from everything I have seen since he got out of jail, he’s genuinely, sincerely reformed. He sees what he did was wrong, has done everything he can to atone, and shows the stripes of a truly changed man. He’s also matured closer to football, too: The man who once gave fans two middle fingers outright said he should be benched in 2013 because Foles was a better quarterback who would help the team win more. If that’s not a sign of maturity and humility, I don’t know what is.
To me, all people deserve second chances if they repent and do what they can to rectify the damage they caused. Michael Vick has served his punishment, understood what he did was wrong and why it was wrong, and done what he is able to do in order to make things right. He’s earned his second chance. The only people who still hold him in contempt are “NEVER FURGEEET!!!1!111!” morons who don’t understand that humans can grow and change, idiot internet armchair activists who want to feel like they’re doing something without actually doing anything, and self-righteous pimps of morality who use any past wrongdoings of those in a better spot than them to make themselves feel better.(“Yeah, Vick’s an amazing athlete and a millionaire, but at least I didn’t murder dogs.”)
This is beautiful, you’re beautiful, Dave’s beautiful. The world is an okay place.
Vick did some awful, grievous and truly horrifying things, but he paid the price for them and came out of them a better man with genuine remorse and shame for his past actions. He’s one of those rare instances where you can see the American Justice System working as intended. A vicious and flawed man was shown the error of his ways and changed to not just seek forgiveness, but to earn it day in and day out. I’ve never been a fan of any of his teams, but I’m a fan of Michael Vick and if I lived in some crazy ass world where I knew the dude, I’d let him watch my two dogs.
This is the only time I have approved of Sexy Rexy. Loving him is akin to loving suspected rapists and dirty players like Harrison who take their dirt home.
More seriously, Vick did a pretty awful thing. But here’s the dirty secret on humanity: most of us– if not all of us– have.
We’ve lied to loved ones. We’ve broken confidences of friendships. How many tens of thousands of people have wished death or encouraged the suicide of someone online who has pissed them off (including massive numbers of NFL fans).
What Vick did was abhorrent– I’m not giving his actions a pass at all. He deserved prison time, he deserved the suspension. But he also deserves a chance to demonstrate his rehabilitation, and he has done that and more. I’m grateful for the second chances I’ve received in my life, and I’m well and fully aware that I’m so far from perfect that I’m not going to judge Vick for his failures– but I feel well prepared to judge him for his apparent repentance and renewal, and to congratulate him along the way.
Is he a game-changing player now? No. But is he a success story that we should be focusing on more as fans– and people– than on the negative? Sure. The idea that people can change, that they can improve as *PEOPLE*, and the reality that the NFL’s policies and personnel gave Vick the tools and opportunity to make that change deserves recognition and should be the kind of role-modeling that is pushed FAR more than “OH, hey, this guy beat a gal.”
I’m not saying hide the negative: I’m saying promote the positive. The negative DOES need dealt with, but it’s better to ALSO dwell strongly upon the GOOD things that the NFL can do. And for all the crap Goodell (very deservedly) receives, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that he DID give Vick the chance– and motivation– to change himself.
Yeah, I’m not condoning what Vick did to wind up in prison, but he actually *did time* which is more than I can say for a lot of people.
People like to forget that Marshawn Lynch was involved it a pair of pedestrian hit and runs before he moved to Seattle. Ray Lewis was implicated in a murder and was easily forgiven. I knew fans who were all too willing to forgive Ray Rice before the second videa was released. Greg Hardy is now with the Cowboys. Adrian Peterson beat his child to a level that is unconscionable, but damn if he racks up the fantasy points, so he’s back. IK, in pretty much any other field, would have been brought up on criminal charges for breaking a man’s jaw, but 36 hours later he had work.
But I’m somehow supposed to hate the guy who was punished and actually seemed to learn his leson?
I’ve taken to using this as who is a real Steelers fan and who isn’t. (Read: I’m a Steelers fan)
Steelers fans tend to look past a lot of the bullshit their players have done in the past. So this whole situation is immensely shocking to me. We’ve tolerated shit heads with very serious anger issues (Porter), wife abusers (Harrison), former drug dealers (Bettis, believe it or not), and among other things, dudes who can’t help it but get shit faced at HOUSE PARTIES because they can’t let go of their college days, and try to stick their dicks where it ain’t welcome (Big Ben).
So this whole shitfest over Vick is very, very surprising considering the fan culture with our team. Personally, the man has done his time. He’s keeping his head above water, why the hell not give him a chance at another paycheck?
All that aside, thank you for covering this, Dave.
why couldn’t he have a curtain made of steel
Most of the opinions here on this matter are simple. He did the crime AND served the time. He has seemingly learned from his mistakes. That’s more than a lot of goofs who make millions a year playing a game do. So if there is a petition to sign to get him kicked off the team, is there a petition to sign to throw out the petition?
Anyone who protests Vick is a hypocrite. Period. You protest him, you need to protest the justice system. Vick did all the right things for his actions. Our justice system says if you do your time your to be treated as such.
Not only did he do his time, he got a judge’s ok to buy dogs for his children, and he’s dedicated his off time towards animal related causes. I’m guessing that no one is protesting when he’s doing charity work.
If I was a Steelers fan I would protest the Vick signing too. Not because of the dogs, but because this is a guy who last year admitted to not having prepared adequately while he was backing up Geno Smith and consequently played like absolute rubbish when he got the call. That’s not what you want to see from your backup quarterback. I don’t care how talented he once was, he’s not that guy anymore and to make matters worse, he isn’t cut out for being a back up.
The reason why people are so angry about this is because Vick hurt a dog, and people care more about dogs than each other. This came from Brick Meathook on Door Flies Open (the new KSK)
But if he fucked with cats, no one would give a shit. I’m a cat person BTW.
Seriously. It’s almost like Vick would have garnered less hate had he been running toddler death matches as opposed to a dog fighting ring.
Shhh don’t tell anyone about my orphan death rings? it is raking in the money.
Michael Vick committed an unforgivable crime… signing with the Eagles.
If Vick’s crimes had been committed against people he would have gotten the chair. He didn’t just fight dogs, he brutally executed the losers. Nothing Roethlisberger or Harrison did comes remotely close. Goodell never should have let him back in the league and it pisses me off when people defend this piece of shit.
But he didn’t commit crimes against people. He committed crimes against Dogs. I love dogs as much as anyone but not even I can pretend the two can be directly compared. That’s why Aaron Hernandez is in prison forever and Vick is not.
I don’t like Vick. I’m not really defending Vick. I think what he did was despicable and I’ll never like him because of it. What I’m doing is attacking the people who draw a line at Vick but champion and ignore all the other shitheads the NFL has lying around. Players that suffer almost no repercussions at all. At least Vick actually got genuinely punished.
Vick paid his dues for his crimes. He’s been nothing but a model citizen since release, shows remorse and understanding of his actions, and seems to be an example of the justice system working as intended to reform. You don’t have to forgive him. You don’t have to like him. But you can’t deny he’s changed, and he’s a human being who is more than just his terrible actions as a hotheaded asshole youth. I don’t like that he was instantly reinstated and picked up after his release, but that was 6 years ago, and it’s too late to bothered by it now, especially since he does seem to have improved as a person.
It’s nice to know that you don’t believe people can change. Vick will have to live under the black cloud of his deeds for the rest of his life, deservedly so. But that doesn’t mean we should automatically prevent them from having the chance at fixing some of those wrongs.
Most serial killers got their start abusing animals. Vick got two years for torturing. He would break the spines of the dogs and electorcute them. 2 years is nothing for that amount of cruelty. I also have my doubts about if he changed or not.
Okay, and plenty of other people who abuse animals DON’T turn into serial killers. Correlation =/= causation. A lot of kids are mean to animals without comprehension about why it’s bad. Just because Vick tortured dogs doesn’t mean he would have turned into a serial killer, jesus christ what is wrong with you.
Vick did something you find personally abhorrent and are unable to look past or give him any benefit of the doubt. You think his sentence was too short (I agree with you there, 2 years feels too short) and you think he never should have been let back in the NFL (Something I agreed with at the time of his release, but have since softened on) You don’t trust anything he does right and still think he’s an evil person who hasn’t changed (Something the current evidence doesn’t really support). That’s fine, nothing wrong with that viewpoint. That’s your opinion and you have a right to have it.
So what are you doing about it? Are you trying to contact the Steelers organization or the NFL to protest his inclusion? Are you trying to expose him for still being the shithead you believe him to be? Are you taking an active stance for what you believe in, or are you just sitting at your computer typing angry comments at people who disagree with your personally held beliefs and making unfair comparisons?
I would jeer him if he came up to Green Bay. I do not believe in lynch mobs but by God you can not compare what Harrison did to what Vick did. I also normally call QB Dog Killer like Walter Football (Who also hates his guts.)
But you have no problem comparing him to serial killers and heavily suggesting he would have become one. That’s just as unfair as any comparison I’ve made.
This comic isn’t about the direct comparison, explicitly. That’s why it’s more than just Harrison represented. It’s Ben (Sexual Assault & Rape) and Franco Harris (Joe Paterno nutjob) as well. It’s about how fans who have spent a lifetime celebrating bad people have suddenly decided to draw the line at an easy target, a target that has already suffered his due punishments under the law and has apparently reformed, while most of the bad people they support haven’t faced any real repercussions at all. They are fine with ignoring lots of bad people, BUT NOT THIS BAD GUY (who by all visible accounts has learned his lesson). The crimes may not be on a 1-to1 comparison scale, but it’s still hypocritical and it’s still hilarious slacktivisim by most of them.
I genuinely wonder how many angry Steeler fans there would be if Vick was still good. If he was at his high level that he was that year in Philly and the Steelers didn’t have Roethlisberger in front. I wonder how many of these angry “morally outraged” fans would still be so eager to be rid of him.
I also have my doubts about if he changed or not.
well good thing the court of public opinion means a whole lot in criminal sentencing
doubts are not just cause for persecuting someone fyi
I decided to do a little experiment. I asked a few people what they thought of Vick. Then I asked them about a few players that have done some awful things (big Ben, hardy, ray Lewis, etc.) People hated Vick with a passion, even though he’s a reformed man. They don’t believe he deserves a second chance. Then with the second group of players, they didn’t mind some of the crimes or thought they deserved a second chance. I’ll just sip my tea.
His first pass as a Steeler was a 63-yard bomb.
“Errr, petition? What petition?” — Every Steelers Fan
If they can’t forgive and forget someone who redeemed themselves years ago, then it’s a problem with them, not Vick. I find what Vick did extremely unethical but didn’t he stop getting into trouble? I cringe every time I see it brought up; people act like it’s something recent.
as a [sadly former] pittsburgh resident, i can say the steelers were going to hell long before vick got there
Also, this is the team that brought the wonders of MASS STEROID USAGE into the league.
I figure they just wanted to round out their vices. They had enough rapists and human abusers, might as well diversify their portfolio.
All this talk about how “Vick served his time” is utter BS. He did not serve his time. Not even remotely close. Vick served about 18 months for some interstate gambling charges. That’s it. That’s all the feds had jurisdiction for. Vick was also guilty (by his own signed confession) of numerous counts of extreme animal cruelty. The feds served that evidence up to the county prosecutor (whose jurisdiction it fell under) on a silver platter and he failed to prosecute Vick for it. If that corrupt POS county prosecuter had actually done his job, Vick would be rotting in jail for a few decades like he deserves to be. So just drop the “he served his time” talk. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
Furthermore, I can’t believe anyone who stands up for Vick actually has any real understanding of what he actually did. He went far beyond simply abusing dogs. What he did was extremely sick and depraved. The justice system failed miserably in his case.
Sure Vick did something unspeakably immoral, But as long as this was settled years ago what’s the use of even bringing it up? If he isn’t doing that time leave it at that. What off-the-field issues has he even had since His (house) arrest?
“What he did was completely sick and depraved.” Oh and wishing someone you don’t know the worst in such a despicable manner ISN’T? I can understand you abhorring what he did but you going out of your way to say something so vile isn’t as warranted as you think. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Hoping someone doesn’t get a job isn’t the same as torturing dogs to death. I don’t really care if the Steelers sign Vick as a fan, but it’s not comparable. Especially if BRH is right about him NOT serving his time (I never read up on his case, because I didn’t care about him or the Falcons or the Eagles or any other team he played for).
Also, comparing him to Ben is bull too. He was acquitted, Mike confessed.
My friend told me his mom (who’s a Steelers fan) turned off the television whenever she saw Vick come out on offense. They’re big dog lovers…
so why is ben immediately innocent once hes acquitted