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Am I the Only One? By TimRuddy@footballdialogue.com Am I the only one who sees the parallels between what the NFL does and the charge Michael Vick is plea bargaining? Both simply use animals for profit until they're no longer needed then discard them. The only thing separating them is the fact that what Vick did is explicitly against the law. No wonder the NFL is acting so quickly to distance itself from its fallen favorite son. Let's look at the facts Vick is accused of running, or at least funding, an illegal dog fighting ring. Basically that means the group(he and his rat fink friends) trained and arranged for fights between dogs, making money from people wanting to see the violence of one on one combat of the animals, which I'm sure involved fighting to the death. The NFL pays for training and sets up one on one combat among its trainees (football games), leaving many of its players crippled and paralyzed. Vick's group is accused of torturing and executing animals that could not "make the grade" so to speak. In other words, dispose of non-performing animals. The NFL uses players in much the same way. Look at the story of Daryl Johnston, who claims that once he got hurt, he was not wanted around anymore, and was refused disability even though he had broken his neck. Obviously, players can be sent to the streets to wither and die (a la Mike Webster), but what else can you do with fighting dogs? Can you really give them to the humane society? Or is there a retirement home somewhere? I think Vick's main problem was that he chose the wrong animals to bring into the fight game. He should know that it's okay to kill animals as long as they're not the cute ones. Has anyone been imprisoned for killing a mosquito, rat, or chicken lately? Heck, we even let people kill bambi, if it's with a gun, and in season. Now there's an animal with a real fighting chance, huh? One could argue that you can even kill humans, as long as you get them before they're born, and their mother agrees. Basically, lawmakers and others associate these dogs with their pets, and no one wants to see their pet treated this way. These dogs were not raised as pets, just as alligators at an alligator farm, or mink at a fur farm are not raised to be pets. They are raised to bring the owner profits by being killed in a usable fashion. In conclusion, I am not saying that Vick should get off scott free. I believe that he should be sentenced in accordance with punishments given to others accused of the same charges. I'm just saying that he lives in, and profits from a world where violence is rewarded. Is it such a surprise that he would engage in an enterprise that sponsors violence. He has been in the NFL long enough to know how the game works. Use the combatants while they're at the top of their game, then discard them any way you can. NFL beware: It's a dog eat dog world. |
