The organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals took a vocal role during the scandal that resulted in Michael Vick pleading guilty to felony dogfighting conspiracy in 2007 and subsequently spend 18 months in federal prison. And after Fox Sports hired Vick to serve as an NFL analyst for the upcoming season, animal activists are ready to condemn Vick anew.
A group known as "Rally for Animals" posted a petition on Change.org demanding that Fox Sports fire Vick. From the petition:
While we believe in second chances and that convicted felons should be able to acquire gainful employment, we do not believe that Michael Vick is repentant and as such, he should not hold a position of influence. He has never inquired as to how his fighting dogs fared after leaving his property nor did he offer any type of financial assistance to aid in their care outside his court-mandated fine. In fact, he served an abbreviated sentence for racketeering, not animal cruelty.
The group also added that some kind of "evil" is "woven" into the fabric of Vick's character and that "whatever it is within Michael Vick that made him capable of performing violent acts against innocent animals for entertainment and profit is not something that goes away."
Speaking at Fox's media day, Fox Sports president Eric Shanks told USA Today Sports that the network "absolutely and completely" understands the position of the group but is still OK moving forward with Vick as part of the team.
"We absolutely and completely understand," Shanks said. "It's not a different reaction than what we had prepared ourselves for internally at Fox Sports. We discuss it. We talk about what happened then. What type of person is Mike is now? What debt has he paid to society? We still believe it's the right thing to do."
And Shanks and the crew at Fox knew this could be a possibility.
"Clearly, we knew that there was potential to be a reaction," Shanks said. "We spent a lot of time with Mike. We looked at his experience playing in the league after he paid his debt to society.
"We looked at his interaction and support he's gotten from people like Andy Reid at the Chiefs and (former NFL coach) Tony Dungy. Over the last 10 or 11 years, not only has he paid his debt to society, but he's done everything a person who has made a terrible mistake like that can do. We felt it was the right person at the right time for us."
That's the thing: Vick went to jail and lost millions and millions of dollars. He has since earned himself more money by virtue of receiving a second chance at football and becoming the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2010. Now he's earning himself more money by working for Fox.
He spent time in prison. He paid his debt. The stuff he did was awful and completely horrific. But at some point everyone deserves some forgiveness.
