Daily Zoot - 8/12/09 - Not so Welcome Back

The Daily Zoot is all the news you needed to know yesterday, soon

-Wether you like it or not, it appears as though Michael Vick will find a new home in the NFL, and maybe by the end of this week. Its been two years since the whole Vick saga began to play out, and he has since spent 22 months in prison, and a full 2 seasons away from the game. Thats a long time for any player, and an eternity for a quarterback. There are two schools of thought on the future of Mike Vick, and you can't enroll in both: 

I believe Mike Vick is a reprehensible human being, who has no capacity to change his ways, and should not be allowed back into the NFL. The crime he committed is far worse than the dui's and gambling charges that are often overlooked by the league. I will picket any game Vick plays in, and my respect for the league will take a serious hit if they even consider re-instating this monster.

or

I have faith in the justice system, and I believe that if Mike Vick did the time that a jury of his peers deemed appropriate then he is adequately rehabilitated. Once he has served his time, it is not fair to deny a person the right to make a living. What he did was wrong, I am not denying that, but I think it would also be wrong to keep him out of the league, and how does that little bit about two wrongs go again?

I (back to the narrator voice) lie where I think most people do, somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. But I also tend to sway towards the latter perspective. Mike Vick did something awful, but I also believe in a person's ability to change their ways and also that everyone deserves a second chance. He has made a mistake, and I believe that he has payed for it with the jail time, and the scarlet D that he will wear on his chest for the rest of his life. Vick is one of the more exciting athletes to ever put on the pads, and there is no doubt that has played somewhat in the Roger Goodell's decision to let him play. I might not be rooting specifically for him when he comes back (and I chose the word when, as opposed to if, very carefully) but I certainly won't be rooting against him either.