Vick Merchandise Shut Down Premature?
All this, obviously, is because of the beleaguered quarterback's alleged involvement in the seedy world of dogfighting. I'm sure more than just a few of you, however, are wondering if maybe the horse isn't getting a little ahead of the cart at this point.
For those of you Vick supporters (whose ranks seem to be growing thinner every day) wondering if maybe these moves are a bit premature --after all, the guy hasn't even had his day in court yet-- you have to understand that this is no longer about whether he is guilty or not. Vick is being dropped as often as a slippery bar of soap right now because he is poison for advertisers.
You can still buy a Pacman Jones jersey. Or a Chris Henry.
The difference? Neither Jones nor Henry harmed any fuzzy little creatures during their escapades on the wrong side of the law. Which brings into focus our priorities as a society.
What Vick has been accused of doing is reprehensible, but Jones has been charged in connection with a melee at a Las Vegas strip club that resulted in a man being permanently paralyzed. Shouldn't we be as quick to form picket lines in front of his place of employment as we are Vick's?
Unfortunately, it seems we as a society are more willing to get involved when violence is perpetuated against animals than against other human beings.
Photo: Mike Zarrilli / Getty Images
Comments
From all I have read recently, Pacman Jones has been suspended without pay for a year from the NFL, and he may yet face criminal charges. That will happen without any active public outcry. I doubt that Vick would face consequences from the football world or the companies that pay him to endorse products–even if he is convicted in a court of law–if it were not made very clear from day one that there are more pet owners than football fans in this country. I am not talking about PETA members. I am refering to ordinary people who are outraged and determined that their outrage will be heard. I am one of them. I don’t think my priorities are at all misplaced.
Roberta, you said it all. No need for me to add to it.
What Vick did was reprehensible…he wasn’t defending himself, he was killing innocent animals and worse, training them to kill. This is a black culture issue, one that needs to be addressed within the black community and elsewhere. Vick should go to jail, and the falcons should be ashamed for allowing this to happen in the first place.
Lame commentary. Who stands up for defenceless animals when they are getting tortured and killed for “sport” or “entertainment”? Pacman, his friends, the bouncer all made choices to be where they were – none of the dogs chose to fight and be abused. Society is involved in the Pacman case – the Las vegas police arrested him, the ambulance showed up to help the bouncer, the DA is charging him, etc. Dogfighting always comes with gambling and almost always with drugs, gangs and people who are also violent towards other people as well as animals. There is a direct connection between animal cruelty and human violence – just ask any serial killer.