Vick Doesn't Deserve Second Chance in NFL

The big news in sports yesterday was the release of Michael Vick after serving 23-months for running an illegal dogfighting ring in Virginia. The former Pro Bowl quarterback with the Falcons now wants a reinstatement meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. In preparation for a possible return to the NFL this fall, Vick has hired Tom Shaw as his personal trainer. Shaw has worked with several NFL stars, including Tom Brady. Vick and his supporters believe that he has served his sentence and that the NFL should welcome him back with open arms. I hope that Goodell and the league make it harder than that for Vick to get under center on Sundays. Michael Vick does not have the right to play in the NFL and any assertions by him or his supporters that he does is proof that this tragedy has not taught Vick the lesson that star athletes and millionaires can do anything they want and expect to get what they want. Vick knowingly broke the law for five years by financially backing and personally attending the dogfighting on his property in Virginia. This was not a case in which Vick made a mistake in the heat of the moment, he knew he was involved in illegal actions but continued doing so anyways. While he was awaiting sentencing, Vick failed a drug test. This is another example of Vick showing contempt for the law. By smoking marijuana when he knew he would face a drug test, Vick was showing that as a star, he feels like he does not have to follow the same laws of "regular" people. Let's say for a minute that Michael Vick was not a professional football player worth millions of dollars. For fun, imagine he was a high school teacher who coached the football team. If Coach Vick, United States History teacher at Warwick High School (his alma mater), was found to be funding and promoting an illegal dogfighting ring and then tested positive for marijuana while awaiting sentencing, he would NOT be returning to Warwick High School this fall to teach and coach. However, because he is a star athlete used to getting his way, Vick expects to be allowed back in the NFL like nothing has happened. He believes the millions of dollars he was used to making before he broke the law is something that is owed to him. By demanding to be allowed back in the NFL, Vick is showing that he still believes that the law does not apply to him like it does to everyone else. If Vick is serious about playing in the NFL again, he should continue working as a children's health and fitness programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula while doing volunteer work at an animal shelter. He could play in the new United Football League while working out in a hope to return to the NFL in 2010. If I was Roger Goodell, this would be the only way that I would even begin to think about allowing Vick back into the NFL. He needs to earn the opportunity to play in the NFL, it should not be a privledge extended to him simply because he is a great athlete. Vick needs to be taught that he needs to prove he can behave, work a regular job, and show some actual remorse for his crime. Until he does that, there should be no place for him in the NFL.