July 28, 200917 yr I'll never understand this logic: He served significant time so he deserves LESS of a punishment from the league. There's a reason he served significant time.
July 28, 200917 yr Suffered? He committed a crime and served his punishment, and he probably had it pretty good in there. And it's not like he's completely broke, remember the 24/7 coverage of Vick coming home when he went on house arrest? That house looked quite nice, and if I remember correctly he didn't pull up in a 91 Cutlass Ciera that had no muffler, he pulled up in a Range Rover. So he still has some money left, he served his time, that doesn't mean he suffered. You can't expect for Goodell-who I don't like and thinks he has too much authority-to let Mike play and have all the priviliges that every other NFL player does the minute he got out. Give him the suspension, see how he does, if he really has walked the straight and narrow then fine let him back in, but if he continues to be a problem and runs around with the same crowd, then we'll see. As I said, I personally wouldn't haven't suspended him, but if you look at how Goodell has handled players misconduct in the past, you can't give him [Vick] a pass because he served time, the bottom line is he broke the law served time for it and when he goes back to his job, he's going to face repurcussions. It happens at many other jobs, heck some fire you and it's hard to find a place that will hire you. Any one who is in prison suffers, whether they deserve to be in there or not. Sure, no doubt he didn't have it as bad as many others, but he was still in prison. And he got more jail time than people who had committed worse crimes. I'm not saying what he did wasn't wrong, but where is the justice when Vick gets 2 years and many others get little to nothing. As far as money I'm sure Vick still has some, but no where near as much as he did or was going to earn. Losing those endorsements hurts too, and he won't be getting many offers from companies anytime soon I don't think. Why would he face repercussions at work? Many jobs do not allow convicted felons to work, so if he had a job like that he would be out of a job. If a company didn't have to fire you and they really wanted you to continue working there, I don't think you would get an additional suspension. You may have more rules or regulations, but why would they suspend you after 2 years in prison rather than fire and replace you? I don't buy that argument that people are throwing around. Find me a similar case. The NFL, as far as I know, has no rules against being a felon. So that should play no part in the Vick case, IMO. PacMan was a repeat offender and was warned to change his life style, so Goodell had the right to suspend him. Two years of his prime are gone, why cripple him by taking nearly half of another. The United States says that while he is a felon, he is a free man. If a team wants to hire (give a contract to) Vick, Goodell shouldn't stand in Vick's or that teams way. Mike Vick can be a great story, so I say let him try.
July 28, 200917 yr Couple of points... Those that say he served a 32 game suspension, if Goodell had never officially suspended him would you feel the same way? In other words if any team was free to sign Vick over the past 2 years would you still have a problem with the 6 game suspension? To those that think the league should not further punish Vick...if you kid gets in a fight at school and gets suspended for a week do you think he/she shouldn't be further punished at home? Or is the school suspension enough? Personally I don't give a crap one way or the other. If the league wants to allow him back with a 6 game suspension the great, if they want to ban him for life then great too. Goodell and the league has to think about how the sponsors of the NFL will react as well as the players union.
July 28, 200917 yr I'll never understand this logic: He served significant time so he deserves LESS of a punishment from the league. There's a reason he served significant time. He served his debt so society, what more do you want? Who is Roger Goodell to make up rules as he goes? Which is what he does and did in this case.
July 28, 200917 yr Couple of points... Those that say he served a 32 game suspension, if Goodell had never officially suspended him would you feel the same way? In other words if any team was free to sign Vick over the past 2 years would you still have a problem with the 6 game suspension? To those that think the league should not further punish Vick...if you kid gets in a fight at school and gets suspended for a week do you think he/she shouldn't be further punished at home? Or is the school suspension enough? Personally I don't give a crap one way or the other. If the league wants to allow him back with a 6 game suspension the great, if they want to ban him for life then great too. Goodell and the league has to think about how the sponsors of the NFL will react as well as the players union. Most parents have strict rules that their children know by heart. As I child I knew if I got in trouble at school I would be in trouble when I got home. With Goodell you never know what you are going to get. Maybe the league should put in some standard rules for players breaking the law. You serve 30 days in jail you get 3 games suspended, etc. Mike Vick has done everything asked of him since he was put in prison. I would rather see a harsher punishment for future violations for Vick. If he is a problem down the road maybe he should get double the normal punishment or just kicked out of the league.
July 28, 200917 yr He served his debt so society, what more do you want? Who is Roger Goodell to make up rules as he goes? Which is what he does and did in this case. With your, "...what more do you want?" question I'll assume that you also don't think it's right for a company to ask if you've ever been convicted of a felony on their application...correct? Again, he's lucky Goodell will allow him to be signed by anyone in the NFL. At a lot of places he wouldn't get the chance.
July 28, 200917 yr Author Couple of points... Those that say he served a 32 game suspension, if Goodell had never officially suspended him would you feel the same way? In other words if any team was free to sign Vick over the past 2 years would you still have a problem with the 6 game suspension? Teams were free to sign Vick. The moment Atlanta cut him, teams were free to sign him. No one did. The man spent 23 months in prison. We should not diminish that. Also, he wasn't under a 32 game suspension because he was in prison; he was under indefinite suspension because Roger Goodell said he was. He had to apply for reinstatement because he was already suspended. To those that think the league should not further punish Vick...if you kid gets in a fight at school and gets suspended for a week do you think he/she shouldn't be further punished at home? Or is the school suspension enough? If my kid went to prison for the fight, then yes I would say that he was punished enough and not add on to the punishment. I just don't understand what the point of the suspension is-is it supposed to be a greater detehrent than prison to an athlete, is this a greater punishment than prison; what is Roger Goodell hoping to get from this that hasn't already been done? Vick messed up, lost millions, lost his job, still owes millions...this seems petty to me on the part of Goodell and the NFL.
July 28, 200917 yr Again he has already served a 32 game suspension. Anything else at this point is cosmetic. That is my whole argument. Goodell suspended him from the NFL in 2007. Enough is enough. On top of that, the commish claims that the latest suspension is not punishment but rather an attempt to help him.
July 28, 200917 yr With your, "...what more do you want?" question I'll assume that you also don't think it's right for a company to ask if you've ever been convicted of a felony on their application...correct? Again, he's lucky Goodell will allow him to be signed by anyone in the NFL. At a lot of places he wouldn't get the chance. Absolutely not. I think that you should have to tell any employer if you have a felony. My argument is that it isn't against NFL rules to be a felon. He was out of football for two years by his prison sentence. Do you think that Donte Stallworth will have to sit out a total of 2 1/2 years? No way.
July 28, 200917 yr Teams were free to sign Vick. The moment Atlanta cut him, teams were free to sign him. No one did. The man spent 23 months in prison. We should not diminish that. Also, he wasn't under a 32 game suspension because he was in prison; he was under indefinite suspension because Roger Goodell said he was. He had to apply for reinstatement because he was already suspended. If my kid went to prison for the fight, then yes I would say that he was punished enough and not add on to the punishment. I just don't understand what the point of the suspension is-is it supposed to be a greater detehrent than prison to an athlete, is this a greater punishment than prison; what is Roger Goodell hoping to get from this that hasn't already been done? Vick messed up, lost millions, lost his job, still owes millions...this seems petty to me on the part of Goodell and the NFL. You didn't really get the point. Forget that teams could sign him. Say Goodell didn't suspend him when he went to prison. Would you still feel the say way about the current suspension?
July 28, 200917 yr Author You didn't really get the point. Forget that teams could sign him. Say Goodell didn't suspend him when he went to prison. Would you still feel the say way about the current suspension? What is your point, then? He was suspended and he was free to sign with teams. No, I don't get your point. :confused:
July 28, 200917 yr What is your point, then? He was suspended and he was free to sign with teams. No, I don't get your point. :confused: Vick missed 32 games because he was in prison not because he wAs suspended. If he had not been suspended then he still would have missed those games. He has served no punishment from league and to blame Goodell for any of this is silly.
July 28, 200917 yr Author Vick missed 32 games because he was in prison not because he wAs suspended. If he had not been suspended then he still would have missed those games. He has served no punishment from league and to blame Goodell for any of this is silly. If the NFL did not believe they were punishing Vick, why put the indefinite suspension in place? Why is there this need for the league to punish him after the fact? So prison time issued by the US Government isn't enough, losing millions of dollars and owing millions to creditors isn't enough, having his name dragged through the mud isn't enough. When is it "enough", I guess? Vick put himself in this situation, but to understate the punishment that prison time repressents...I dont get it and I feel it is petty for the NFL to pile on.
July 28, 200917 yr Absolutely not. I think that you should have to tell any employer if you have a felony. My argument is that it isn't against NFL rules to be a felon. He was out of football for two years by his prison sentence. Do you think that Donte Stallworth will have to sit out a total of 2 1/2 years? No way. It's still not against the NFL rules to be a felon. If it was he wouldn't be allowed back in the league at all. And, if Stallworth is in prison for 2 1/4 years then yes, I believe he'll miss 2 1/2 years. You guys are acting like Goodell put him in prison. He wasn't suspended.
July 28, 200917 yr If the NFL did not believe they were punishing Vick, why put the indefinite suspension in place? Why is there this need for the league to punish him after the fact? So prison time issued by the US Government isn't enough, losing millions of dollars and owing millions to creditors isn't enough, having his name dragged through the mud isn't enough. When is it "enough", I guess? Vick put himself in this situation, but to understate the punishment that prison time repressents...I dont get it and I feel it is petty for the NFL to pile on. Um, how about not committing the felony? The indefinite suspension was to see how it would all play out. You guys would really be in an uproar if the NFL did nothing and then all of the sudden decided to suspend him when he was released from the joint. They did the right thing. And, according to the NFL, enough will be in week 5. And he lost millions of dollars because he's an idiot.
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