General

The Michael Vick Circus Comes to Philadelphia

Aug 14, 2009, 1:00 PM UTC

As a young boy on my way into Veterans Stadium every summer, I have distinct memories of walking past the corner of Darrien Street and Pattison Avenue in South Philadelphia and catching a waft of hot summer air that filled the streets with a combination of sweat, cheesesteak grease and elephant dung. It’s good to see the Philadelphia Eagles, whose enormous shrine to cold, hard, uncaring steel of a stadium sits on that same street corner, has kept up the tradition all these years.â†µâ†µYes, it’s late summer in Philadelphia, which means the circus is in town.â†µ

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â†µâ†µIt was eerily quiet for the Eagles this offseason. There were no driveway sit-ups and “next questions,” nor were there any agents going public on who should start in the secondary. And while there was some news on Andy Reid’s family front this offseason, it was far less of a distraction than events that took place two years ago, leading to a leave of absence for Reid. â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s odd that the offseason for the Eagles was relatively tame. Sure there was the recent arrest of a starter for marijuana possession, but that was a one-day story at most around town. It was really quiet around the Eagles this year. Obviously, a little too quiet. â†µ

â†µâ†µThat’s why today’s press conference at 11 a.m. ET at the Novacare Complex is going to be Philadelphia’s version of the Michael Jackson funeral – there will be police escorts and frenzied media and people holding signs and animals lining the street. Yes, the circus comes to town today. I hope they have funnel cake. â†µ

â†µâ†µThere’s already debate as to whether or not Vick’s signing makes sense to the Philadelphia Eagles football team, but there is little debate that the signing will have a polarizing effect on the Philadelphia region. This is a passionate city, and everyone has an opinion. Could the win-at-all-costs Eagles fans, drowning for a Super Bowl victory, look past their actual feelings on the matter? Or has Vick truly rehabilitated himself and deserves a second chance? â†µ

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â†µDonovan McNabb, speaking to the media after Thursday night's preseason game, seemed to agree with both sentiments: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“For all who are dog lovers, and I have dogs myself, I’ve looked past it and I think everybody else should as well. There are a lot of people who have done worse, and were able to move on with their lives. Let’s give him that opportunity.”â†µâ†µâ†µThere are a lot of people who have done worse. No word on if the Eagles have reached out to Charles Manson to fill in at middle linebacker. While McNabb does have a point, and everyone – well maybe not everyone, Mr. Manson – deserves a second chance, there are many in this region who don’t want that second chance to be here. Michael Vick’s dogfighting ring? Not in my back yard.â†µ

â†µâ†µFor my show today, I spoke with Dr. Christine Tartaro, professor of criminal justice at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, who specializes the rehabilitative qualities of incarceration and the ability of the corrections system to reprogram offenders. She also happens to be spokesperson for Penny Angel’s Beagle rescue, one of the larger animal rescue organizations in the tri-state area. While her research leads her to question the corrections system’s ability to reprogram someone like Vick, who so systematically and repeatedly committed these heinous crimes, she does admit he paid his court-ordered debt to society. That doesn’t mean he deserves to be lining up under center: â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“He paid his debt to society by going away to prison. But this is a different issue,” she offered. “Playing in the NFL is a privilege. It is one of the most glorious jobs you can get in the United States – particularly a quarterback in the NFL. Nobody has a right to work in the NFL. It’s a privilege. As an animal lover, I’m not saying he has no right to work anywhere – I had no problem at all with the 10-dollar an hour construction job that he had. Let him go work that for the rest of his life.” â†µâ†µâ†µWhen asked if her organizations or other local animal-loving groups plan to mobilize to protest:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I am very very very hopeful that there will be mobilized action. I know that’s one of the things that I’m looking at right now.”â†µâ†µâ†µIn fact, following our interview, animal rescue workers like Tartaro were on the phone, trying to organize efforts to bring dogs – formerly abused and rescued dogs – to the press conference today. â†µ

â†µâ†µEagles head coach Andy Reid said yesterday that members of the Humane Society, a group with which Vick has done charity work in the effort of rehabilitating his image, will be present at the presser, along side Vick and his new mentor Tony Dungy. â†µ

â†µâ†µReid, who brought up the tribulations of his own sons on more than one occasion while discussing the signing with reporters, said:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I’m a believer that as long as people go through the right process, they deserve a second chance. This is America. We do make mistakes and in this situation he has a chance to prove he’s doing the right things.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“He has proven that he is on the right track. He’s in a good place.” â†µâ‡¥

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â†µThe question remains, are the fans? If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, the protests will be drowned out by a sea of parading green. Anything short, and this circus might be run out of town. â†µ
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â†µWe'll have a quick follow-up post after Vick's presser at 11 a.m. ET.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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