So I guess Michael Vick is no longer allegedly a scumbag. We no longer have to hide behind the ambiguity that comes with libel due to that whole Guilty Until Proven Innocent angle.
Michael Vick is officially, 100%, now-and-forever, a lying, cocksucking scumbagpieceofshit. And not just because he tosses one good game out of every 16 and demands respect for shoddy performances the other 15 weeks.
I don't know why I'm writing about this, though. Every possible light has been cast on this story, from the "How Could He Do That To Doggies?" story to the "Boy, Atlanta Sure Is Screwed" editorial to even the "I'm Going To Go Out On A Limb And Defend M.V. Because Surely That Will Showcase My Forward Thinking In The Event That He May Be Found Innocent," line of reasoning. What else is there, except the Write-Off piece from his fans.
I wouldn't call myself a Michael Vick fan, because that's really hard to do and get away with when your heart belongs to another team. Nevertheless, I've held a soft spot for the Atlanta Falcons since Jerry Glanville was the coach and he returned them to their All-Black uniforms. Back when Deion Sanders was making a name for himself and Chris Miller was lobbing passes to Michael Haynes and Andre Rison. Outside of the Atlanta area, nobody was rooting for them harder against the Denver Broncos in the infamous Eugene Robinson Super Bowl. So, while I'll always root for the Seahawks of Seattle, I'll always root for the Falcons of Atlanta when not in direct or indirect conflict.
So, yeah, you could say I was an admirer of Michael Vick. Sure, he threw the football like you and I throw soggy watermelons; sure he was one of the biggest liabilities in all of Fantasy Football; sure he went out and told people to start calling him Mike. But, who couldn't appreciate that explosion when he runs through a hole in a dismantling pocket? Who wouldn't marvel at his abilities to dodge tackles and find his way to the first down marker by any means necessary? He lost an entire year of football because the rest of the offense around him were incompetent ninnies! And while I was always put off when he lambasted the media for profiling him as a running quarterback because he tossed one 300-yard game after five games of utter arm-futility, I always kinda hoped he'd prove them wrong by going out and continuing to throw 300-yard games the rest of his career.
I'm just a casual fan. I never went out and bought his shoes or his football card. I didn't follow his career on a weekly basis. Nevertheless, I feel somewhat let down by this turn of events. Not because it's dogfighting and it's dog murder and that's just beyond incomprehensible for someone like me, but because it's Michael Vick at the center of it all. Why did it have to be him; why couldn't it have been Karl Malone or Matt Leinart or John Rocker or somebody else I already loathed?
If I'm this disappointed, just imagine what the real hardcore Falcons fans are feeling like. They have to go around and pretend the last six seasons never happened. They have to hate this guy because he did this despicable thing, regardless of how many manhours put into rooting him on with maniacal fervor. At least, that's why they have to OUTWARDLY hate him; inwardly they hate him because he's now taken their team from a playoff contender to a 3-win embarrassment. They don't actually hate him for the thing he did, but because he did the thing and eventually got caught and locked up. Fans are all about the team in the end.
But, for those who're still about the player; for the kids with his poster on their walls and his cards locked up in their desks and whose newspaper clippings have been saved in scrapbooks for later appreciation, there's nothing but total dejection. For me, this would be akin to Steve Largent running a dogfighting ring. Completely, 100% demoralizing.
Yes, what Michael Vick did to the dogs is completely unforgivable, but not entirely unforgettable. Years from now, all people will remember is that he set back his football team for another five to ten years. And, all his fans will remember is that he broke their hearts