Does Michel Vick Deserve a Second Chance?

Jayson Whitlock lays out a case for giving Michael Vick a second chance after he has served his jail term (assuming there will be one) and what ever NFL suspension Roger Goodell hands down.

I know there's more to Michael Vick than dogfighting. He can learn from this. He can evolve. We need to give him room to do it. When he is freed from incarceration, I hope PETA and other groups concerned about animal welfare reach out to Vick and make him part of a solution, not a target of harassment.

I have the same wish for Imus. He's going to return to radio. I hope he's learned a lesson and reserves his harshest barbs for legitimate public figures, not college girls. I hope people allow Imus to work in peace. He's been punished. He's been used as an example. Now we have to demonstrate that we will allow people to recover from their mistakes.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been aggressively trying to police the behavior of his athletes. He wants to change the growing negative image of NFL players. There will be a lot of public pressure on Goodell to ban Vick for a year or more after he's been released. I think that's a mistake.

Vick is likely to receive 12 to 24 months of prison time. The Falcons are likely to demand the return of a large portion of his signing bonus and void the remaining years of his contract. Vick is going to receive a very stiff penalty.

If he hasn't been scared straight by now, he's unsalvageable. Having him sit out of the league once he's freed will not be a deterrent, aid his rehabilitation or do the NFL any good.

Rather than slap Vick with a suspension, Goodell should slap him with a host of stipulations regarding his return to the league. Require Vick to work with animals, speak to kids about his troubles, etc. Treat Vick better than he treated his pit bulls.

Whitlock is in the minority in America and perhaps he has a point.

But I want to look at this from Roger Goodell's viewpoint and Whitlock's last paragraphs are instructive. Goodell could certainly toss Vick from the NFL for life and probably be justified for it. There is a whole host of lesser punishments that can be imposed as well, but Roger Goodell has a proportionality problem.

Earlier this summer Goodell suspended Adam Jones of the Tennessee Titans for an entire season for repeated run-ins with law enforcement and being in the wrong place at the wrong time far too many times. Through all of his legal entanglements, Jones has never been indicted on any charge, let alone convicted and yet he will sit an entire season. In essence, Goodell has no choice but to impose a stiffer sentence on Vick, if for no other reason than Vick has actually been indicted and plead guilty to a series of crimes. Whether Vick serves prison time or not is irrelevant, he has to sit for at least a season and a half. Goodell can allow that suspension to be served concurrently or not, and quite frankly I don't care which. Unlike Whitlock, I don't think Vick can simply come back after being in prison. But I do agree with Whitlock, if Goodell allows Vick to come back, there would have to be a list of stipulations and conditions as long as my arm and that would be more than fair.

While we should not treat Michael Vick like he treated is dogs, we don't have to treat him like a prized poodle either. Vick deserves stiff and harsh punishment from the NFL, but he does not deserve a second chance. Michale Vick must earn a second chance.