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Thursday, July 19, 2007
Falcons damned if they do, damned if they don’t keep Vick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
If the Falcons let Michael Vick play, a lot of people will be really upset. If they don’t let him play, they’ll lose a lot of games, and that will upset folks, too.
If they let him play, he’ll be the talking point of every game. If they don’t, he’ll still be the talking point, as in, “Would the Falcons have won if Vick had been out there?”
If they let him play, they’ll give the impression they don’t care about right and wrong. If they don’t, they’ll give the impression they don’t care about wins and losses.
Since the NFL seems content to leave the issue in the lap of the judiciary system, the play-or-sit call is apparently the Falcons’ call to make. Arthur Blank and Rich McKay are smart men, but even Confucius and Solomon in solemn consultation would struggle to choose between these bad options.
Vick will appear in federal court the day the Falcons open training camp. It’s expected he’ll post bond. If he’s free to walk the streets, shouldn’t he also be free to earn a living? A paid leave of absence might unknot the earning tangle, but how would it play among other salaried employees?
Bobby Petrino came here to coach Vick. How would he feel if his best quarterback was eligible to play in the eyes of the law and the league but was held out for the sake of appearances? How would Alge Crumpler feel, or Joe Horn? Wouldn’t shelving Vick until the matter is resolved be tantamount to quitting on the team and its season? And how many fans who insist they’d rather see the Falcons go 1-15 with Joey Harrington will feel so righteous if the 1-15 actually transpires?
The moral high ground is easy to tread from afar. It’s only during the actual trek that things get muddy. The Falcons don’t want to appear crass — Blank has always seemed sincere in his desire that employees be good citizens — but they aren’t a college team. There’s no educational component to their mission. They exist to win games. Even if you regard Vick as more hype than substance, you must concede he gives his team a better chance to win than Harrington.
Back to the college thing. Facing a deluge of publicity and an ongoing investigation, a prestigious university shuttered an entire program and fired the coach. Today, Duke’s mishandling of its lacrosse team stands as an object lesson — how not to respond.
The wiser course, which isn’t to be confused with the popular one, is to let the courts sort it out. Kobe Bryant played while facing trial in Colorado, and his case was ultimately dismissed. The Falcons released Tony Martin, their deep threat in their Super Bowl season, after he was indicted on federal money-laundering charges. He was acquitted and wound up catching 67 passes for the Dolphins that fall. Two years later he returned to the Falcons for his final pro season.
There’s even a more recent local precedent: The Falcons haven’t released Jonathan Babineaux, who himself faces a felony charge of animal abuse, or placed him on paid leave. This was Blank in February: “There’s this thing called the legal process that’s even above the NFL and sports … [Cutting Babineaux] would be the worst possible thing we could do. It would be a slap in the face to the judicial system. Making the concession of throwing somebody on the fire would be the worst thing for our organization and the worst thing for Atlanta.”
If that was true then, it’s true still. And time and distance — and, let’s be honest, winning — have a way of calming even the most impassioned outrage. Yes, it was unseemly that Rafael Furcal played in the 2004 division series after having being sentenced, earlier that same day, to three weeks in jail for violating probation. Yet Turner Field patrons seemed not to mind when Furcal hit the home run that won the game.
If the Falcons let Michael Vick play, they’ll look bad. If they don’t, they’ll look even worse.
Indictment only one chapter in “Life of Vick”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The guys on WFAN in New York kept asking me this morning if Michael Vick’s reputation hadn’t been damaged beyond repair. Call me Pollyanna — or, if you’re of a more literary stripe, Dr. Pangloss — but I was willing to concede only half the point.
Damaged? Absolutely. But beyond repair?
Was Kobe Bryant’s image damaged beyond repair because of the indictment in Colorado? (When last I saw him, Bryant was playing against the Hawks in Philips Arena and being cheered by more than half the fans in attendance.) Was Ray Lewis’ image damaged beyond repair because of the murder trial here? (Every profile of Lewis references the case and Lewis’ plea bargain to a charge of obstructing justice, but he remains an All-Pro linebacker and the unchallenged leader of the Baltimore Ravens.) Was Tony Martin’s reputation damaged beyond repair when the federal government brought money-laundering charges against him?
The Martin example is instructive, given that it involved both the Falcons and the feds. Martin was the deep threat on the Falcons’ Super Bowl team of 1998. (He caught the biggest pass of the epic NFC title game in the Metrodome, a 70-yard reception when the Falcons were trailing by 10 points early in the fourth quarter.) In early 1999 he was indicted, whereupon the Falcons, fearing the worst, released him. He was acquitted on all counts. He played all 16 games that fall for the Miami Dolphins, catching 67 passes. Two years later, the Falcons brought him back. He caught 37 passes for them in 2001, and no protests were held outside the Georgia Dome.
The charges against Michael Vick are grim and detailed. Many among us swear today they’ll never root for him again. But what if he’s acquitted and leads the Falcons to the Super Bowl? Will those same folks be so resolute then? What if, out on bail, he leads the Falcons to the playoffs this season? Will some of those same folks develop a convenient case of cognitive dissonance?
This isn’t to trivialize the indictment or its possible ramifications. But the most erroneous quote in the history of literature is the F. Scott Fitzgerald chestnut: “There are no second acts in American lives.” There are scores of second acts in American lives. And none of us can know today how the full life of Michael Dwayne Vick, American, will play out.
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