The Reality of Vick’s Return

By DAVE ZIRIN

July 28, 2009

Michael Vick has been reinstated by the National Football League. But there’s no guarantee that he will ever see the field.

“I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you and to dedicate yourself to rebuilding your life and your career. If you do this, the NFL will support you,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“Opportunities for redemption are rare–but that is exactly the opportunity that awaits Mr. Vick,” chimed in Ed Sayres, president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Both men, in their way, were attempting to put the best possible spin on Vick’s return to the NFL. After serving twenty-three months in federal prison at Leavenworth for running a dogfighting ring –an ironic sentence considering the fact that a warmonger like Dick Cheney still roams free–Vick can now sign with an NFL team after a suspension that can last as long as six games.

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