Some people are just clueless, and that includes the entire Philadelphia Eagles football team.
It was bad enough that Eagles management signed Michael Vick to the team after he got out of prison for running a dog fighting ring. As I posted on August 24, 2009, in Can Michael Vick change his behavior?, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), sent a letter to the NFL stating that Vick fit the profile of antisocial personality disorder, aka a sociopath.
I mean, the guy rewarded the animals that lost by personally electrocuting, hanging or drowning them—shoving their heads into five-gallon buckets of water.
So now, after sitting on the bench for most of the season, the Eagles players say Vick should win the Ed Block Courage Award. According to the foundation that presents it, “the Ed Block Courage Awards honors those National Football League players who exemplify commitments to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Recipients are selected by their teammates for team effort, as well as individual performance.”
Many people, including the American Kennel Club, are outraged. On January 22, 2010, the club sent a letter to Jeff Lurie, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. It stated:
On behalf of the American Kennel Club, our 5,000 clubs nationwide, and the millions of responsible dog owners we represent, we are writing to ask you to withdraw Michael Vick as the Philadelphia Eagles’ recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.
We understand that his teammates selected Mr. Vick for this honor, but in doing so they are demonstrating a lack of understanding about the nature of both animal and child abuse, and are trivializing Mr. Vick’s heinous actions. Michael Vick horrified the world, and especially those of us who devote our lives to promoting the health and welfare of dogs, with his engagement in dog fighting. In addition to the bloody fighting contests, reports indicate that many dogs were electrocuted, drowned or hung for underperformance.
A man who has been convicted of these atrocities should not be held up as a role model of sportsmanship and courage. Further, Ed Block, the award’s namesake, dedicated his life to ending the vicious cycle of pain and despair suffered by children at the hands of their abusers. It is unconscionable that a man who tortured and abused helpless animals be honored by an organization dedicated to ending abuse.
Vick says he deserves it
So what does Michael Vick have to say about winning the award? According to NFL.com:
“I’ve overcome a lot, more than probably one single individual can handle or bear,” Vick said. “You ask certain people to walk through my shoes, they probably couldn’t do. Probably 95 percent of the people in this world because nobody had to endure what I’ve been through, situations I’ve been put in, situations I put myself in and decisions I have made, whether they have been good or bad.
“There’s always consequences behind certain things and repercussions behind them, too. And then you have to wake up every day and face the world, whether they perceive you in the right perspective, it’s a totally different outlook on you. You have to be strong, believe in yourself, be optimistic. That’s what I’ve been able to do. That’s what I display.”
The guys on ESPN’s Mike & Mike in the Morning talk radio show were incredulous. They talked about the men selected by other football teams. One football player been shot 14 times in a drive-by shooting, was paralyzed and lost a leg. Another player created a foundation to support at-risk youths. Another was well-known for his community service.
“Here’s the bottom line: Did Michael Vick exemplify courage?” one of the Mikes asked. “I gotta say the answer is no!”
The video clip is entertaining. See it at Mike and Mike: Vick Courageous?
An online petition against awarding Michael Vick the Ed Block Courage Award is available on Change.org.
Michael Vick on TV
And just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does—Michael Vick has his own reality TV show on BET.
The Michael Vick Project premieres next week, on February 2, 2010. Here’s what BET.com has to say about it:
In this eight-part series, produced by DuBose Entertainment, MV7 Productions and Category 5 Entertainment, cameras will not only capture the NFL star’s return to football after a two-year prison term stemming from his association with a dog fighting ring, but they will also focus on much of his life prior to that turning point. Viewers will be given an unfiltered and personal experience of Vick as he restores his past and starts fresh for the future — not only for himself, but for his family and fiancée, Kijafa.
“It’s our hope that this documentary series will serve as means towards Michael Vick’s search for his personal truth, what led to the choices he made that ultimately changed his life and also, enlighten viewers that every decision you make in life matters. We hope his story will be one in which years from now, people particularly young men, will view and learn valuable lessons from, James DuBose, CEO, Dubose Entertainment. “Mike’s life may be unique, but his story is one that could be told ten times over by young men who find themselves faced with trials and tribulations. His truth has come by way of bad choices. His triumph will come by way of his commitment to change.”
No role model
We all know how charming, charismatic and convincing sociopaths can be. They are experts at impression management. Vick must have put on a heck of a performance, and the Eagles players didn’t realize that it was only a performance.
It seems that Vick has stayed out of trouble for at least the length of the football season. And honestly, we know sociopaths don’t change, so if he’s not hurting other people or animals, it’s about all we can expect of him.
But Michael Vick as a role model? That’s just too much.
“I’ve overcome a lot, more than probably one single individual can handle or bear,” Vick said.
That’s a cluster B for you.
They fool most of the people, most of the time. Being angry with people for falling for these near flawless performances is a waste of time.
If you can identify sociopaths, psychopaths, and narcissists, be thankful. If you can see through a histrionics’s or borderline’s perception of themselves as a victim, be thankful. Give thanks, and use what you know to keep yourself and the people you love safe.
Every time I’m reminded of Michael Vick’s continuing existence, I check to see where my big, dumb sweet golden retriever is. I check her tags, I update her file with our national pet-finder service, I check our fence line, and I say a little prayer.
Evil is. Get used to it. Deal with it. Drive on.
‘“There’s always consequences behind certain things and repercussions behind them, too. And then you have to wake up every day and face the world, whether they perceive you in the right perspective, it’s a totally different outlook on you. You have to be strong, believe in yourself, be optimistic. That’s what I’ve been able to do. That’s what I display.”’
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH…
We are SO used to hearing politicians and athletes and holywood celebs TALK LIKE THIS that we accept it – AS IF they are saying something, and not just revealing their spathy selves.
i’ll sign the petition. post the link on my fb page. let’s get viral people!
One more thing:
” electrocuting, hanging or drowning them—shoving their heads into five-gallon buckets of water.”
The normal mind simply shies away from the grim foulness these words represent. Who can do that to a dog? Who can think about this happening to a dog without getting queasy.
Sociopathy is a disease no one wants in their personal reality. As much as possible, we want to live in a world where this unbelievable grimness doesn’t exist. No wonder so many people pretend sociopathy away, rather than see sociopaths for what they are.
Let me just get this straight.
In his dog-fighting days, Vick punished the dogs that underperformed by “personally electrocuting them, hanging or drowning them-shoving their heads in 5-gallon buckets of water.”
I just read in the above article that Vick sat on the bench for most of the season.
I think this would also classify as underperformance.
Football players should be on the field, not sitting on the bench.
It’s a good thing the Eagles organization didn’t punish him for underperforming in the same manner he punished those dogs.
I don’t know when we as a society are going to learn to stop putting these athletes up on a pedestal.
Just because you can run a football, or throw a football, or swing a golf club does NOT make you a pillar of MORALITY.
Enough with the worship-mentality of these athletes.
They are human beings, just like the rest of us….and in Vick’s case, the “human” quotient is debatable.
I just posted it to my facebook. – And I’ll sign like you say One Step –
maybe we can wake people up. It has to start somewhere.
And yes – Elizabeth – I am grateful I can recognize it but I still am afraid at times of being deceived. Being able to recognize it, name it and to immediately drive on is a lifelong process…
I had to add something else as when I went to sign the letter it occurred to me – and I wrote this in my letter:
His teammates had no better examples among themselves of someone who exemplified courage?
Unbelievable. They had no one on their team who stands out as someone who gives back to others?
They all – the entire team should be ashamed of themselves, at least the men who voted for Vick. If Vick is the best example they have of someone who represents the values the Ed Block Award is supposed to represent then they have set a very low bar for themselves.
Vick is all about Vick. He truly believes he deserves the award for being able to behave himself publicly (stay out of obvious trouble) and reap the rewards his notoriety has given him. The narcissism is revolting.
The fact is it is not only a sad statement about how people can be fooled by S/N/P’s but it is also a vivid reminder of the decay of values in our country that a group of men have no one greater to honor than this sick sociopath posing as a human being.
Breckgirl,
According to the Press of Atlantic City, the other Philadelphia Eagles candidates for the award this year were:
Center Jamaal Jackson, who is helping to raise the four children of his older brother Kamar, who was killed by an allegedly drunk driver last year.
Defensive tackle Antonio Dixon, who spent most of his life in homeless shelters.
For some reason, the players chose Michael Vick.
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/article_cd0513b0-8a68-5bf2-a59f-d17f7b437366.html
He shouldn’t even be in the team – this is how society rewards psychopaths for their bad behaviour – think about the message this sends to the youth of today. It is disgusting. I think he should get the same treatment he meted out to those poor dogs – he should be locked in a cage with an alligator, a crocodile and several angry dogs and should have his teeth and hands removed so he can’t defend himself – then he should be gangraped like he forced the female dog to endure. What the hell is the world coming to when people like this are honored as being outstanding citizens??? Has he even shown ANY remorse for the suffering he inflicted on those poor dogs? Killing the losers? Well he’s a loser in my book – a waste of air and space. This makes me so angry.
Rosa- Go, get em GIRL! Your excellent post bringing up VIck’s “under performance” is spot on!! With the manner in which HE handled “the underdog”, he better thank his lucky stars he didnt get the same treatment when he failed to be on top of his game.
Calling him a low down dirty dog is an injustice and insult to the animal- meaning the canine.