Peter King, writer for Sports Illustrated, spoke with Eagles owner, Jeffrey Lurie, after Obama called up the Eagles owner to praise him for taking a chance on Michael Vick.
As you may or may not know, the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East title on Sunday after the New York Giants lost. This happened even though the Eagle cancelled their game yesterday due to the big snow storm- first time in over 40 yrs. for a football team to do so.
Anyway, getting back to the original story, Peter wrote about what Lurie told him yesterday in the following passages:
Hey Mike: I think President Barack Obama has a crush on you.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie was surprised to hear the president’s voice on the phone. Barack Obama had two things to discuss with Lurie: the redemption of Michael Vick and the alternative-energy plans Lurie unveiled this fall for Lincoln Financial Field. I talked about the Vick story on NBC last night.
“The president wanted to talk about two things, but the first was Michael,” Lurie told me. “He said, ‘So many people who serve time never get a fair second chance. He was … passionate about it. He said it’s never a level playing field for prisoners when they get out of jail. And he was happy that we did something on such a national stage that showed our faith in giving someone a second chance after such a major downfall.”
Lurie said Obama and he talked football. “He’s a real football fan,” Lurie said. “He loves his Bears. He really follows it. He knew how Michael was doing. It was really interesting to hear.”Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/12/26/week-16/index.html#ixzz19M2e8hH0
I also read somewhere else that it was no longer political suicide to talk about Michael Vick since our president says it’s ok. I also read that many people don’t care anymore about what horrific, despicable acts Vick committed against dogs, including drowning, electrocuting, strangling and slamming their heads against cement sidewalks until they were all dead.
I feel the president’s decision to praise Vick was a huge mistake. This isn’t Obama’s first mistake concerning animals. Obama PROMISED he would ADOPT a dog from a shelter once the presidential election was over. Animal advocates applauded him for taking that stand until he decided to accept a dog from a breeder. No doubt, a reputable breeder…but nonetheless, it wasn’t a shelter. What an impact he could have made on so many people at the time with his popularity so high at the time.
But now we have the president saying “people who serve time never get a fair second chance.” “He said it’s never a level playing field for prisoners when they get out of jail.”
Let’s see…….Vick had a reality show, the HSUS backing him up and was on 60 Minutes with HSUS president, Wayne Pacelle saying he is a changed man. As I said prior to this, only Vick knows if he’s remorseful.
He is also doing commercials and is a much-celebrated NFL quarterback who is loved by many fans. This man has had more than one second chance.
A level-playing field..are you kidding me? If he wouldn’t be having the season he’s having with the Eagles and sitting on the bench, would he have garnered this much media attention, including our very own president? I think NOT!
Do I believe in second chances? Yes. My argument for Vick not getting praised is the fact Vick himself said his upbringing, his culture is what led him down the path to the horrific and brutal world of dogfighting. Vick was forced to leave that world because he got caught. That world is ingrained in him. You can take the dogfighting world away from him but you simply cannot take the dogfighting world out of him in a few short years after decades of that mentality. For that reason, our president shouldn’t praise Vick at this stage. Perhaps never, depending on Vick’s future behavior.
Do you think Obama should have said anything about Vick? With the shape of this country, should he just be concerned about getting us out of this recession instead of praising an ex-con who is making millions? I’m sure there are many ex-cons who have rehabilitated their lives out of prison and helped out their community in such a profound way that would have been a better example than Michael Vick. (But can they throw a football?)