NFL: The Controversial Michael Vick
Michael Vick is one of the most hated and controversial figures to be playing in the NFL today. Even though he has been a very good player, his approval ratings with his fans have hit rock bottom because of recent controversies surrounding him. His dodgy activities started when he was found to be involved in an illegal dog fighting ring and have moved onto him being involved in a shootout where someone was shot. It seems he has sullied himself so badly that there is no way for him to come back from this.
Michael Vick is a quarterback who currently plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. He used to play for the Atlanta Falcons since being drafted. He was drafted in 2001 and was seen as the most promising new talent to emerge from college. He had an impressive career with the Falcons making three Pro Bowl appearances in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Even though he was a good quarterback, he seems to court controversy at every turn and loves its company.
Early on in his career he managed to turn the fans against him by giving them the finger after a game where he performed very poorly. That is really no way to treat fans. These people part with their hard earned money to come and watch these players try and win and all they ask in return is that the players try their best. Everyone has a bad day and may not be able to perform but that is not the fans' fault and if they boo at a player, he should just take it in his stride and try to perform better the next time out. The last thing he should do is swear at them, it just makes the situation worse.
Michael Vick's real downfall came when he was found out to have financed and set up an illegal dog fighting operation with two of his friends. The charges against him were pretty severe. He was alleged to have conducted the operation from his house where he was also alleged to have paid off bets to people and to have executed dogs that did not perform well. This case was the first of its kind and rocked the NFL to its core. It also succeeded in making Vick the most hated football player in America and his fans left him in droves. This could also have been the reason why he was dropped from his team at the end of 2008 season. It does not really show too much integrity on the part of the NFL because after he was dropped he was instantly picked up by another team. He escaped jail time but was made to pay a hefty fine for his role in the operation.
His problems have only multiplied since the 2007 dog fighting incident, because very recently he was involved in a fight outside a club, where he had thrown a party, in which someone was shot. It was claimed that Vick had an argument with someone and a fight broke out but Vick was then bundled into his limo and removed from the scene. The story goes that the person Vick had been arguing with was then shot by someone after Vick had left the scene. It seems that people at the club and witnesses were being uncooperative to the police as is the case in these kinds of incidents. Vick was not a suspect in the shooting but he was questioned as to what happened that night.
Michael Vick's problems went from bad to worse and it does not look like he will be able to regain any sort of popularity that he had before the details of his controversies were made public. He may be wise to stay underground for a few years, clean up his act and then maybe resurface as a new and improved man. That might be the only way the fans of the sport will forgive him, but even then his chances of making a PR recovery look pretty slim at the moment. A dodgy character like Vick should have been sent packing by the league the first chance they got. However they did not and now we are stuck with him. Hopefully he only has a few more years left to play and then we can be rid of him once and for all.
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