By Brian Smith
Special to Under The Rock
The outrage over Michael Vick's heartless and perhaps even sadistic actions towards animals is almost over. His heartless acts led him to being incarcerated and now he is serving out the remaining two months of his 23-month sentence while under house arrest in Hampton, Va.
Vick has an inevitable return to the NFL. Will fans really notice? Are college fans and coaches really any different than pro football fans and coaches?
Diehard NFL fans will likely cheer against or for Vick, depending upon which uniform is plastered across his shoulder pads. Fans want to see their teams win. That much is obvious based upon decades of NFL players making comebacks after run-ins with the law.
"Touchdown Michael Irvin!"
You had not forgotten that name, had you? The former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver and playboy personality encountered legal problems with drugs and soliciting prostitution. Because he was a star, most fans in "Big D" welcomed him back with open arms, as did the Cowboys coaching staff.
Times have not changed since the mid 1990s in the NFL. Teams are going to do what is in the best interest of winning. Helping the athlete before he joins the NFL, well, that's a problem that begins before stardom takes place.
Wayne Pacelle, the CEO of the Humane Society makes a prudent point, "Maybe if there had been an intervention program in Newport News 15 years ago, a young Michael Vick would have grown to love and respect pit bulls, and he would not have done these terrible things to dogs."
Yes, indeed, education will be necessary to help stop dog fighting. Stopping NFL teams from taking a chance on Michael Vick, much the same way the Cowboys took chances on Michael Irvin, is another matter.
So, who's going to be the first team to take a chance on Vick in an effort to reach the NFL playoffs?
With sub 4.4 speed, Vick will bolster an NFL roster soon enough. It's America - the land of second chances.
Many college football fans wear blinders as well; astute when it's convenient, blind because they want to see their teams win.
Such is the nature of our sporting society.
College football fans and coaches are really not that much different than their pro football counterparts.
They want to win.
Remember the juggernaut Nebraska teams of the mid 1990s? Remember Huskers' I-back Lawrence Phillips, the sure-fire top pick in the 1996 draft if he would have just stayed out of trouble? Yeah, he's the same guy that dragged his girlfriend down a flight of stairs, by the hair no less, during an argument.
Tom Osborne, the then Nebraska head coach, allowed Phillips back on the team. Why? Winning, of course. Nebraska went on to win the 1995 national championship with Phillips as its star. If he was not a star, there's little question he would have been marshaled out of town.
As a society, we honestly allow this process to take place. Special talents lead to special exceptions, fair or not.
At some point during the upcoming college football season, there will be a player that's allowed back on the team after serious violations of the law. It will be overlooked in an effort to help old State U. win some ball games. It's a continuing cycle at the pro and college level.
