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Vick Meets with Inner-City Youth for Dog Speech
Vick meets with inner-city youth for dog speech
Associated Press
Updated: August 8, 2009, 4:52 PM EDT
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - Michael Vick returned to the area that once celebrated his brilliant play on the football field, this time for the first of what he vows will be dozens of appearances around the country to urge low-income youths to avoid the tragic trail left by dogfighting.
Few got to hear Saturday's message, however.
Vick's visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick's handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. An Associated Press reporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.
Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick's appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine.
"Not too many people knew he was going to be here," said Stan Sutton, who stopped by the New Life Community Center to pick up some clothes and wound up being one of the few invited inside to hear Vick speak. "There would have been a lot more people here than there are now. The whole Eastside would have been here."
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society, said the group wants to be transparent and reach as many people as possible with its anti-dogfighting message. But the tightly controlled appearance comes as Vick is trying to rehabilitate his image and ease his path back to the NFL.
The quarterback is apparently planning to do his first major interview since completing a 23-month prison sentence with the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes," which sent a three-person crew to film the event. The AP was barred from entering, and the windows were covered to prevent anyone from looking inside. Eventually, police were called, and all media were forced to stand on a sidewalk in front of the complex.
"It was a controlled environment for obvious reasons: Vick is so high profile," Pacelle said. "We're going to have plenty of opportunities in the future to have Michael to speak at community-based forums."
The Humane Society did not publicize the event, going along with the media plan laid out by Vick's handlers even if it meant missing the chance to make a real impact in a community where he is still revered for his brilliant play during six years with the Falcons.
"We're giving him an opportunity to plug into our community-based forums," Pacelle said. "But he obviously has his own set of individuals who are working with him and want to present things in the way they want."
A Vick representative said the quarterback would have no comment on the appearance.
Vick entered through a back door and spoke for about 12 minutes, Pacelle said. The small audience was moved by what it heard.
"He said he did wrong," 17-year-old Stanley Jones said. "Now he's trying to come up with a smarter way to help the whole community, for young people like us, to make a change."
Jones said he appreciated having Vick in an area plagued by drugs and violence.
"You usually don't see that in the 'hood. You don't see someone from the NFL," the teenager said. "When you see a big star like that, you don't have any choice but to respect them."
Jones held up a pamphlet that was given out by the Humane Society: "Dogfighting Hurts." But Vick's words had more of an impact.
"It seemed like it came from the heart," Jones said. "I heard him saying something about how he came from the same (sort of) neighborhood that we did. He said he had only one dream, and he messed up that whole dream."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has conditionally lifted Vick's ban from the league. He can participate in training camp and exhibition games, and would be eligible to return for the sixth week of the regular season if he has no further setbacks.
But Vick, the only quarterback ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, has yet to find a job. Most teams have said they have no intention of signing him, and he may be forced to go with the fledgling United Football League to demonstrate that he's still a useful player after missing the last two seasons.
"Where he goes to play football now is his decision," Goodell said Saturday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Vick didn't discuss his NFL ambitions at New Life Community Center, but it's clear he still has plenty of fans.
Asked whether Vick should get a second chance, Jones said, "I hope so. He didn't say anything about it, but I hope so."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9909758
Associated Press
Updated: August 8, 2009, 4:52 PM EDT
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) - Michael Vick returned to the area that once celebrated his brilliant play on the football field, this time for the first of what he vows will be dozens of appearances around the country to urge low-income youths to avoid the tragic trail left by dogfighting.
Few got to hear Saturday's message, however.
Vick's visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick's handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. An Associated Press reporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.
Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick's appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine.
"Not too many people knew he was going to be here," said Stan Sutton, who stopped by the New Life Community Center to pick up some clothes and wound up being one of the few invited inside to hear Vick speak. "There would have been a lot more people here than there are now. The whole Eastside would have been here."
Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society, said the group wants to be transparent and reach as many people as possible with its anti-dogfighting message. But the tightly controlled appearance comes as Vick is trying to rehabilitate his image and ease his path back to the NFL.
The quarterback is apparently planning to do his first major interview since completing a 23-month prison sentence with the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes," which sent a three-person crew to film the event. The AP was barred from entering, and the windows were covered to prevent anyone from looking inside. Eventually, police were called, and all media were forced to stand on a sidewalk in front of the complex.
"It was a controlled environment for obvious reasons: Vick is so high profile," Pacelle said. "We're going to have plenty of opportunities in the future to have Michael to speak at community-based forums."
The Humane Society did not publicize the event, going along with the media plan laid out by Vick's handlers even if it meant missing the chance to make a real impact in a community where he is still revered for his brilliant play during six years with the Falcons.
"We're giving him an opportunity to plug into our community-based forums," Pacelle said. "But he obviously has his own set of individuals who are working with him and want to present things in the way they want."
A Vick representative said the quarterback would have no comment on the appearance.
Vick entered through a back door and spoke for about 12 minutes, Pacelle said. The small audience was moved by what it heard.
"He said he did wrong," 17-year-old Stanley Jones said. "Now he's trying to come up with a smarter way to help the whole community, for young people like us, to make a change."
Jones said he appreciated having Vick in an area plagued by drugs and violence.
"You usually don't see that in the 'hood. You don't see someone from the NFL," the teenager said. "When you see a big star like that, you don't have any choice but to respect them."
Jones held up a pamphlet that was given out by the Humane Society: "Dogfighting Hurts." But Vick's words had more of an impact.
"It seemed like it came from the heart," Jones said. "I heard him saying something about how he came from the same (sort of) neighborhood that we did. He said he had only one dream, and he messed up that whole dream."
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has conditionally lifted Vick's ban from the league. He can participate in training camp and exhibition games, and would be eligible to return for the sixth week of the regular season if he has no further setbacks.
But Vick, the only quarterback ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, has yet to find a job. Most teams have said they have no intention of signing him, and he may be forced to go with the fledgling United Football League to demonstrate that he's still a useful player after missing the last two seasons.
"Where he goes to play football now is his decision," Goodell said Saturday at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Vick didn't discuss his NFL ambitions at New Life Community Center, but it's clear he still has plenty of fans.
Asked whether Vick should get a second chance, Jones said, "I hope so. He didn't say anything about it, but I hope so."
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/9909758
Posts
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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on -
"Few got to hear Saturday's message, however.
Vick's visit to a suburban Atlanta community center was largely off limits to the very neighborhood it was supposed to be helping. In an agreement between Vick's handlers and the Humane Society of the United States, only 55 people and one media crew were allowed inside. An Associated Press reporter, videographer and photographer were among the media banished from the property by police.
Most people who live in the largely black neighborhood southeast of Atlanta were unaware of Vick's appearance. Several showed up after the former Falcons quarterback had already left in a black limousine."
I am not really surprised by how this is being handled, however, I don't see where talking to 55 people and a news crew is meeting with inner-city youth. As someone who works with these kids all they will see is do wrong and get away with it. Sad! -
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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on -
That's what inner city kids will see. He deserved to lose everything. He messed up. He lost his dream. He shouldn"t be a role model for kids.
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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on -
The problem is this is not a REAL learning experience for the community. The article points out "Few got to hear Saturday's message." It was a publicity stunt. The neighborhood didn't know about it. The kids who could have been helped weren't. It was a "controlled environment" and Vick's "handlers" are making the calls. Plain and simple...this was a publicity stunt, not a community outreach, not a community service, not teaching or reaching inner city kids.
Vick screwed up his life and if he were really serious in helping others maybe he would have spoken for longer than 12 minutes. Fine, he did his time, fine he says he wants to help kids, then he should just go help kids, no cameras, no publicity. All he was was another flashy, role-model athlete (rapper, hustler, etc.) those kids will look up to because of his celebrity, money, fame, coming into a poor neighborhood in a limo and leaving as fast as he could. This is not the role model they need. -
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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on -
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
One of the dogs saved from Michael Vick
After almost twenty years working in the humane movement and several years as a criminal prosecutor, I have seen, read about, and experienced many unexpected and heartbreaking moments of animals being harmed. The conduct of Michael Vick ranks at the very top. And last week, the Commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) added insult to injury by reinstating Vick into the NFL. But the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is asking us to give Vick what he refused to give the dogs he abused and killed: a second chance. Based on what we know now, we should not do this.
There is a difference between sincere remorse and being used. If Michael Vick was sincere, this wouldn’t be about getting back into the NFL. This wouldn’t be about barring the public, keeping the media out, and blocking the windows. This wouldn’t be about meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or hiring “handlers” and public relations consultants. Michael Vick would be talking to anyone who would listen that he is truly sorry and will make it right. But, most importantly, he would be talking to federal investigators. And while the victims of his crimes—the dogs he tortured and killed—can never be brought back; while they can no longer think and feel and run and play and eat and sleep and bark and love and be loved; while their only life has been taken from them; while it is over, because they are gone, forever; there are dogs being killed and torn apart to this very day and Michael Vick has the power to stop it.
Michael Vick has the information which can deal a crushing blow to dog fighters and dog fighting in the United States. He can make a profound impact on the lives of dogs being abused and tortured today. In fact, there could be a dozen arrests and closures of dog fighting rings by now thanks to the information he could potentially provide to HSUS and federal investigators. He knows who the dog fighters are. He knows where the dog fights are held. He knows where they are getting the dogs. He knows where they are getting the animals used as “bait.” He knows where they live. He knows where they keep the dogs. He knows where they buy and keep the instruments of torture. He can stop it. A person as deeply involved in the U.S. dog fighting racket as Vick could implicate many other dog fighters and provide valuable information that could shut them down.
This is the commitment HSUS should have extracted from Michael Vick. Once the investigations were complete, once the arrests were made, once Michael Vick testified against them in court, once they were convicted, once the dogs being tortured were rescued, once the whole bloody enterprise was shut down, then and only then, should anyone listen to talk of remorse.
At the same time, HSUS would have been getting ready to do its part by using the money it raised and raises off its association with Michael Vick to build kennels across the country specifically for victims of dog fighting and all the dogs to be rescued from their campaign of dog fighting eradication, as is their job and so that local shelters aren’t left to do it alone. Those kennels would be staffed with HSUS employees whose jobs would not only be care, feeding, socialization and, for those dogs who need it, rehabilitation, but ultimately, it would include rescue transfer, adoption, and, if necessary, lifetime sanctuary care.
That is what I hope is happening behind the scenes. And that is what I hope they will announce: the simultaneous arrests of dog fighters all over the country thanks to information supplied by Michael Vick and an announcement by HSUS of the kennels they have been constructing to get ready in response, so none of the rescued dogs will be killed, as HSUS recommended for all of Vick’s victims.
But without any evidence of this—and given HSUS’ history of killing victims of dog fighting and defending poorly performing and abusive animal shelters; and given Vick’s sadistic history and history of lying to federal investigators—it would be naïve and irresponsible to believe that is what is going on.
I hope HSUS and Michael Vick prove me wrong. I hope they make the startling announcement. I hope we get to watch videos of federal agents busting operations thanks to information supplied by Vick. I hope they show the kennels HSUS has constructed to save those dogs. I promise this if they do: if they commit to saving all the rescued dogs, if things turn out to be what they should be, it won’t “erase” what Vick did, but no one will cheer louder than me.
Nathan J. Winograd
No Kill Advocacy Center
For more reading:
Riding on Vick's Bloodstained Coattails
Down the Rabbit Hole
In Bed with Monsters
No Kill Advocacy Center's Letter to NFL -
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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on -
I have his book to read (well Jacquie borrowed it yesterday) but I have been getting his newsletters for awhile. Like everyone else in this world, he has some good ideas and some crazy ones. I don't agree with everything but...
But on this Vick issue, I do agree with him. Vick was doing the dogfighting crap and certainly should know who he got his fighters and his "bait" dogs from. He knew where his money players came from and he knew who to invite to his "games," "shows," or whatever they call those debacles.
How many other people were arrested and went to jail? How many others were shut down? How many did he "snitch" on? I don't know. But that show that was put on in Atlanta was just that...a show! His "handlers" kept him from the real people and kids of the "hood" who really could have benefitted from learning from him. He was in and out in his limo as soon as his 12 minutes were over. I am sorry, but it is bulls**t that he has changed, is remorseful or cares about anything other than himself.
Winograd's last paragraph says it best for me: "I hope HSUS and Michael Vick prove me wrong. I hope they make the startling announcement. I hope we get to watch videos of federal agents busting operations thanks to information supplied by Vick. I hope they show the kennels HSUS has constructed to save those dogs. I promise this if they do: if they commit to saving all the rescued dogs, if things turn out to be what they should be, it won’t “erase” what Vick did, but no one will cheer louder than me." Until that happens, Vick deserves to stay in a "loser" world, not be made any more of a "hero" for inner-city kids or anyone. -
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AdminPermalink Reply by LM Fowler - Admin on -
So where's the remorse? There is none. It is all a show!
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