Dog Days for Michael Vick
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by Ron Sen, MD
Talk about walking around with your tail between your legs. It's hard not to imagine the Falcons QB not wearing an orange jumpsuit instead of a Falcons jersey. What should have been a dog's life for Vick now hinges literally on dogs' lives. A potentially brilliant career destined for doom by bad judgment.
Hounded by would be interviewers and paparazzi, Vick can't get out of the Falcons doghouse, and one wonders whether he will ever play in the NFL again. Despite his enormous talent, thus far his career hasn't made him the top dog among NFL signal callers. From a talent standpoint, running like a greyhound, throwing, and leadership Vick is among the NFL leaders. But a pooch punt?
The book Pros and Cons identified about 20 percent of NFL players as having either been charged or convicted with felonies, and recent news on Tank Johnson (ultimately not charged), PacMan Jones, and Vick hasn't shown much improvement. For all the hoopla, Terrell Owens made news with a Sharpie, not a Shar Pei.
The NFL tries to create an environment to help shepherd its players through potential trouble. But who can be the watchdog for so many tough young men, with lots of bling, and some with troubled backgrounds? How many pointers can these young men to keep them out of trouble? No doubt in this case, Vick's alleged indiscretion has come back to bite him. We can only hope that Vick and other NFL players get more insight into acceptable standards of conduct, not only for NFL players and ordinary Joes.
