Michael Vick’s Going to Jail

…for 22 more months in a federal prison! 

That’s freedom in October 2009!  But he can get out in April/May 2009 for good behavior with another three years of probation.  The traditional sentence for his part in all of this would have been about 12-18 months in prison.  The judge, however, did not accept Vick’s admission of guilt and serving the last month in jail as an excuse for leniency and ruled accordingly.  The judge, Henry Hudson, added that instead of just apologizing to him and the court, he should “be apologizing to the millions of kids who idolize you.”  Also Vick has some issues with marijuana during the dogfights, which did not impress the judge either. 

I’m really not sure about Vick’s future in the NFL.  When he gets out, he won’t quite be 30 years old and there may be teams that will pay him good money to salvage a season.  On the flip side, he’ll be woefully out of football shape and we love to trash celebrities way beyond the necessary in our culture: Don Imus for example– how many more times does he have to say he’s sorry, how many more jobs does he have to lose, etc. before his penance is finished?  So, Vick will be a pariah who killed dogs– vicious attack dogs, but when we hear “dogs” we think of Spot the cuddly couch dog who fetches things and loves us.  That’s a penance that will take a long time to break and I’m not sure a team is going to want that reputation following them around.

Maybe the Miami Dolphins will want Vick.  AP photo.