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Donovan McNabb, Eagles Give Vick Second Chance—Will Philly Fans?
Published: August 16, 2009
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When a high school football star named Michael Vick visited Syracuse University, he was hosted by the big man on campus, quarterback Donovan McNabb. Today, McNabb is once again going to be hosting Vick and Vick will need his old friend to steer him through the rapids to come.
We now know that Michael Vick will be a Philadelphia Eagle and the shock waves are causing the sports radio blabbocracy, animal rights activists, and even Vick supporters to twitch with concern.
Many thought Vick wouldn’t be signed at all. And no one—repeat, no one—thought it would be the Eagles, one of 26 teams that had said publicly they wouldn’t touch the former No. 1 pick. Not after 23 months in Leavenworth for underwriting a dog fighting ring.
But there are the Eagles, with the most skilled back up quarterback since Tom Brady was waiting his turn behind Drew Bledsoe. And without McNabb, the big man on campus, it doesn’t happen.
“I pretty much lobbied to get him here,” McNabb told the Associated Press “I believe in second chances and what better place to get a second chance than here with this group of guys.”
Andy Reid, whose own sons have had repeated and very public run ins with the law said, “I’m a believer that as long as people go through the right process, they deserve a second chance. He’s got great people on his side; there isn’t a finer person than (Vick adviser) Tony Dungy. He’s proven he’s on the right track.”
The “right track” includes more than those 23 months in Leavenworth. Vick is already undergoing a full image rehab. He will be expressing full remorse on 60 minutes this Sunday. He will be working with the Humane Society.
He will be speaking out on cruelty to animals, using his profile in the league to reach those many thousands—yes thousands—of people in this country for whom dog fighting is tragically a part of normal life.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) however did not even wait for the ink to dry on the contract before saying, “PETA and millions of decent football fans around the world are disappointed that the Eagles decided to sign a guy who hung dogs from trees. He electrocuted them with jumper cables and held them under water,” PETA spokesman Dan Shannon told The Associated Press.
“You have to wonder what sort of message this sends to young fans who care about animals and don’t want them to be harmed.” It sends a message that spending almost two years of Leavenworth might not entitle you to a second chance.
I don’t know if PETA thinks that Vick should be locked in a cage for life, or shot, but either way they look to be picking up from their ugly demonstrations held outside the courthouse during Vick’s trial.
But PETA is going to be the least of Vick’s problems. Sal Paolontonio, the veteran Philadelphia based sports reporter was on the grand concourse of a packed Philadelphia football stadium when the news broke.
He said, “In 25 years of covering sports in this town, this is the most shocking story. This is visceral. There is lot of anger (in the fans). It is 90 to 95 percent negative. There is a lot of anger. I have been listening to sports radio. It is overwhelmingly negative.”
The great sportswriter DK WIlson from the website Sports on my Mind reported that Philadelphia sports radio host Dan Schwartzman was saying, “From a football standpoint it makes sense.
“But he’s coming into our community. I’m thinking of the larger picture…I don’t think I’m being harsh in calling Vick The Boogeyman. I don’t think I’m being harsh in saying you don’t want Michael Vick around your kids…”
One caller said, “This only goes to prove how hypocritical this scumbag organization is…. and they bring in Public Enemy Number one? This guy is a scumbag…There’s no forgiveness in my heart.”
Later, according to D-Wil, another caller said, “To let go of the heart of this organization and in the same offseason you bring in the Boogeyman in Michael Vick?”
The cover of the Philadelphia Daily News is an unflattering picture of Vick and the headline, “Hide Your Dogs.”
Hide your dogs and hide your kids because there are clearly people in Philadelphia ready to make Vick football’s Willie Horton. Maybe these health care townhall’s have inspired the fringes of the sports world to embrace their hatred and fears as virtues. Maybe in this climate the fringes just crave their Boogeymen, like a drug addict shaking for their fix.
Ron Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback and Monday Night Football commentator, said with far more insight, “I think he deserves a second chance without question. But when you look at the 32 cities where Vick could fit in, Philadelphia is No. 32.”
Jaworski referenced the “passion” of Philly fans creating a difficult environment. But this passion cuts both ways. While Philly has a history of hostility toward “controversial” African American players, they also embraced the passion and wicked fury of former 76er Allen Iverson.
If Vick gets it done on the field, I can see the Philly fans flipping from hostility to being fiercely protective of No. 7.
It helps to have Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb in Vick’s corner. It helps that people like Tony Dungy and Warren Moon have Vick’s back. It helps that Vick is working with the humane society. But it helps the most that the players have his back.
Eagles cornerback Ellis Hobbs said, “He’s definitely going to be embraced. The NFL is a fraternity of brothers. When you bring in a guy who’s been through the things that he’s been through, you want to surround him and protect him as much as possible because everybody’s out there throwing stones at him.”
It would help even more if we all collectively realize that in a country of 2.3 million people behind bars, being an ex-felon shouldn’t mean having an F tattooed on your chest for eternity.
Not So Easy: The Super Bowl Returns to New Orleans
Published: May 22, 2009
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Only in New Orleans could this be classified as “a return to normalcy.” The Crescent City, torn asunder by Hurricane Katrina, stamped by federal neglect and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s neoliberal experimentation, will once again collide with the freewheeling, hard-partying frenzy of the NFL’s crown jewel: the Super Bowl.
It was announced this week that New Orleans will host their tenth Super Bowl in 2013, to the cheers of journalists with bionic livers and expense-account executives the nation over. It’s also being celebrated across the sporting spectrum as an act of altruism. It shouldn’t be, but that hasn’t stopped the soundtrack of salutations.
ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli wrote, “The Super Bowl was made for New Orleans. And as anybody who has attended a championship game there knows, New Orleans was made for the Super Bowl…. Great move owners!”
Governor Jindal said, “This is a huge win for New Orleans but also the entire state of Louisiana.” Previously, Jindal has decried federal spending on disaster relief, which is somewhat like a governor of Nevada making a push to outlaw gambling.
The NFL wants to play up the choice as an act of post-Katrina missionary work, with commissioner Roger Goodell saying, “I think this is a great statement about the spirit and people of New Orleans and the great relationship the Saints and the NFL have in that community.”
“No city has been through more than New Orleans,” said Rita Benson LeBlanc, a part owner of the New Orleans Saints. “This is just a true testament to what an entire community can do.”
Pasquarelli added, “Playing host to a Super Bowl should address some of the city’s lingering problems.” By “lingering problems” he must mean sky-high poverty and unemployment. Much has been made about the city’s comeback, on the basis of healthy employment numbers (relative to the rest of the country) and a mini-construction boom buoyed by post-Katrina reconstruction.
But many New Orleans residents still feel compelled to celebrate any infusion of business, particularly the business of unlimited expense accounts and debauchery the Super Bowl inevitably brings with it. This is because the poverty in the city is still persistent.
In March, the metro area lost jobs for the first time since Hurricane Katrina. And New Orleans, with some families still living in federal trailers and others still trying to return, remains the murder capital of the United States.
This is because the city has become profoundly dependent on its service economy since 2005.
This is also because the Obama administration has to date done nothing to help the Gulf Coast despite his repeated assurances to do otherwise. A look at politifact.com shows a depressing litany of broken promises straight from Obama’s mouth on everything from strengthening the levees to rebuilding hospitals and schools.
As New Orleans resident and commentator Harry Shearer wrote:
“The farther we get into this administration, the clearer it becomes that New Orleans is now enjoying its second consecutive federal administration which, far from offering to fix what it broke, far from offering a hand of support, is merely offering one finger.”
This is why, in the absence of alternatives, the Super Bowl money train looks all the more seductive.
Scott Fujita, a star linebacker for the Saints who lives within the New Orleans city limits, said to me, “I’m thrilled about it…. You’d be hard-pressed to find a city that throws a better party, or a city that deserves the business more than New Orleans.”
He is correct on both counts. But this is one party that will come with a price tag which should make us more than skeptical.
To paraphrase John Reed, the NFL never wants something for nothing. It will mean at least $85 million more in taxpayer money for Superdome improvements, including more luxury suites plus other bells and whistles.
This investment is being pushed hard by Jindal and the New Orleans business community. Jindal is very fond of saying that “government can’t solve our problems.” However, it can provide Jindal’s corporate backers with more luxury suites.
The Super Bowl decision perpetuates the status quo in New Orleans. The city will be forced to rise and fall on the basis of an external service economy.
Jobs and wages will fluctuate rapidly based on whichever circus happens to be in town that week. Taxpayer dollars will pour into amenities for moneyed tourists and not into building the kind of stable industrial base that can stabilize the community. This will be another sporting shock doctrine.
Saints owner Tom Benson said after the announcement, in a moment of unvarnished truth, “It won’t be all trickle-down, but it will definitely help.”
Someone needs to ask, When the Super Bowl party leaves town, who will really be helped and who will be left on the sidelines?
