The Entitled

Today, and other days this week, the name Michael Vick has played upon the lips of many of my Atlanta co-inhabitants. Everyone either knows or can find out easily why, so I won’t go into details except these two:

1. He’s an extremely talented and famous athlete.

2. He’s been accused of being deeply involved in the world of Dog Fighting.

Yes, good people (and the rest of you), I do have some thoughts on the subject.

[COMPLETELY off the subject, I was reading a speech by Malcolm X in which he opened by saying something like, “My friends and enemies….” Then he said that he figured the people listening weren’t all friends and he didn’t want to leave anyone out. Of course, he left out the people who were neither friends nor enemies.]

Innocent until proven guilty

So I hear from AP reporter (and friend) Dorie Turner that PETA and others are demanding that Vick be tossed from his team. I couldn’t disagree more. Yet.

If Vick admits to dog fighting, or is convicted of it in spite of his claims of innocence, then toss him off the team and in jail (or wherever we toss these sadists). Hell yeah.

But until that time, how about a little caution? How about a little moderation? Yeah, he probably did it, but no one should be taking serious action against him until the American Way has worked its magic a little more.

A little reminder.
And another.

Patience, my little animal-loving friends. I agree with you that it’s bad, horrible, unconscionable, detestable. But let’s make sure it happened.

How could he be so stupid?

People have been wondering aloud how the hell he could blow his sweet deal. Millions of dollars pour into his pocket every year, if he can just avoid going to jail. That’s his big task. Stay out of jail.

I’d also add that if he enjoys only minor illegal hobbies (like certain drugs that should be legal anyway), he would still probably be ok. But (if he did it) he picked a hobby that’s guaranteed to make people hate him. Jail or no, he’s lost fans and he’s lost love that he’ll probably never get back.

What in God’s name was he thinking? If someone handed me that deal, I’d live straight and narrow and enjoy my yacht and houses until the day I died.

But, let’s face it, I ain’t Michael Vick. He’s way above what I can imagine. He’s been put there.

I haven’t read Frank Deford’s book about a baseball player accused of rape. I heard an interview with Deford, who mentioned that the title of his book, The Entitled, reflects the reality of how today’s superstar athletes feel and are treated.

So I’m thinking about Michael Vick and other hugely famous athletes like him. Since these guys were something like 8 years old, they’ve been the big guy. They’ve been the cool guy who could get the job done. A guy like Vick has been wowing audiences for a long damn time.

Take any pro NFL starter. This guy was the best player in his high school. He was probably the best player at his college. This goes beyond movie stars. If Brad Pitt is used to people fawning over him, imagine how one of these guys feels. Brad Pitt went to college in Missouri, and left before graduating in order to drive limos for his daily bread. When Vick left college, he got a signing bonus of 15 million bucks to join the Falcons. That’s on top of his salary.

When Brad’s wife, Angelina, was 20, no one knew her name. When Vick was 20, he was the number one draft pick for the NFL. Millions of people knew and admired him. I’d guess that people had been telling him how great he was since at least early high school. And not just kids, but adults. Coaches from colleges around the country courted him.

So I may not be able to understand why he’d blow his deal, but then, I don’t understand what it feels like to be the king of all you see since the age of 15. His brain is different from mine. It must be. His sense of entitlement must be enormous.

None of that excuses dog fighting, of course. I mean, being king doesn’t mean having blood lust. But maybe it does begin to explain how he could think he could get away with it, and how he could risk so much for it. Hell, maybe he doesn’t know what risk is, in the same way that we mortals do. (Other than physical risk, that is. I’m sure he’s felt worry about getting injured and losing his ride that way.)

So I guess that I’m still baffled about the decisions that he seems to have made (and dog fighting isn’t the first), but I understand that I may just be baffled because we’re not on the same plane. How could we be?