There have been plenty of headlines in the sports world this year--
"Boise State knocked from the top"
"LeBron takes his talents to South Beach"
"UNC Freshman named to All-American NCAA Basketball Team"
Of all of these headlines and more, they either effect the emotional side of sports, or the "black and white" side of sports. The one headline this year that can appeal to any audience, sports related or not, is Michael Vick's return to the NFL.
As a freshman at Virginia Tech, Vick led his team to an appearance in the National Championship, and placed Third in the Heisman Voting, all while leading the NCAA in passing efficiency. As a Sophomore, he had 210 Rushing yards against Boston College, and 288 total yards against against West Virginia. He also led the Hokies back from a 14-0 deficit at Syracuse. He left after his sophomore season.
He was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001, and after a few years of struggles, he finally emerged as the talent everyone knew he was capable of being.
Then came dog fighting.
Michael Vick was found guilty on Animal Cruelty charges, and was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison.
But now... He's back. All while rehabilitating his image and playing for next to nothing (when in comparison to other NFL quarterback's contracts), Vick has come back to the league and is destroying opposing defenses. After a year behind Donovan McNabb in Philidelphia, he has finally received a chance, and has shown what he can do. In week 10, after being back for a full week from a rib injury, Michael Vick torched the Washington defense, putting up 333 passing yards and 4 TD's to go along with 80 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns. Last week (Week 12) the Eagles went to Chicago, where Vick once again posted 333 passing yards with 2 touchdown tosses.
With this dominance on the field, and Vick doing so much off of the field to win back fans, why is there still negative feelings towards him everywhere?
Here's a list of people who should have negative fans, but are barely even mentioned.
Donte' Stallworth - DUI Manslaughter: Received 30 days sentence in jail. Now plays for Baltimore Ravens
Ben Roethlisberger - Sexual Assault case (one of many): Six game suspension that was reduced to four. Now still is the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers
Ray Lewis - Murder: Charges dropped for a testimony against the other two men involved. Fined $250,000 by the NFL. Starting Middle Linebacker for Baltimore Ravens
That's a short list of the many names that have accumulated on the NFL's legal problems list. All of these charges are as bad as, if not worse than Vick's dog fighting scandal. Vick never killed a human being, or hurt one in any way. Donte Stallworth cost a man his life, and Ray Lewis was involved, one way or another, in more deaths. Ben Roethlisberger has changed a life forever with a sexual assault.
Yet Vick still has the most negative feelings of all of them.
BREAKING NEWS: THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!
Hopefully Vick is forgiven soon by the NFL fans, although it's unlikely to happen. I for one, have already forgiven the man. A long sentence and using his publicity to help organizations designed to stop illegal acts from happening is something that should change everyone's hearts. Vick is still one of my favorite players, and always will be. I think it's about time that he's seen as a human being instead of the monster he once was.
Kyle Brotzman missed two kicks for Boise State against Nevada this past Friday night.
Yes, I was a bit relieved to see Boise stumble and the National Championship talk to get a little bit more simple, but people are getting too intense on the situation at hand. Boise State lost in overtime to a good Nevada team, but Kyle Brotzman (Boise's kicker) shouldn't be the one to blame.
I learned early on in my football playing days that one player and one play doesn't win or lose a football game. If you're better than the team, you'll come out on top in the end. Yes, everyone has bad days, but it comes down to two things:
The coaches preparing the team to play and The players executing the plan.
If Boise was as good as some of the nation thought, they wouldn't have been in a "Winning Field Goal needed" situation. They would have posted more than 7 points in the second half. But the fact of the matter is, They didn't, and the image that is tagged onto that is Kyle Brotzman hanging his head after two missed field goals. Yes, his only job is to step on the field a handful of times a game and kick the ball between the goal posts, but it shouldn't have come down to that when a team that is ranked 15 spots lower comes to town.
But it did, and now Boise will be left out of the National Championship talk. It's too bad, I really wanted a playoff system implemented in the near future, and this would've helped that a ton.
That's all I've got for this post, coming up next:
LeBron's return to Cleveland
Go Rangers, Cowboys, Pokes, Mavs, and Stars!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vick#College_career
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?playerId=2549
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Lewis
http://espn.go.com/college-football/
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/early-lead/2010/09/ben_roethlisbergers_suspension.html
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4262751
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