Vick's Addiction to Dog Fighting
YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia, Commentary, 
, 
, Charles Jones, Posted: Aug 03, 2007
Editor’s Note: Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick may face up to six years in prison for his alleged dog fighting activities – which he supposedly participated in with close friends. New America Media contributor Charles Jones wonders where Vick’s street smarts and his real friends went as he engaged in an activity as brutal as the NFL. Jones is a founding editor at YO! Youth Outlook Multimedia. Audio from Street Soldiers Radio.
OAKLAND Calif. --“Mike, Mike, Mike…what were you thinking?” I mumbled to myself while watching as ESPN broke down the federal pit bull fighting charges against Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick.
I am not questioning why he would fight dogs or even why he would bet on the fights. What bothers me is that he obviously never considered that he could be busted. I assumed that Mike being from the hood and all had some type of street sense about him. See, anyone I know who has “street sense” and any marginal level of fame would know far better than to plaster even a semi-famous face all over some criminal enterprise. What was he doing wearing his own jersey to the pit bull fights? What bothers me – and Vick even more, I’m assuming – about this whole thing is that he was “keeping it real” and looking out for his folks once he got the money. Michael Vick, to his credit, didn't forget where he comes from.
Houses, cars, gifts – Vick had made good, and would be good to those around him. Which is why I can’t understand for the life of me why neither T, Q or Peace – his co-defendants and lifelong friends – didn’t warn him about the dangers of being so openly involved in a criminal franchise. It's one thing to be the money man, a behind-the-scenes benefactor; it's another to show up to a crime scene wearing your own jersey, personalized Nike's, holding your Wheaties box, and drinking a bottle of Gatorade. T and Q are the ones who supposedly killed the least vicious of the pit bulls via head bashing, electrocution, hanging, and the only the slightly more merciful, well-placed bullet.
VIDEO: YO!TV asks dog owners at San Francisco's Dolores Park about dog fighting. BONUS LINK -- I Am My Rooster
This is a streaming MP4 video - you'll need Quicktime 6 or later to view it.
If anyone I love or even cared about in any real way had the money and position Vick has, I'd chase him from the spot if I saw him participating in so much as a dice game. “What the f--k is wrong with you?! You know it's hot for you out here!” I'd say. So why is it that apparently none of these dudes who lived in his houses and helped him spend his money never laced him? If for no other reason than to look out for their own interest, these fellows should have had the sense to introduce Mike to the concept of the “silent partner.”
Don't get me wrong. I am not supporting the idea that Vick be involved in any criminal action, but the fact is, it could be worse. Vick is from the ghetto, a wild fast-paced, aggressive place where weaker, or even just less aggressive, people get run over. This is what drove him to the football field away from the hood, and this is what drives him on the football field. So not only is pro-football the best place to apply this attitude and passion, it also pays out the ass. It comes with fame and accolades. People put up posters of your face on their walls; they buy shoes and jerseys because your name is on them. Throw in Vick's physical beauty (yeah, I said it: he's beautiful) and his charisma, and you have the formula for what Vick is (or was): The poster boy for the 'Black Athlete' of the hip-hop generation.
The problem is that the season eventually ends and the lights are turned off, which is what we then ask these men to do – turn themselves off. Turn off the aggression, turn off their competitive nature, combative attitude and passion. Ever year after the Super Bowl, we fully expect our gladiators to just turn off their blood lust. What we, or at least NFL should be offering is psychiatric counseling and mentoring from NFL alumni. Shoot, why not give Al Sharpton a job -- life-coaching young black athletes, so he can stop goin' around getting people fired!
My thing is, given the nature of the sport and the background of some of these players, the NFL takes far too little responsibility. I don't see how professional sports leagues can get away with offering only “morality clauses” or “conduct policies” as preventative measures against acts of off field aggression. Besides that, the NFL, NBA and we, as fans, put far too much pressure on these men to be role models. Breaking federal law should be enough to get you fired from any job and everyone is personally responsible for their own actions, but who are we to appoint reluctant heroes and expect out of them any true virtue when almost none can be found anywhere else in society? We live in a country where fathers beat their family members, or altogether abandon them at alarming rates, where mothers nourish their drug habits before their own children. Hundreds of priests nationwide are accused of having sexually assaulted thousands of children for decades. Scott Peterson and Bobby Hutch. The murder of Idris Stelley by SFPD. Rodney King. The NASA chick with the B.B gun, the duct tape and the diaper. This is our nation. Who are we to demand that Michael Vick be a role model?
Now ESPN is reporting that Tony “T” Taylor, Vick's co-defendant, lifelong friend and “co-founder” of the alleged dog-fighting enterprise that was Bad Newz Kennels is turning snitch and will be the fed's star witness against Vick in his upcoming trial. Mike, Mike, Mike. When you get to OZ, you should ask for a brain.
Contact Charles Jones at challiray@hotmail.com
AUDIO: Callers into Street Soldiers radio comment on the pressures African American athletes face when they come from the streets and never learn how to leave the streets.
Jonathan -- "It Goes Both Ways."
(4m 32s, mp3, 3.1MB) Download File
Eric -- "How Can You Live Like an Angel when you are Surrounded by Devils."
(2m 23s, mp3, 1.6MB) Download File
Dave -- "I'm going to say one word, off top, Stupid."
(3m 20s, mp3, 2.3MB) Download File
Aaron -- "Sometimes it's hard in the streets."
(6m 55s, mp3, 4.8MB) Download File
More from Charles Jones:
Why Kids Fight Their Pit Bulls -- A Conversation in the Hood
Tell Me When To Go 'Hyphy' -- The Bay Area Gets Back on the Hip Hop Map
O.G.s vs. Youngstas: The Generation War Within the War in Hunters Point
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User Comments
tay on Aug 29, 2007 at 16:36:15 said:
i'm appalled because you continue to reiterate what people already feel about the "ghetto" not everybody or everything from the ghettoo is hard, criminal and subprime. Some of the most down to earth and smart people hail from there. sure there's crime and stuff but this article sucks.
Shaniqua on Aug 19, 2007 at 06:21:52 said:
I agree. I'm from the hood, and I did something positive with my life. I'm sick of our people using excuses as to why they are a victim. You are a victim because you have done something wrong, not because of where you come from. We all have choices,and being a good person isn't about "not getting caught". The measure of a person's true character is what he or she would do if they knew they would never be found out. Vick was stupid, but more important than that, Vick is an evil person. No one with any sense of good in them could allow this to happen in front of them, let alone FUND IT. Make all the excuses you want. Vick was given an opportunity by God, to have all that he wanted and needed in this world, and what did he do?? He spit in God's face by torturing one of his creations for fun. Sickening.
Jacque on Aug 19, 2007 at 06:09:56 said:
Are you kidding me? This article brings me back to the old saying, "You can take the boy out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the boy." Any decent human being that comes into money uses that money for good causes...not to kill and endanger animals. I say that Vick should be able to play for the NFL again, provided that everytime homeboy screws up, we can wet him down and electrocute him or throw him into a raping chamber. And if he really messes up, someone should shoot him, drown him, or body slam him for his lack of performance. Vick is a dispicable human being, who used his fortune and fame for useless and malicious activities. This article makes me sick, and so do you, Charlie.
nghi dinh on Aug 17, 2007 at 13:36:02 said:
Grow some nuts, put on some gloves and get in a ring and fight your own damned self. Getting a dog to fight for you? Isn't that like Pokemon? Cowards, all looking for the thrill of the fight without any of the pain.
Meggan on Aug 03, 2007 at 09:41:10 said:
I'm absolutely appauled by take the writer of this article is going for. There are SO MANY WRONGS in this article, I don't even know where to begin. Rather than waste my time on responding to each of them, I'll say this... from the sounds of the writer, he too is a thug that truly doesn't care about animals one way or the other. It's quite obvious from paragraph after paragraph above. He should be ashamed of himself and this online mag should have thought twice before allowing him to publish such stupid and hurtful comments. If the writer knew his "friends" were involved in this type of operation and his decision was to just stay away from it versus turning these friends into the authorities, that truly does show what type of person this writer is. And how dare this writer say that this was JUST dogfighting. I'm absolutely appauled after reading this. What goes around comes around.
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