In case anyone has missed it, Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick has found himself in the middle of serious legal allegations in which there’s suspicion he had involvement in a dog fighting ring conducted at a home he owns in Surry County, Virginia.
Let’s recap:
April 26th, one of Vick’s family members, Davon Boddie, was arrested on drug charges. Boddie’s home – which is owned by Vick – was suspected of foul play when officers found more than 50 dogs were malnourished and showed signs of neglect and abuse.
– April 27th, Vick blames family members for the condition of the dogs.
– April 30th, Vick was cleared of any involvement of the dog fighting and vows a lifestyle change in order to clean up his image.
– Most recently, however, the FBI has joined the investigation and uncovered a dog breeding business linked to Vick’s company, MV7, LLC, through a website called Vick’s K-9 Kennels. The website claims, “We do not promote, support or raise dogs for fighting and will not knowingly sell, give, or trade any dog that may be used for fighting.”
Here’s the thing, we’d all like to believe the FBI is going to seek out anyone who was involved and prosecute, but it’s not like Vick strolled down to Sam’s Club to buy the equipment necessary to run an operation like this. I assume it’s going to be tough for investigators to nail him on something as underground as dog fighting seems. Personally, I hope the FBI can uncover the truth and only one of two things happen. If Vick was involved, may the powers at be find the proper evidence and convict him as a criminal and not a superstar athlete. Or, if he was truly naïve to the situation and seriously intended to run a clean business in which some family members spun an illegal profit out of, then he needs to be properly exonerated and we as the media – at least in this situation – need to clear his name.
These athletes are getting too much star treatment for criminal acts and are under too much securitization when they’re truly innocent. I obviously don’t know if Vick is guilty or not, but I do know, “innocent until proven guilty” is just a novelty phrase these days (just look at the Duke Lacrosse-rape case). It’s extremely hard to believe Vick didn’t realize an illegal dog fighting ring was being conducted at a home he owned, but it’s not entirely out of the question either. Either way, Vick needs to put on the big boy pants and wake up, because he’s pissing away a career opportunity most would die for by constantly finding his name in the wrong headlines.
