There was once a man that was at the pinnacle of his career. Lost it all, spent time in jail, came back to be one of the top quarterbacks in a league not dominated by the "type" of quarterback he is. Complete 62% of his passes finished with the highest qb rating in his career. Took his team to the playoffs, won the division, lost to the would be super bowl champions. Sounds like a no brainer for a guy to be on the front of Madden 2012.
Enter another man, who had a great season for a power back. 270 carries for 1,177 yards and 11 tds. He amassed numerous bruising highlight reel runs during the 2010 season. Team went 5-11 finished 3rd in a VERY tough division. Very admirable job, but just not Madden cover worthy.
Does this just seem wrong.
Michael Vick had a season for the ages. Pro Bowl Season may I add. His performance against the Washington Redskins was absolutely astonishing. His poise during the tough questions was impeccable. His development as a quarterback and as a man was nothing short of amazing. Becoming a pass first quarterback under the watch of Andy Reid was something that he was NEVER supposed to be able to do. He defeated the odds, returned to glory.
At what point do you stop holding on to what a man did over and focus on what the man is doing? Michael Vick did the crime. Yes, he was found to be associated with the dog fighting ring and did two years in prison. He was released from prison and did all that the courts as well as the NFL required to be in good standing. He sought assistance from Tony Dungy and credits a lot of his changes and success to he as well as to God. His demeanor is different; He's not dealing with childish antics, keeping his name out of negative situations, and being a positive role model. PETA and all these other "christian" organizations are claiming to be for the rights of animals & people, yet are stripping away the rights of a man that did his time and paid his dues to society. Have none of you self righteous people ever done anything that needed to be forgiven?
Make it known, I am NOT, I repeat am NOT saying that fighting dogs is okay.
But...
What I am saying is that there have been for more crimes that people are looking over! Dante' Stallworth ran over a man while he was drunk. Did 30 days in jail, and no one else MENTIONS IT! Yet every opportunity the media gets, they are talking about Michael Vick's "troubled past". You read on message boards how they would never vote for a dog killer for the cover of a game, how people are claiming that they will boycott products if Michael Vick is given an endorsement deal with the company. There are people on message boards wishing that he would get hurt, saying that it is not fair that he gets to play football again. He doesn't deserve to live a normal life because he hurt dogs? Really? What about all the other animals that people are killing and making the endangered species list longer everyday? PETA is still stalking this man. We, the media, never report how he mentors kids, visits jails, mentors young players. No one would've known that he was there to mentor TyRod Taylor as he prepared for the NFL draft.
The cover of Madden is only a pebble compared to the mountain of an biased opinion of a world that gives everyone but black athletes a second chance. The issue is that biased opinions are trying to destroy the image that Michael Vick is working hard to rebuild. Organizations are standing up for the rights of animals, but who is going to stand up for the rights of Michael Vick?
