NFL Commissioner Goodell Orders Falcons’ Michael Vick to Skip Training Camp Until League Reviews Dogfighting Charges
It’s great that Commissioner Goodell has come to this decision but why should Vick continue to get paid while he cools it at home in his doubtless very expensive swimming pool? How about this, Mr. Goodell? Put Vick’s salary in an escrow account. If he’s proven guiltless, then he gets the money. If not, the money in the account goes to organizations helping dogs rescued from scumbag dogfighters.
Thanks to Diesel Blue for barking over this news from MSNBC.com.
NFL commish orders Vick to stay out of camp
Falcons quarterback must sit while league reviews dogfighting chargesNEW YORK – Michael Vick was ordered by commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday to stay away from the Atlanta Falcons’ training camp until the league reviews the dogfighting charges against him.
“While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the National Football League to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violated league policies, including the Personal Conduct Policy,” Goodell said in a letter to the quarterback.The NFL said Vick would still get his preseason pay and Goodell told the Falcons to withhold any disciplinary action of their own until the league’s review was completed.
Goodell told Vick the league would complete its review as quickly as possible and that he expected full cooperation. The review is expected to involve conversations with federal law enforcement officials so the NFL can determine the strength of the case against Vick.
The Falcons open camp on Thursday, the same day Vick is scheduled to be arraigned in Richmond, Va., on charges of sponsoring a dogfighting operation.
The team declined comment other than to say a news conference was scheduled Tuesday at owner Arthur Blank’s office in Atlanta.
Vick, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft, last season became the first quarterback ever to rush for more than 1,000 yards.
After his indictment last week, the NFL’s position was that it would monitor developments and allow the legal process to “determine the facts.”
Since then, pressure has been mounting on the league and the Falcons, particularly from animal-rights groups.
PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — demonstrated at Falcons’ headquarters in Flowery Branch, Ga., on Monday and did the same outside NFL offices in New York last week. At the same time, Goodell was meeting with officials from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The league and the ASPCA are working on a program to educate players about the proper treatment of animals.
Activists also put pressure on companies that have endorsements deals with Vick to sever their ties. Nike said it would not release a fifth signature shoe, the Air Zoom Vick V, this summer. Nike spokesman Dean Stoyer said the four shoe products and three shirts that currently bear Vick’s name will remain in stores.
Goodell’s order came down after lengthy discussions involving the league office, the Falcons and the NFL Players’ Association. Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA’s executive director, was one of the first to side with Goodell when he instituted the strong Personal Conduct Policy after a season of repeated misdeeds by players.
Disciplining players has turned out to be Goodell’s main focus since taking over last Sept. 1 for the retired Paul Tagliabue.
Follow this link to read the rest of the article.
Dog fighting is bad. Everybody has made that point. But Vick has not been found guilty. Has not made an appearance in court. An indictment is an indictment. The defense cannot question any evidence presented. The world needs to calm down and take a step back. Suspend Vick? For what? Allegedly he participated in this dog fighting ring. He has not been found guilty. I think some people who have been indicted have been found not guilty. Call me crazy but I think it has happened before. How can the NFL suspend Vick for violating conduct policy when these are just allegations? 1+1 does not equal 3. The league would have to determine that Vick is guilty of some or all of the allegations. That’s nonsense for the NFL to put themselves in that position. I know the NFL wants to control everything, hence the No Fun League nickname, but the NFL is not the law. If I were Vick I would sue the league for an unfair suspension and for possibly tainting a potential jury pool. All this boils down to is humans watching animals for entertainment. Your entertainment maybe another’s disgrace. What about the zoos, amusement parks, horse racing, dog tracks etc. All entertainment for humans. Just because you call an animal Fido and bring it into your home, you want to scream and shout about dog fighting. Go into the wild and jump into the water with some killer whales and play with them. I don’t think you’re going to have a Sea World experience. Do you honestly believe horses want to run around a track for our “entertainment”? Please all this so-called public outrage needs to end. PETA, or should I say ambulance chasers, need to shut up. PETA, supporters of PETA, dog owners, and everybody else, would want the same opportunity to prove themselves innocent; No matter how heinous the allegations are. Vick will have his day in court and he will have to deal with the outcome. Oh by the way, I own a dog. I adopted him from the pound. He is 7years old and I love him. Please end this nonsense and stop pointing fingers. Its is ridiculous
The way I see it, the NFL acted like any other employer when they suspended Vick pending an investigation. If you open the newspaper or listen to the news you will find many instances of teachers and police officers being suspended with or without pay pending investigations into their conduct. These people are also suspended, often without pay, before having their day in court. I see this as a positive step by the NFL that he will not receive preferential treatment like so many athletes do.
As for PETA, I was pleased yesterday as I listened to a local radio personality say that this dog fighting issue is not a just a PETA issue; regular folks that don’t even own dogs are just as sickened. Too bad the national press is latching on to PETA and making it appear they are the only ones outraged. Dog fighting is disgusting and evil. People who are involved in dog fighting are also disgusting and evil. They not only hurt their own dogs, but they steal other people’s dogs and mutilate them. These families are left broken hearted and tormented. Take the case of Kahn, a Newfoundland that was stolen, used as “training dog”, mutilated, and discarded by the road. He is just one of the many casualties of this cruel “sport”.
[link=http://justiceforkahn.bravehost.com/]Justice for Kahn[/link]
I hope justice is swift and blind to the fact that Vick is an elite athlete and celebrity, and he is punished to the fullest extent of the law. We all know that celebrities do get preferential treatment (OJ Simpson).
“Your entertainment maybe another’s disgrace. What about the zoos, amusement parks, horse racing, dog tracks etc….”
Zoo, horse racing and dog tracks do not involve cruelly pitting animal against animal until DEATH… big difference, I think.
For Dominic-As we all know the media portrays things a little different then the truth. He has to be suspended as the media has already portrayed him as a hero and the children look up to him, now this. We cannot have our kids thinking that dog fighting is any sort of entertainment! This is why us “rescue groups” are so busy. There are alot of problems with the way humans handle animals but again the media has brought this front and center so it is time to do something about it. Now as for jumping in the ocean and playing with a whale, that’s ridiculous, leave the wild animals alone and let nature take its course. That is in no way the same thing. Dogfighting is the humans FORCING the animals to kill each other with no other choice.
I adopted a pitbull who was used as a bait dog. Do you think he had a choice. Don’t be so stupid!!! You are probably just a football fan with money riding on the Falcons. I think you may want to take a look at all the abused and abandoned animals out there instead of thinking about football season.
Details of Vick’s bond appearance at the Richmond, VA U.S. District Courthouse are on the website:
http://www.michaelvickkillsdogs.info
If you are in the Richmond area, please try to join in protest in front of the courthouse. It is the public outcry which finally convinced Goodell to ban Vick from pre-season training camp. So our efforts and cries of outrage are working, but we must keep it going and amplify it if we are to expect the NFL and the Falcons to do the right and moral thing. Here is a snippet from Sports Illustrated article (published today, July 24th):
“Goodell didn’t decide to do that last week because the cacophony of protest wasn’t yet loud enough. It is now. That makes this a whole new ballgame for Vick in the eyes of the NFL and the Falcons..”
Here are the details of Vick’s upcoming bond appearance:
Join in Protest:
Thursday, July 26, 2007: Vick is required to appear for a bond hearing on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Dennis W. Dohnal.
Date: July 26, 2007
Time: 3:30 p.m. (EDT)
Division: Richmond
Judge: Dennis W. Dohnal
Place: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.
Address: (Click HERE for court location, hours, parking & directions)
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
U.S. Courthouse
1000 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Note: Court schedules are updated every two hours from 7:30 am to 9:30 pm on weekdays. Click HERE to check for schedule updates.
In response to Dominic:
I for one am not a member of PETA myself. While I know that there intentions may be good, sometimes a few bad apples give everyone a bad name. But this ‘alleged’ incident transcends PETA and some of its radical members. You don’t need to be an ‘abulance chaser’ or member of PETA to realize that breeding animals for the sport of maiming each other for human interest more than just a passing hobby. The fact that if the animals don’t perform to certain standards and then are summarily beaten, electrocuted, is beyond my moral comprehension…..
While you make some statements that are indeed true: innocent until proven otherwise, and the fact this is only an indictments so far does not mitigate the fact something went down, illegally, on his property. I cannot see how anyone can come to a conclusion that one doesn’t know what goes on at his/her own property for six years. If this was one isolated incident, maybe there may indeed be an explanation. Or if there was one or two dogs involved. But Dominic, there were 50+ dogs on one property. You cannot tell me that Mr Vick had no clue what was going on for six years on his property with over 50 animals….
Even for the “way out there” sake of arguement he wasn’t directly involved, he had to have known through his entourage, family, grounds keepers, that were ‘dog-fighting’ items on his property. And if I were an owner of dogs that I truly cared about, I’d demand why all my dogs suddenly had scars all over their body, and perhaps have them treated at local vets, and find out what the heck was happening at ‘my property; when I was not there. However, I guess having 50+ scarred and agressive dogs collected over half a decade is the norm Dominic?
While indeed his personal life and NFL may be seperate to some, Mr. Vick ‘represents’ the league everytime he puts on that uniform and collects his pay check. To have any employee that sports your company (in this case franchise) name to the mass public and who is in the eye of children as a hero be involved in something so negative and deplorable is bad business. It was the right thing to do what the NFL did and (IMHO it was not enough…) hopefully sends a message to the otehr players who think they are above the law because they have money and talent.
Dominic, sorry to hear you have a dog. Surprised that he has made it seven years with someone like you watching over him. Are you sure you belong on this site? Tell me please, if you owned property and two of your best friends were using it for dog fighting would you not know it was going on? Regardless if he participated or not, he knew what was going on and didn’t try to stop it! And, I’m sure a greedy, money hungry, jerk would not pass up the chance at $26,000! So, don’t tell me that you are so uneducated to believe that he is not guilty! If he pays the money he could buy a not guilty verdict, because as we all know money talks! If we set this as a fair way to treat animals it should be fair to treat humans this was as well…just wondering, will you be first in the line of people that I get to beat in the head until you stop breathing or maybe I’ll just drown you…I’ll be nice and let you pick!
Please help me get as many protestors as I can to Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR on August 25th. We intend to rally dogs and dog owners, we will be dumping our Nikes at Nikes door unless they dump Michael Vick.
Visit my website and take action against Nike on August 25th.
http://www.ilovemydogmore.com
Dominic,
Michael Vick at one bragged about breeding dogs, Pit Bulls and Canine Presarios. His AKC Registered kennel was located “SURPRISE” on Moonlight Road, the same address that the dog fighting ring was found. He had a website: http://www.vicksk9kennels.com that showed his dogs and had the address listed. The website is no longer working… shocker huh???
The Feds don’t get involved unless they are pretty darn sure that they can win the case. They win 98% of their cases.
I mean no disrespect, nor will I attack you or the love you have for your dog.
Please understand that I am not a PETA person, do not approve of their shock value tactics. They may have good ideas, but go about their mission in very wrong ways.
Thursday Michael Vick and his business partners will have one of many days in court.
As a resident of Richmond, VA I have had to pleasure of hearing all of the wonderful things the Vick boys have been up too…. pulling a gun on a kid at a McD’s in Hampton (Marcus), the Herpes test (Ron Mexico) and of course the lovely water bottle incident.
What is truly sad about all this… Michael Vick had an opportunity to do some very good things, set examples for the kids. Don’t know about you, but I am sure the fans of Atlanta won’t miss him giving them the “Finger” any time soon.
And yes, my friends and I will be out in front of the Fed Building on Thursday, standing in silence in memory of the beloved dogs that lost their lives at the hands of the people who should have cared and loved them.
There’s proof he executed dogs by his own hands – 8 in one day from what i understand!!! there is no need to wait for the courts to decide if he’s innocent or guilty to suspend his psychologically twisted, sorry ass from the NFL PERMANENTLY – get him out! We don’t need kids and other people around the country or the world looking up to this “heroic” football player who is not heroic at all but more or less a murderer! Do you enjoy watching someone like this make millions of dollars a year?? dog fighting is not entertainment – it’s macho, it’s disgusting and it’s repulsive. Whether or not justice is served to him in court, there is definitely a special place in hell reserved just for him!
“clear his GOOD name” – buddy your name has already been tarnished, and thank goodness for that!
If there is anything good about the Michael Vick story, it is that there is an emerging increased awareness about animal cruelty and animal fighting. However…
I think it is a sad commentary that we, as a culture, are using the Vick story to compare “What’s worse?� “What’s worse�, we ask, “carelessly fathering illegitimate children, or dogfighting?�. “Dogfighting or gambling?� “Dogfighting or rape?� “Dogfighting or racism?� “Dogfighting or hateful nationalism?� “Dogfighting or (fill in the blank)….?� The comparisons to dogfighting have been endless.
Dogfighting is one more piece of evidence our country is in need of a spiritual transformation (please note I said spiritual and not necessarily religious). Animals are sentient beings – they feel pain, and they suffer, just like we do. They are not more important, or less important than human beings, but like human beings, they are important, too.
Every major faith teaches its followers to be responsible stewards of animals and the Earth. Please help us get the word out that caring for animals, just like caring for people, is an important part of just being a decent person and citizen. If we make this a priority, there will be no more dogfighting horror stories, and no more pointless comparisons of evils. Let us all rise, together, to be better people than we are today, shall we?
Chaplain Nancy Cronk
Founder, http://www.AnimalChaplains.com
As an owner of a beautiful German Shephard and an equally spiritied Mini-Schnauzer, I was really upset initially with Mr. Vick’s decisions. Then I thought that in some countries dogs are domesticated, farmed and eaten as food. Wow! Talk about terrible! Then I thought, what about the animals we in the U.S.A. domesticate, farm and eat. Who is standing up for the plight of the helpless chickens and cows…what about the pigs and turkeys? Yeah, yeah, I know what you are going to say…it was just a thought anyway.