NAACP and Vick

Don't really think the "Hey hunting is ok" argument is an effective one even though I'm not a big fan of blowing away ferocious and dangerous Bambi's either....Last I checked hunting is legal and dogfighting isn't...Guess it's the NAACP's way of pitting a mostly white sport (hunting) against a mostly black sport (dogfighting) even though I'm sure there is a large contingent of southern whites fighting Fido's as well

Plus...With most of the nation owning dogs and treating them like their own children...Is it a surprise this guy is getting creamed over hanging, drowning and electrocuting some of them

You don't mess with dogs in our society...It just doesn't sit well


NAACP official: Vick shouldn't be banned from NFL


ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The head of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP said Wednesday that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has made mistakes but that they should not cost him his football career with the NFL.

Vick is expected to plead guilty Monday to federal conspiracy charges in an illegal dogfighting operation.

R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his organization does not condone dogfighting or any other illegal activity, but he told reporters that Vick should be given a chance to redeem himself.

"In some instances, I believe Michael Vick has received more negative press than if he would've killed a human being," White said. "The way he is being persecuted, he wouldn't have been persecuted that much had he killed somebody."

White said he believes Vick cut a deal rather than roll the dice on a trial and take a chance on being found guilty, but "whatever he's done wrongly, he needs to pay for it.

White also said he didn't understand the uproar over dogfighting, when hunting deer and other animals is perfectly acceptable. Watch NAACP official say don't pile on Vick »

He urged the National Football League, the Atlanta Falcons and Vick's commercial sponsors not to dump the troubled athlete.

"We feel that whatever the courts demand as a punishment for what he has done, once he has paid his debt to society, then he should be treated like any other person in the NFL," White said.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have said they will not make a decision on Vick's future immediately.

After Vick's indictment last month, Goodell ordered the quarterback not to report to training camp until the league completed its review of the case. The NFL is considering what, if any, sanctions it should impose on Vick.

When Vick appears Monday in federal court in Richmond, Virginia, the details of his plea agreement will be made public. The judge in the case will have the final say over the plea agreement.

The deal, if accepted by the judge, means the 27-year-old football star will avoid more serious charges that would have been considered by a grand jury that convened this week.

Sources close to the case have said federal prosecutors offered to recommend an 18- to 36-month prison sentence for the suspended star quarterback for his alleged role in the dogfighting operation. Vick's attorneys were trying to reduce that to less than a year.

Vick's three co-defendants in the dogfighting case already accepted agreements to plead guilty in exchange for reduced sentences.

Court documents released last week showed that two of Vick's alleged partners said he helped kill dogs that didn't fight well and that the three men "executed approximately eight dogs" in ways that included hanging and drowning.

The dogs were killed because they fared poorly in "testing" sessions in April at Vick's property in Virginia, where the dog fighting venture was based, according to documents released following guilty pleas from two co-defendants -- Purnell Peace, 35, of Virginia Beach, and Quanis Phillips, 28, of Atlanta. See what Vick's former co-defendants admitted »

Peace and Phillips pleaded guilty Friday. A third man, Tony Taylor, 34, of Hampton, Virginia, pleaded guilty July 30.

In the court documents, Peace and Phillips said that the money behind the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting operation came "almost exclusively" from Vick, and they told prosecutors that other accusations in the 18-page indictment are true.

CNN's Mike Phelan Carol Cratty and contributed to this report.

All AboutMichael Vick • NFL Football

__________________
Dwight Schrute: Reject a woman and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind. Also, weak arms.

I’m glad about everything that is happening to him. When you become a NFL player and are given millions of dollars for your talent it is expected that you conduct yourself in a professional manner.

Raising dogs for the purpose of dog fights isn’t very professional.

to this article - dog fighting could somewhat be considered like hunting. But it’s more along the lines of hunting animals illegally from a motor vehicle/spot lighting the animals/ hunting out of season. All of which are highly illegal and have very serious consequences. If a white player was caught spot lighting someone’s domesticated animals and killing them for sport I think he would be made into an example as well.

Ummmm, last time I checked hunting did not involve pitting two animals against each other or torture. Can't say as though I've ever seen anyone put two deer against each other in a fight and then electrocute the loser. I could get behind fish fighting though. Two bass knocking each other senseless with thier tails until one is so exhausted it goes belly up. Now that I'd pay to see.

if my post is confusing i was saying that vicks skin color isnt important, he commited a crime and deserves what he gets.

then i made the compairson to a white nfl player getting caught spot lighting deer, how he would get punished as well.

but yeah, overall saying that fighting two dogs against each other for entertainment is anywhere close to hunting deer is about the furthest strech of b.s. ive ever heard.

Your talking about the NAACP here....what do you expect?

Vick's quotes at his plea hearing today...Includes the inevitable newfound religious statement...Is that in every lawyer's playbook or what?

In addition to making apologies to Atlanta Falcons teammates, his coach and the National Football League, Vick also said he was sorry "to all the young kids out there for my immature acts."

"What I did was very immature so that means I need to grow up," he said.

He said that he was "disappointed in myself" and that "dogfighting is a terrible thing and I ... reject it."

He said, "Through this situation I've found Jesus."

__________________
Dwight Schrute: Reject a woman and she will never let it go. One of the many defects of their kind. Also, weak arms.

Yippee! Another NFL football star converts... wait a minute... what was he converting from?



Please, give us all a break here, Michael Vick, and do your time. And do it quietly.

yeah, he needs to shut up.

there are some i know who would suggest justice over punishment, such as roll him around on a large tray of fresh cut steaks, stick 2 in his pockets, and place him in a 6x8 kennel with 4 or 5 of the well trained ones.

Sounds a bit harsh to me ... them animals deserve good quality grub.