You're right a single issue doesn't color ones life. I do however find it ironic that Dungy is often celebrated for supporting families, while he also actively works against families of gay people.
i think it's easier to set that issue aside when you're not directly affected by the stance. It's admirable that he does so much for the black community, but it seems as if his charity is conditional. Yes, his stance on gay marriage and homosexuality doesn't necessarily color his career (unless he's had some dealings with gay players and employees), but it does color his life and legacy. It's a part of who he is, and how he's chosen to represent himself. I hold the same view of many of the heroes that we choose to celebrate. Rick Warren does a lot of good, but I still hold him accountable for his anti-gay stance, as well.
The one thing I agree with is that Vick has done his time. Unlike many professional athletes who physically abuse women and get away with it either because of their fame or a payoff (and go on to popular accolades), Vick has done his time. Dog fighting is barbaric, but it's in the rear view mirror. No one has to root for Michael Vick, but he should be given the opportunity to pursue a career, which he trained for at a reputable American university and performed in as a professional. The only factor that should be considered is his behavior in the present tense.
I don't buy that. What employer doesn't take a prospective employee's part into acount? Doing your time doesn't guarantee you a job, whether or not you've trained for it in a reputable university and performed professionally or not. If I went to jail for dogfighting, I'd never be able to teach again. Doing time usually hurts your ability to work in your chosen field. This is true for just about everybody. I don't see why Vick deserves special treatment. I really don't care if the NFL wants to give him a second chance, but I don't think they owe him squat.
Teaching is not quite the same thing as playing football. Should convicted hard drug users be forbidden to act in films? Sing on stage? In addition, as my comment suggested, I believe there is a bit of hypocrisy going on in the other direction in the Vick case. Athletes--famous ones--beat up and sexually abuse women--not only continue to play, but get accolades for their performances. Insofar as the NFL owing anything to him; unless they have a regulation on their books that prohibits exconvicts from playing, they owe him what they owe any other citizen--a right to compete for a job.
Yeah, I suppose they owe him the right to complete. But I also think they'd be perfectly within their rights to say that his image and/ or character make him not worth it.
I don't really care if some team (at least one that I don't root for) wants to give him a job. But I just don't buy into the notion that Vick's never playing football again would be some gross miscarriage of justice. Our actions carry consequences that go beyond the legal. Plenty of excons who have done their time have trouble getting jobs bagging groceries at Safeway. I've got some sympathy for those folks. Letting an ex-millionaire get another shot at being filthy rich again? My heart's just not bleeding for the guy. (I feel the same way about the rapists and wifebeaters).
I agree. We're not talking about Vick returning to a Petco--his crime is wholly unrelated to the line of work to which he's looking to return. I can understand the purely mercenary argument that hiring Vick as your quarterback is not worth the business risk, but to inject any element of continued punishment into it strikes me as ridiculous. In fact, I'd sooner bar Tony Dungy--a mostly admirable person who advocates at least one position that's deeply offensive to many people--from the NFL than Michael Vick--someone with no known opinions about any issue, who did something bad and has been duly punished for it.
Celebrities do not live in the same world as the rest of us whether we would like to think so or not. People who make tens of millions of dollars per year do not live in the same world as people who make $10/hr, $20/hr, or even $100,000/year. Someone who is a movie star, for example, can go back to being a movie star after being in trouble with the law as long as some producer out there thinks there is money to be made. Michael Vick will play football again if some NFL team thinks he can win games for them so they can make more money.
None of this is true for a retail clerk at Petco which is why Petco can afford to be concerned about felony convictions.
However, it's good to hear that Tony Dungy cares about Vick.
Dogfighting is one of the most brutal forms of animal abuse and all animal abuse is brutal. If Vick's story turned out to be one of redemption, that would be amazing, but I doubt it will be.
I think that caring about animals is something that people learn fairly early in life. I just don't believe that anyone who could drown and mutilate dogs for entertainment could ever really care about animal abuse even after serving time. Those feelings just aren't there.
Hopefully, it's not too late for someone like Tony Dungy to help Vick. I didn't grow up with a father and I can't even imagine what it would be like. I wouldn't mind getting advice from Tony Dungy.
Here's a piece no one cared about. Meh, whatever, probably the most enjoyable article I did during my stint at TIME. Premiered a month before I got laid-off. The nail in the coffin? Ya think?
Here's me going after Al. I didn't so much have a problem with him, as I had a problem with media acting like this dude was the go-to guy for everything black.
This was my first real story at time. I was writing for the Business section, a real change of direction for me. At any rate, it's about Wal-Mart's attempts to colonize the inner-city. As much as I enjoyed this piece, I mostly enjoyed going out to Chicago, which is a beautiful, beautiful city.
This a piece I did about the cops just outside our nation capitol, in Prince George's County, a few years back. I wanted to offer a counter to the dumb, conventional wisdom that if you paint your police force black, you could eradicate police brutality. In fact, Prince George's--one of the richest, blackest counties in the country--also had one of the most brutal police force's in the country.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Best advice for Vick I have heard.
Deleted. Leave the man's son out of it.
I'm hardly a Dungy fan, but people kill themselves for all kinds of reasons. Mental illness and poor parenting don't always go together.
Putting his son's suicide aside, it is hard to reconcile Dungy's celebrated image with his anti-gay stance.
Thats because you seem to believe one issue colors the man's whole life and career. It surely does not.
You're right a single issue doesn't color ones life. I do however find it ironic that Dungy is often celebrated for supporting families, while he also actively works against families of gay people.
i think it's easier to set that issue aside when you're not directly affected by the stance. It's admirable that he does so much for the black community, but it seems as if his charity is conditional. Yes, his stance on gay marriage and homosexuality doesn't necessarily color his career (unless he's had some dealings with gay players and employees), but it does color his life and legacy. It's a part of who he is, and how he's chosen to represent himself. I hold the same view of many of the heroes that we choose to celebrate. Rick Warren does a lot of good, but I still hold him accountable for his anti-gay stance, as well.
The one thing I agree with is that Vick has done his time. Unlike many professional athletes who physically abuse women and get away with it either because of their fame or a payoff (and go on to popular accolades), Vick has done his time. Dog fighting is barbaric, but it's in the rear view mirror. No one has to root for Michael Vick, but he should be given the opportunity to pursue a career, which he trained for at a reputable American university and performed in as a professional. The only factor that should be considered is his behavior in the present tense.
I don't buy that. What employer doesn't take a prospective employee's part into acount? Doing your time doesn't guarantee you a job, whether or not you've trained for it in a reputable university and performed professionally or not. If I went to jail for dogfighting, I'd never be able to teach again. Doing time usually hurts your ability to work in your chosen field. This is true for just about everybody. I don't see why Vick deserves special treatment. I really don't care if the NFL wants to give him a second chance, but I don't think they owe him squat.
"prospective employee's PAST" - oops!
Teaching is not quite the same thing as playing football. Should convicted hard drug users be forbidden to act in films? Sing on stage? In addition, as my comment suggested, I believe there is a bit of hypocrisy going on in the other direction in the Vick case. Athletes--famous ones--beat up and sexually abuse women--not only continue to play, but get accolades for their performances. Insofar as the NFL owing anything to him; unless they have a regulation on their books that prohibits exconvicts from playing, they owe him what they owe any other citizen--a right to compete for a job.
Yeah, I suppose they owe him the right to complete. But I also think they'd be perfectly within their rights to say that his image and/ or character make him not worth it.
I don't really care if some team (at least one that I don't root for) wants to give him a job. But I just don't buy into the notion that Vick's never playing football again would be some gross miscarriage of justice. Our actions carry consequences that go beyond the legal. Plenty of excons who have done their time have trouble getting jobs bagging groceries at Safeway. I've got some sympathy for those folks. Letting an ex-millionaire get another shot at being filthy rich again? My heart's just not bleeding for the guy. (I feel the same way about the rapists and wifebeaters).
I agree. We're not talking about Vick returning to a Petco--his crime is wholly unrelated to the line of work to which he's looking to return. I can understand the purely mercenary argument that hiring Vick as your quarterback is not worth the business risk, but to inject any element of continued punishment into it strikes me as ridiculous. In fact, I'd sooner bar Tony Dungy--a mostly admirable person who advocates at least one position that's deeply offensive to many people--from the NFL than Michael Vick--someone with no known opinions about any issue, who did something bad and has been duly punished for it.
good article. thanks for the hat tip, Coates.
Celebrities do not live in the same world as the rest of us whether we would like to think so or not. People who make tens of millions of dollars per year do not live in the same world as people who make $10/hr, $20/hr, or even $100,000/year. Someone who is a movie star, for example, can go back to being a movie star after being in trouble with the law as long as some producer out there thinks there is money to be made. Michael Vick will play football again if some NFL team thinks he can win games for them so they can make more money.
None of this is true for a retail clerk at Petco which is why Petco can afford to be concerned about felony convictions.
However, it's good to hear that Tony Dungy cares about Vick.
Dogfighting is one of the most brutal forms of animal abuse and all animal abuse is brutal. If Vick's story turned out to be one of redemption, that would be amazing, but I doubt it will be.
I think that caring about animals is something that people learn fairly early in life. I just don't believe that anyone who could drown and mutilate dogs for entertainment could ever really care about animal abuse even after serving time. Those feelings just aren't there.
Hopefully, it's not too late for someone like Tony Dungy to help Vick. I didn't grow up with a father and I can't even imagine what it would be like. I wouldn't mind getting advice from Tony Dungy.