What "could have" been (Getty Images)
I waited for a few days before I decided to post this blog. I guess part of my rationale was that I was “too close” to this subject. Too many times I have allowed my Sagittarius nature to kick in and I started to write or speak without thinking things through. But this comment kept gnawing at me until I finally said, “just put it out there.”
I had very mixed emotions with the announcement that Michael Vick had finally been picked up by a NFL team to play, now that he is out of jail. As a lot of writers have already done, I will admit that I love dogs. I have two girl mutts, whom I saved from a shelter and wandering the streets of northwest Atlanta. They are beautiful. The day I brought the younger dog home to meet the “queen” dog, it made me sick to my stomach when they got into a little skirmish over territorial rights in the back yard. So you KNOW I couldn’t take witnessing an actual dog fight. I’ve seen a little on various television shows, but never in person. Nor would I ever want to see that. This is not about the guilt or innocence of Michael Vick. What I want to address is whether we really are going to witness the resurrection of Michael.
I am still trying to release my anger towards Michael. It’s not because of the dog issue. It’s because he instilled so much hope in the Atlanta Falcons that we COULD be a contender, a winning team. He had elevated respect for a long-suffering team. We had bet the mortgage on him. Then, he let us down. He did something that hurt the team. That’s what pisses me off. He hurt my Falcons and it is taking me a lot time to get over that.
Years ago when Michael was the “star” of the Falcons who could do no evil and who even had Arthur Blank pushing him around in a wheelchair and I was an aggressive television executive producer, Michael was not on my list of “top ten professional athlete personalities.” I came to that conclusion when I was trying to do fun type interviews with various players at the Falcons facility for my show. Michael and “his people” continuously swept past me and refused to give interviews even though everyone else on the team was cooperating. As Tony Dungy said, Michael was acting like “he didn’t need Jesus in his life” at that time. So, as the old folks say, I knew he was “cruisin’ for a bruisin’” and that’s what he got.
But with Dungy at his side at his first “freedom” news conference, I saw and heard an entirely different Michael Vick and I was so happy to see that. Yes, it was obvious that he was well coached on his answers. Good for him. Some of these other professional athletes out here need some of that coaching. Michael spoke so much better than I have heard him for so many years. And that makes me happy. What makes me sad is knowing that a man who has so much God-given talent is no longer on MY TEAM. Not only that, but we are going to have to play against Michael and his new birds. Only time…and Michael’s actions… will determine if he was telling the truth. I think he was. I think he has found Jesus.
Posted by sidmel 