Steelers Sign Mike Vick: My Thoughts

Today, the Pittsburgh Steelers made giant headlines. They signed Michael Vick to be a back-up quarterback for Ben Roethlisberger. There isn't a whole lot to say about this from a football standpoint because frankly, it's not a big deal at all. Yes, Vick was a superstar in the past but those days are over. He is 35 years old and does not have a whole lot left in the tank, as is the case with most football players whose names are not Manning or Brady. What Vick will be able to bring is a dependable insurance policy in the case of Big Ben missing a few games due to injury, as he is more than capable of holding down the fort in the event of a crisis. Vick will fit the role that Mike Tomlin will put him in very well, and he would be, in my opinion, a better substitute teacher than either Landry Jones or Bruce Gradkoswki. So from a football standpoint, it is nothing more than a smart, low-key move that, if all goes well for the Steelers, will not come into play at all during this season, as Roethlisberger being healthy for a full season isn't an unreasonable expectation based on the past two seasons.

Now for the reason that this is a huge story: Bad Newz Kennels. I will not get into too much detail about what Michael Vick and his gang have done to countless dogs in the past because the facts are much too graphic and terrible than anything I would talk about on my sports blog. Long story short: Vick's dog fighting operation landed him in jail for 2 years, before he was given a 2nd chance with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009. After 5 seasons in Philadelphia, Vick signed with the Jets in 2014 and played in New York for a season, bringing us to August 25th, 2015, where he signed with the Steelers. Because of Vick's off-the-field past, many people aren't too happy about this, as you will easily be able to see if you type Vick's name into the Twitter search bar. There are people who claim to be die-hard fans of the Black and Gold who now say that they will either A: Never support the team again, or B:. Root for any team in the league that plays against them. While I am not naive to what Vick did and am understanding of how awful the whole thing was, I believe that most of these people are exaggerating. 

If the level of outrage in Pittsburgh is so high in 2015, 8 years after Vick began his prison sentence, one can imagine what it was in Philly 6 years ago. I am certain that many die hard Eagle fans were threatening to throw their team away the same way Steelers fans are now. I am also curious as to how many of these same fans got a sick feeling in the pit of their stomachs in 2010, when Vick led the Eagles to a playoff berth and played like an MVP for much of the season. I'm sure there were plenty of outraged citizens around New York City who were saying ''down with the Jets'' in 2014 when Vick signed with their team. I wonder how many bricks were thrown through living room television sets when Vick led the 1-6 and hopeless Jets to a 20-13 upset over the playoff bound Steelers in one of his 3 starts of the season.  

I have a difficult time believing, in a city where the ''most popular team in the world'' plays and where ''football is religion'', that people who have rooted for the Steelers since birth would throw it all away because of a man holding a clipboard on the sidelines. 

Now for my final and most debated point of this post: Forgiveness. What Vick did was awful, and I will never condone or defend any of it. But ever since serving his prison term (and losing millions of dollars all the while), Vick has done everything that he has needed to do to reshape his image. He no longer hangs around his old crew, no longer has a poor work ethic on the field, and has worked hard to raise awareness for dog abuse by working with the Humane Society in an effort to end dog fighting in the United States, which in my opinion is comparable to a former drug addict speaking to raise awareness about the effects of drug abuse, in that Vick uses his past mistakes to try to prevent future mistakes by others.

Maybe Vick's rehabilitation is a charade, but he sure has not done anything to lead me to believe that it is. Until he does that, I think it is time to forgive Vick, but not forget the mistakes that he has made. Vick has made great strides since leaving prison in 2009, and I believe that he deserves to be rewarded with a chance to help a historic franchise reach the promised land. I believe that forgiveness should be available to anybody, no matter what they have done in the past.