Michael Vick Is A Great Signing For Pittsburgh
(Featured image: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports)
Thirty-five year old quarterback Michael Vick was signed yesterday by the Pittsburgh Steelers, as an insurance policy after their primary backup, Bruce Gradkowski, underwent surgery on his hand.
My colleague DJ Weller has already told you why he believes this signing is a mistake for the Steelers, but allow me to address those issues and convince you of the opposite.
The Overwhelming Response Has Not Been Negative
DJ calls the fan response to the signing of an NFL player best known for his involvement in a dogfighting ring and subsequent arrest and conviction on one count of felony dogfighting “overwhelmingly negative.” This is simply not true. If anything, it is a mixed bag. A search can pull up both the negative tweets featured in the previous piece, but also some supporting Vick.
Michael Vick is now officially the new back-up quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers! Welcome to Steel City, Mike! #NFL #SteelersNation
— Schalke USA #S04 (@schalke_usa) August 26, 2015
It is a good thing the Steeler fans that hate the Vick signing are perfect, otherwise their judging would be very awkward
— Adam Benson (@Benson_TheComic) August 26, 2015
Vick committed terrible crimes, served time, and by all accounts matured, turned his life around. That's how the system is supposed to work.
— Tom McAllister (@t_mcallister) August 26, 2015
Nothing against animals or animal lovers but with all this hate, youd think Vick took PEOPLE'S lives…Geez he did his time #getoverit
— Tina-Ald (@Tinaa43) August 26, 2015
Not to simplify things too much, but Steelers fans who take to Twitter to denounce their team’s signing of such a “despicable” human being (to the point where some are claiming to have abandoned their fandom entirely) seem to have a very short memory.
Starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, if you don’t recall, signed a five-year, $108 million extension this past March. This news was met with, to quote one of my all-time favorite movies, much rejoicing.
Roethlisberger was investigated for an alleged sexual assault in Milledgeville, Georgia in 2010. While no arrests were ever made, the alleged victim in the assault never recanted her accusation of Roethlisberger. His lawyer during this investigation was the same man who defended ex-Baltimore Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis during Lewis’ trial for murder. (Oh, did you forget that happened?) The four-game suspension Roethlisberger served for undisclosed violations of the league’s personal conduct policy was the only result of the alleged incident. Five years later, Steelers fans have the audacity to claim Vick’s past prevents him from being a backup quarterback?
Please.
Vick served two years in federal prison, has given time and money to charities including the ASPCA, lectures about the proper treatment of animals, has lobbied for the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, which would establish federal misdemeanor penalties for spectators of illegal animal fighting and make it a felony for adults to bring children to fights, and has seemingly been rehabilitated. Which, again, is the entire point of the American justice system. Forgiving Roethlisberger for (allegedly) assaulting a woman may have something to do with his two Super Bowl victories; not forgiving Vick for a crime he has regretted is hypocritical and shortsighted at best. In the NFL, the more talent a player has, the more easily their off-field sins are forgiven. Speaking of which:
Michael Vick Was The Best Option Available, Hands Down
Let’s look at some of the other free-agent quarterbacks available: Rex Grossman (who signed with the Atlanta Falcons today), Jason Campbell, Luke McCown, and T.J. Yates are, well, not headliners, but you get the idea.
Vick actually started NFL games last season. No one else on that list has. Yes, there may be more quarterbacks available after roster cuts begin in earnest soon, but why should the Steelers wait and assume they know what other teams will do? That’s not a good business model, and possibly the best backup option (Kirk Cousins) would cost too much. Vick may be 35, and he may not be the electric, wildly entertaining show-stopper he once was, but he’s a consummate professional, familiar with the backup role and has proven he can step in without much issue should be be needed (both last year with the New York Jets as well as seasons prior with the Philadelphia Eagles). As a general manager, I’m taking the known quantity at this point in the season.
Guys, Relax, He’s Just a Freaking Backup
Roethlisberger hasn’t missed a start in two seasons. He’s played no fewer than 12 games in a season since his rookie year in 2004. He’s only 33 years old, still built like a linebacker, and remains one of the most physically imposing signal-callers in the league. The Vick signing is insurance, nothing more and nothing less.
If Roethlisberger does get hurt, the Steelers aren’t necessarily doomed regardless of who the backup happens to be. If the choice was untested and unseasoned Landry Jones or Vick?
I’ll take the proven veteran any day of the week.
Ultimately, Vick needs to become something more than the whipping boy of pseudo-NFL fans who parade morality around like a pitchfork; people aren’t perfect, they make mistakes, and those who take responsibility for their issues coughcoughTomBradycough should be celebrated and supported, not demonized.
If your fandom only goes deep enough to support “good people,” I have bad news for you: while athletes are certainly role models and public figures, they’re also human, and no human is without sin. How a person handles that issue is a much larger indicator of character than the issue itself.
I’m a proud supporter of Vick, and wish him the best of luck in Pittsburgh. May he bathe in Cheez Whiz and never need to take the field. Perhaps he’ll get his Super Bowl ring after all, if he doesn’t drown in fan hypocrisy first.
