There are many people who value the lives of dogs above human strangers, especially non-white ones.
IIRC he had something like a $100 million contract (and a lifestyle based on that) that was voided. In the NFL, not only are most contracts non-guaranteed outside of the signing bonus but the unearned portions are voidable and refundable. In the language of the CBA not only can teams go after already paid signing bonuses but in some circumstances they are required to do so. In addition to pretty much every contract being voidable in an instant some things like jail, PED suspensions also void remaining guarantees. For example, even though Zeke Elliot’s entire rookie contract was guaranteed all guarantees were removed once he was suspended. The Cowboys could cut him today and not only not owe him a dime but also recover the prorated amount of his already paid bonuses. They won’t because of his exceptional performance, for now.
I don’t remember the specifics of Vick’s deal but the huge NFL deals are always something crazy like: You sign a “$100 million 10 year deal” but the player gets like $40 million signing bonus, a league minimum 1st year salary and a series of 9 1-year options for the remainder. The bonus is prorated for the salary cap. So like in the this example, the “$10 million a year” player would only count about $5 million in the first year. But let’s say that player uses PEDs and gets caught, retires, or kills dogs after the first year of the contract. The team can void the deal and recover 90% of the signing bonus because the player only earned 1/10th of it. If the team cuts a player because they just don’t want him anymore and he didn’t do anything wrong, then he keeps the money. But if that guy they just paid $40 million can’t play the next year, they ask for $36 million of it back. Well, when he got that $40 million, he paid taxes, his agent, his manager, his weed carrier, bought a house, bought some cars, bought his mom a house, bought his kids some toys, etc. So there isn’t $36 million for the team to recover.
So, Vick owed the Falcons millions of dollars. Same thing happened to Rickey Williams when he was suspended and went to Canada - he ended up playing a few years for free and I don’t think he ever made enough in the rest of his career to repay the Dolphins for the bonuses the Saints paid him.
Then Vick had legal fees for his case. Most people, millionaires or not, had underwater property at that point in time. Mortgages, other loans, car loans, child obligations, etc. And Zero Income for years while he was in prison, and reduced earning power for the rest of his career.
Vick ended up doing well with his comeback - signing almost “$100 million contract” with the Eagles, though he really made about $45 million, but he went from a $20/million a year type player to making $0 for 2 years and then needing to earn incentives the next few years to make about 1/4 of his previous salary. His last year in the NFL he made $970,000.
Not a follower of American football, but I remember the scandal and the name. Looking him up on wiki it seems he made a comeback. Also one of his teammates on one of the teams he played, was an actual rapist. Whose punishment was 4 months suspension…Guy is still playing. WTF?
The lesson to be learned here is that redemption is impossible, don’t bother trying to put things right, you’ll get no thanks for it.
Do we know this to be a statement which applies to Michael Vick?
No, I don’t, at least with Vick. I was answering the comment that we’re morally required to forgive people if they apologize. I don’t feel that way.
Is it really in our power to forgive Michael Vick if we were not harmed in any way shape or form by his actions?
That’s kind of like me choosing a random name from a phone book and saying I will never forgive them for divorcing their wife. I don’t have the power to forgive that person, nor are they seeking my forgiveness. Same with Michael Vick in my opinion.
Michael Vick committed crimes. The public can decide if he should be forgiven for committing crimes, and they have. He has paid his debt to society. He has also committed public moral transgressions in the eyes of many people and they have the choice whether or not to forgive him. In the latter case forgiveness means little, unlike a criminal who we can require to serve time, pay fines, and otherwise restrict their life we have no ability to impose our forgiveness or lack of it on him.
All this talk of forgiving or not forgiving is pretty meaningless, unless its coming from actual former fans. Most people have very little reason to give a shit about Vick and their “forgiveness” or lack of thereof is merely symbolic.
Yes. It is.
Forgiveness is nothing more than having a less-negative opinion about someone or something. It does not have to be attached to any actual harm. In this case, forgiveness means no longer thinking that Vick is a horrible person in light of his later actions.
If forgiveness wasn’t something that random people in the public could give, then public figures wouldn’t bother making public apologies.
So, quick question for anyone: If he paid taxes on his $40 million, then had to pay most of that $40 million back, wouldn’t he get a refund on most of the taxes that he paid? Also, does his manager get a percentage of the original contract or only what he finally got paid?
Everyone who claims Michael Vick “served his time” for his crimes is eliding the truth a bit in an attempt to put a smiley face on it.
He served time for federal dogfighting charges only. State time for dogfighting charges was run concurrently (i.e., nothing additional).
No time at all was served for animal cruelty. Nor for illegal gambling.
This is vaguely akin to kidnapping and murdering someone and being charged with unlawful imprisonment, but not murder.
Michael Vick served time for part of his offenses at best, and received a great big “he’s one of the guys, go easy on him,” from the state of Virginia and many of his fellow players.
Also, what’s up with the spurious comparisons to other players who were violent toward humans? I don’t like them either – implying I’m hard on Vick but not others is the sort of fallacy that should be beneath SDMB veterans.
Concurrent sentences are quite common, especially when it’s for the same criminal act. And how often do people serve time on the first offense for animal cruelty or illegal gambling? ‘His time’ was decided by the justice system, he served it, and I doubt it’s out of line with the sentencing for similar situations.
IIRC, they went beyond the federal sentencing guidelines for charging Vick due to the combination of circumstances, so they definitely didn’t go easy on him.
So yeah, I’d definitely say he served his time.
I’m not impressed with his repaying $17M. Not with his salary.
If I owed somebody a couple thousand, I’m pretty sure I could cover it pretty easy. It wouldn’t be very impressive however.