# Vick reinstatement conditions **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 28, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543 "2009-07-28T12:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/1 "2009-07-28T12:57:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Goodell will reevaluate Vick’s status prior to Week 6. Said the commissioner in a letter to Vick, “My decision at that time will be based on reports from outside professionals, your probation officer, and others charged with supervising your activities, the quality of your work outside football, the absence of any further adverse involvement in law enforcement, and other concrete actions that you take that are consistent with your representations to me.” Also Tony Dungy will serve as amentor. What’s wrong with ‘Welcome back. Don’t fuck up.’? Quote from [http://www.averagebro.com/2009/07/hes-baaaaccckkk-nfl-reinstates-michael.html](http://www.averagebro.com/2009/07/hes-baaaaccckkk-nfl-reinstates-michael.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/2 "2009-07-30T06:22:05Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > What’s wrong with ‘Welcome back. Don’t fuck up.’? Because his “victims” were dogs, not people. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/3 "2009-07-30T07:01:21Z")
What’s wrong with handcuffing him, stripping him naked, rubbing him down with raw hamburger, and throwing him in a cage with hungry pit bulls? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/4 "2009-07-30T07:07:57Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > What’s wrong with handcuffing him, stripping him naked, rubbing him down with raw hamburger, and throwing him in a cage with hungry pit bulls? People are more important than dogs. Even mean scary people. This this is so overblown. Tomorrow I’m going to go buy an animal, stab it in the neck with a knife, and then burn it and nobody will think twice about it. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/5 "2009-07-30T08:41:00Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > What’s wrong with handcuffing him, stripping him naked, rubbing him down with raw hamburger, and throwing him in a cage with hungry pit bulls? He was in prison for 20 months. He has a parole officer and is paying his debt to society as set forth by a judge. Commisioner Goodel is reinstating him with extra conditions. I’m just wondering why. If he fucks up again he’s a goner. That seems like motivation enough. Goodell could have decided his crimes were too heinous to let him back in the NFL but once you decide otherwise why are you going over and above the law? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/6 "2009-07-30T16:31:11Z")
Goodell’s actions are not punishment for breaking the law. Goodell’s actions are punishment for violating league rules of conduct. Vick’s jail sentence is not relevant to the punishment his employer chooses to impose. Suppose I’d done the same thing. I would have been sent to jail, and I would have been disbarred for being convicted of a felony offense. Unlike Vick, I would not have a real shot at getting reinstated. Vick got off way light here. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/7 "2009-07-30T16:35:16Z")
> [@enomaj](#): > > What’s wrong with ‘Welcome back. Don’t fuck up.’? Because he fucked up so spectacularly the first time. Goodell knows the league can’t rely on his judgment to keep him from fucking up. Despite what some people have said, Vick is not entitled to reinstatement with no-consequences, since he does not have any particular right to play in the NFL. Since the league is taking a risk by letting him back in at all, Goodell is trying to make sure it is not seen as the NFL’s fault if Vick blows it again. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/8 "2009-07-30T18:23:03Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > People are more important than dogs. Even mean scary people. > > This this is so overblown. Tomorrow I’m going to go buy an animal, stab it in the neck with a knife, and then burn it and nobody will think twice about it. And _you_ will never play for an NFL team, either. Seriously, what’s with the fake rage to protect a pampered rich guy who did something indisputably evil? A whole bunch of somethings, over a period of years? This wasn’t a one-time miscalculation like driving drunk or smacking a woman _might_ be. And Vick isn’t some put-upon sufferer who needs you to defend him. On the OP: the reason for the week-6 start has nothing to do with punishing Vick further. It is an intentional ploy to move the “OMG Michael Vick” news stories into a different news cycle than the feel-good “Are you ready for some football?!?” start of the season. They don’t want Vick overshadowing their start, so they displaced him in time, knowing the news providers would wait until the dramatic moment to focus on him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/9 "2009-07-30T18:26:30Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > On the OP: the reason for the week-6 start has nothing to do with punishing Vick further. It is an intentional ploy to move the “OMG Michael Vick” news stories into a different news cycle than the feel-good “Are you ready for some football?!?” start of the season. They don’t want Vick overshadowing their start, so they displaced him in time, knowing the news providers would wait until the dramatic moment to focus on him. That may be true and may be not, since Vick can speak for himself and is hinting he’s close to signing with somebody. (Doesn’t have to be true and doesn’t have to be in the NFL, but there you go.) But the league also doesn’t want to leave the impression that they didn’t do anything to Vick, since so far, he has not missed a single game that he would not have already missed due to his jail term. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/10 "2009-07-30T18:38:04Z")
Oh, and that blog says “I think we can all agree” Vick’s done his time and deserves a job. Good luck with that. That’s specifically what many of us disagree with. Unlike the guys who killed someone driving drunk, Vick’s organized crime ring was a major enterprise involving years of planning, many people, and it was intended to be an ongoing concern. The _results_ may be less heinous to some people than the death of a human being, but the _intent_ and the _planning_ and the _deception_ involved were all orders of magnitude greater than someone getting into a driver’s seat after drinking too much Cristal. Vick was waaay undersentenced for criminal conspiracy, and that’s not counting the animal abuse issues, for which he apparently served no time, AND then the state did not press state charges against him. People have done a LOT less wrong and gotten more time. Vick has been very lightly treated by a favorably-inclined system. We do _not_ agree, sir. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/11 "2009-07-30T19:48:46Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > And _you_ will never play for an NFL team, either. > > Seriously, what’s with the fake rage to protect a pampered rich guy who did something indisputably evil? A whole bunch of somethings, over a period of years? This wasn’t a one-time miscalculation like driving drunk or smacking a woman _might_ be. And Vick isn’t some put-upon sufferer who needs you to defend him. > > On the OP: the reason for the week-6 start has nothing to do with punishing Vick further. It is an intentional ploy to move the “OMG Michael Vick” news stories into a different news cycle than the feel-good “Are you ready for some football?!?” start of the season. They don’t want Vick overshadowing their start, so they displaced him in time, knowing the news providers would wait until the dramatic moment to focus on him. The anger is in that some people apparently think Vick being mauled to death would be appropriate. I think that’s an untenable position. And having a pig roast has nothing to do with why I’m not in the NFL. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/12 "2009-07-30T19:57:42Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > People are more important than dogs. Even mean scary people. > > This this is so overblown. Tomorrow I’m going to go buy an animal, stab it in the neck with a knife, and then burn it and nobody will think twice about it. You going to be burning you dog? Gotcha ya. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vick-reinstatement-conditions/504543/13 "2009-07-31T00:29:08Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > The anger is in that some people apparently think Vick being mauled to death would be appropriate. I think that’s an untenable position. Untenable how? Would it be more palatable if a bunch of losers gathered around and placed bets on the outcome?