Should We Be Happy Michael Vick's Faking It?

Is it the message and not the intent that matters?

By Ted Casablanca, John Boone Dec 17, 2010 3:37 PMTags
Charlie Casablanca, Michael VickAP Photo/Matt Rourke

The jury's still out on whether Michael Vick is actually apologetic over his dog-fighting days or not—with some sources saying he hasn't changed one bit, while Vick's rep says that's "not even close to being true"—and you readers are evenly split on whether he should be forgiven or not.

But here's a different question: Is the fact that he's doing his lectures in the first place, whether heartfelt or not, the only thing that really matters?

"It's sad that people (not you, but the sources) can make something up and it becomes a story. If you ever witnessed one of [Vick's] talks, you'd be shocked to hear it as well," a disheartened rep for Vick responded to us, when we asked for further comment on the story.

"It's not fair," he continued. "Why don't you visit one of Vick's talks and listen to him speak to children about the horrific things he did in his past?"

We said we'd be happy to attend anytime the star athlete with the shameful past was lecturing in the L.A. area. And truth be told, our source who dished about M.V.'s BS ‘tude echoed a similar sentiment:

"I take heart in this: He is talking to kids, who are very impressionable, and unaware that he is insincere. Hopefully his message is resonating."

So is the message all that matters—no matter whether Vick actually believes it or not? Trust, we are glad kids are hearing that dog-fighting is wrong (because it is!), but should we be so willing to forgive and forget just because he's going through the motions?

Some readers have told us just to drop it, that we've forgiven other celebs so why not Vick. But innocent animals—living creatures—were tortured and died as a direct result of Vick's actions.

Lots of ‘em, actually.

And now that Vick is saying he's thinking about getting a dog? That makes us sick.

But what do you think?