Vick: I Cried in Prison

[evanovitch]

Vick: I Cried in Prison
August 17th, 2009 Michael Vick, signed last week to a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles after spending nearly two years in prison, said that he cried his eyes out after being locked up – and not because he had lost the most lucrative contract in the NFL. “When I was in prison … I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals,” Vick told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in his first interview since being released. “I deserved to lose the $130 million. “Why would a guy who was making a $130 million … on the flip side … killing dogs … he don’t deserve it.” Last week, Vick, who is now millions of dollars in debt, signed a one-year contract with the Eagles worth $1.6 million; if the team decides to keep the speedy, left-handed quarterback for a second year, it must pay him another $5.2 million. When he completed the 23-month prison sentence — 18 months of which he did at the federal penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas —NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell allowed him back into the league, after a six-week suspension. Vick told “60 Minutes” commentator James Brown that he understood why people are still angry at him, even though he has paid his debt to society. “I understand why,” Vick replied. “And I’m going to say it again. Sickens me to my stomach. And it was, you know, the same thing that I’m feeling right now. …I could’ve put a stop to it. I could’ve walked away from it. I could’ve shut down the whole operation.” All it would have taken, Vick said, is for him to have stood up to the buddies with whom he ran Bad Newz Kennels. His mistake, he said, was “not being able to say, or tell … certain people around me that, ‘Look, we can’t do this anymore. I’m concerned about my career. I’m concerned about my family.’”

bbc

[halfwaytree]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">... I’m concerned about my career. I’m concerned about my family.’”

</div></div>

[RichD]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Curmudgeon_Milo</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">... I’m concerned about my career. I’m concerned about my family.’”

</div></div>



</div></div>

shouldn't he be?

[halfwaytree]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Curmudgeon_Milo</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">... I’m concerned about my career. I’m concerned about my family.’”

</div></div>



</div></div>

shouldn't he be? </div></div>

Yup! Let's hope he begins to actually care for real.

[23JAM00]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

Michael Vick and the mystery of the missing books about his dog fighting days

August 16, 6:31 PMCleveland Literature ExaminerScott Barr


Wake up, dogs of the world. Michael Vick has been released from prison and is out there, fair game if you can just chase him down and let him have a little taste of what he gave to your canine cousins in the barn of his sumptuous Virginia spread…or maybe you can just get a little taste of him.

The National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell welcomed former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick back into the sports business. The city of Philadelphia welcomed Michael Vick back onto the playing field. Now both organizations are trying to soft peddle the decisions they’ve made concerning their connections to the ex-con and dog fighting ringmaster of Virginia. It might not be an easy job, or it might not be that bad, depending on who is doing the talking, apologizing or denying at the time.

There have been reports that Vick spent his leisure hours in prison writing down material for a book and had literary agent Scott Waxman looking for a book deal and a ghost writer, someone who could transform whatever Vick has written into a form that could be considered a book; A co-author that could put the right spin. There’s always the rise from poverty to becoming the highest paid player in the NFL angle, but that’s not what a reading public wants to hear from Vick – they want to hear about the maiming and killing of who knows how many dogs, the money, the blood, the guts, the glory, the real story. The NFL and the Philadelphia Eagles want a remorseful book that sheds light on Vick’s journey from profiteering dog killer to a remorseful and bankrupt former dog killer.

When Vick began writing scribbling his memoirs in prison he was bankrupt, and the NFL seemed against letting him play with the rest of the model citizens that often make the most effective and in demand players in a vicious game. He needed the money from a book…any kind of book. The trouble is, most states have what are called “Son of Sam” laws that prevent convicted criminals who try to profit from their crimes through public recountings, especially mediums such as movies or books. (The “Son of Sam” laws were named for David Berkowitz, the mass murderer who claims he was possessed by a dog and received orders to kill from a demon…sounds like Vick’s defense attorneys missed an opportunity there.

Both Virginia and Georgia have “Son of Sam” inspired laws.

So far Vick’s freedom, reinstatement into the NFL and hiring by the Philadelphia Eagles haven’t elicited much reaction from any one except the most ardent of animal activists and news addicted cranks. Interviews of Philadelphia fans are a mixed bag – some saying they will boycott companies that are affiliated with the team, some ambivalent, and others defending him…until his on-field efforts don’t match their expectations. After all, this is the city where the football fans boo-ed Santa Claus. Overall though, the reaction has been lukewarm, and Vick’s contract is nowhere near as lucrative as his contract in Atlanta, but he isn’t broke and eating dog food.

The book has received little mention lately. In fact, almost all mention of it has disappeared. It’s a lose-lose situation for the Philadelphia Eagles, and for Vick also, since even begging forgiveness will only bring upremembrances of his horrifying past and ensure that any press conference he gives will devolve into a question and answer session on that past. And, authors are required to make publicity appearances…public publicity appearances…at places where PETA people and other protestors could dredge up spectors of the photos of torn, bleeding and dead dogs littering Vick’s Virginia dog fighting operation. Goodbye book, the National Felony League has brought one their most famous back into the fold

Another book that seems to have vaporized, or been put on permanent hold, or somehow been derailed is The Lost Dogs by author Jim Gorant, the Sport Illustrated Editor/writer and author of Fanatic: Ten Things All Sports Fans Should do Before They Die. Gorant reportedly signed a deal to write an inspirational account of the rescue and adoption of the 60 or so abused pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick’s dog fighting operation. He seemed to be the perfect author for the book, after writing a feature article on Vick's dog fighting operation, which was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Turned out nothing was signed yet, and Gorant telephoned the author of the story to express his ire at having such details leaked before he could even contact his connections and collect a few details of his own. Gorant’s book was supposed to be finished and released to coincide with Vick’s release from prison – for publicity reasons, obviously – but no book has reached the shelves of bookstores.

Where are all the books about Michael Vick and his dog fighting racket disappearing to? Is there some kind of anti-canine conspiracy going on here, or is…I’m not even going farther with this. I’ll let the conspiracy theorists work these mysteries out.

[Derek]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: evanovitch</div><div class="ubbcode-body">“Why would a guy who was making a $130 million … on the flip side … killing dogs … he don’t deserve it.”</div></div>

My thoughts exactly.

[Suesumba]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

michael vick is a very intelligent man.

[chitowngirl]

Re: Vick: I Cried in Prison

<span style="font-style: italic">mi tink im need likkle community service</span>

put im deh pon di stick wah di bunny use run roun di dog track