NAACP official: Vick shouldn't be banned from NFL

by Jordan Yerman | August 22, 2007 at 12:50 pm

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The head of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP said Wednesday that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick has made mistakes but that they should not cost him his football career with the NFL.

NFL star Michael Vick has accepted an offer to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in a dogfighting case.

Vick is expected to plead guilty Monday to federal conspiracy charges in an illegal dogfighting operation.

R.L. White, president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said his organization does not condone dogfighting or any other illegal activity, but he told reporters that Vick should be given a chance to redeem himself.

"In some instances, I believe Michael Vick has received more negative press than if he would've killed a human being," White said. "The way he is being persecuted, he wouldn't have been persecuted that much had he killed somebody."

White said he believes Vick will cut a deal rather than roll the dice on a trial and take a chance on being found guilty, but "whatever he's done wrongly, he needs to pay for it.

Personally I don't think this is the NAACP's, or even the Falcons' decision anymore-- most likely public opinion has spoken. There are flaws in White's argument (deer aren't raised to be slowly killed), but the larger issue here is that people in North America really, really like dogs, period, and people who abuse them are looked down upon.