Reports surfaced late this morning that the Pittsburgh Steelers are bringing in free agent quarterback Michael Vick for what will essentially be a job interview later today. This is in the wake of the news of that Bruce Gradkowski will need surgery to repair a dislocated finger in his non-throwing hand, leaving the Steelers precariously thin at quarterback.
As it stands right now, the Steelers only have one healthy quarterback to back up Ben Roethlisberger and that is the still very much a work in progress Landry Jones. Not exactly a comforting option as the Steelers replacement, so bringing in a proven veteran quarterback to assume the back up role makes sense.
However, signing Vick and letting him don the Steelers’ black and gold might not sit well with a lot of fans. That’s certainly understandable, this is a man who ran a dog fighting operation that seriously harmed or led to the death of countless numbers of animals. The offenses were so egregious and serious that Vick would eventually serve 21 months in federal prison and become a pariah in a league that tends to be forgiving to serious criminal behavior.
Let me be the first to say it; I despise Michael Vick. I think the crimes he was found guilty of are about as low as it gets. You are right there with rapists and people who victimize children when you hurt animals.
Yes, he paid his debt to society and by all accounts, has been a good citizen since, but for me personally, the crime is one that is too serious to be totally forgiven.
That’s enough reason in my mind to say no to bringing in Vick. Aside from the fact that he’s 35 and coming off an atrocious year with the Jets where he completed 53 percent of his passes. Seems like a good enough reason not to sign Vick.
Just don’t tell me you don’t want Vick because it’s not the “Steelers way.”
The NFL is full of players who have made serious errors in judgement. Most of them have one thing in common, they can help teams win games. Players such as Leonard Little and Dante Stallworth were convicted of being responsible for killing individuals while driving under the influence yet would continue their NFL careers. Vick got his second chance after his time in prison, and the league is chocked full of men who physically abused women and children.
Every team has proverbial skeletons in their closet, allowing players who have committed serious crimes to continue playing in the NFL.
One of them is Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who admitted to physically abusing his girlfriend in 2008. Harrison is not alone. Who can forget the Steelers giving Alameda Tu’amu a second chance despite of a laundry list of serious charges related to his highly publicized DUI crash in South Side? It was not Tu’amu’s first brush with the law, as he had been previously arrested for DUI.
Yet the Steelers drafted Tu’amu and then kept him around despite of facing 15 different charges after his incident in the South Side.
Is that the Steelers way?
Whether or not Vick can help the Steelers in 2015 is very much up for debate. I personally believe his best days are long over, and the Steelers should pursue other options beyond an inaccurate passer who has made way too many poor decisions on the field to be trustworthy.
That’s about football, not the past. So please stop with the notion that signing Vick is not the “Steelers way.”
If Vick can help win football games, it will be good enough for the Steelers whether we like it or not.
