Does Vick have a fan in Obama?
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Does Vick have a fan in Obama?
Daily News staff
Sports Illustrated's Peter King said last night on NBC that Jeffrey Lurie recently received a call from President Obama regarding Michael Vick.
" I talked to Jeffrey Lurie the owner of the Eagles this week and he said he was surprised to pick up the phone one day and Barack Obama calls him to praise the Philadelphia Eagles for signing Vick and giving him a second chance," King said. "Lurie told me that the President was passionate about the fact that it’s rarely a level playing field for prisoners once they leave jail. And he said the message was ‘what the Eagles had done with Vick was important for society.’”
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Also, during the broadcast, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth raised the question of what sort of precedent was set with the postponement of the Eagles-Vikings game:
Said Collinsworth: "What do we take forward? Does this now mean that every time there is a forecast for 8-10 inches of snow we cancel the game, we don’t play playoff games, potentially, we don’t play in Giants Stadium (for the Super Bowl)?…Going forward, I guess, the cities involved have some control over whether football games are going to be played or not.”
Countered Al Michaels: “I think it’s up to the city and the municipality. Once they say [only emergency vehicles on the road] you can’t expect anybody else to be out there.”
Collinsworth on the delay: “It’s an advantage for the Philadelphia Eagles.”
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In case you missed it, the Eagles-Cowboys game next Sunday has been moved to a 4:15 p.m. start.
The league shuffled a number of games in order to heighten the drama for the playoffs and encourage scoreboard watching.
In the NFC, the Redskins-Giants and Bears-Packers games also were moved to 4:15. The Rams-Seahawks game that will determine the NFC West champion, was flexed into the Sunday night game.
In the AFC, Jaguars-Texans and Colts-Titans also was moved to 4:15.
There are eight 1 o'clock starts, seven 4:15 starts and the Sunday night game.
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To read our earlier post, click here.
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Kinda humorous that O is outspoken on Vick, but not on the QB of his own home- McNabb. Help a brother out O.— phillyjhawk- Obama would give Mumia Abu-Jamal another chance.— stoky
- There is a pretty good chance that you could have serious mental issues.... You should be seen by a doctor sooner rather than later.
— citysims - collinsworth was just angry to have to sit around in philly for another 2 days. he acts like andy reid personally demanded the NFL to delay the game. and how does it benefit us? we now only get 4 days to prepare for cowboys, cowboys get 3 more days than us to prepare, andrian peterson and brett favre have more time to get healthy, and if we don't get a first round bye, we could potentially end up playing 3 games in 12 days if our wildcard playoff game is on saturday. collinsworth is a moron.— NovaWildcats36
- plus, the vikings aren't even playing for anything! they're already eliminated from the playoff race. this does not matter to them at all. — NovaWildcats36
- Yet another act of political brilliance. If Obama feels passionately about the fact that "it's rarely a level playing field for prisoners once they leave jail", I wonder if that applies to ALL prisoners or just the ones that act like they were too dumb too know what they did was wrong? Does this apply to all sociopaths, or just the ones that kill something other than a person? Bet he's not hiring any parolees to his staff. Maybe he needs to spend more time worrying about the unemployment rate in this country for those that have never spent a day in jail, and less time worrying about how great he thinks it is that trash like Vick can still make millions. Gives hope to all the criminal-minded athletes out there. Good job, Obama.— kat20
so giving people a 2nd chance if they pay there debts is a bad thing? you morons above me is whats wrong with america. you want to continue to hold people down even if they are doing all the right things. once he has completed his sentence and then the halfway house, he is free to pursue a life that he wishes if legal. you people are disgusting.- does the apply to child molesters too? Once they "pay their debt to society" should they be allowed to adopt a kid? You are a moron, moron, moron. Would you be so forgiving of vick if he was a bad quarterback? All you people care about is winning. You have no morals. You disgust me all. and i am disgusted at Obama's praise. — chitown fan
- Hey Phil -
It's a funny thing that people that aren't in support of Michael Vick are "disgusting", but Michael Vick himself is not? Think on that for a while. He's a sociopath, good ball player or not, yet he is more worthy of your respect than strangers who dare post an opinion that differs from yours? Now who's disgusting?— kat20 - Kat20, YOU are the disgusting one here. Anyone who is not perfect but expects others to be perfect is a hypocrite. Anyone who has done anything wrong but expects others who do wrong to be put to death are evil and disgusting. Anyone who calls someone who has rotted in jail for 2years after paying for a crime "trash" is a "trash" himself. Yes Vick did wrong years ago but now he is doing his part to make the world a better place to live (showcasing his God-given talent on the field, inspiring millions of humans, saving millions of dogs, donating to charities, spending free days speaking to young people, etc.) Shame on you Kat20 for making the world a worse place to live. — sedale
- Who the hell cares what our Socialist in Chief thinks of the Birds and Mike? His minions haven't produced jobs for the fans who really support Mike and the team. Today, the Death Panels were back via bureaucrats and later on in life, it that holds, Mike could be told to just die. We all could.The EPA thinks snow is caused by global warming for Pete's sake. Obama has done more damage to America than all the thugs that play professional sports( and there are quite a few) by failing at so many foreign and domestic policies that only a few sports writers connected with the Journo-List mentality could think this is a story that matters.— Koons
- Kat20, If you have ever done anything wrong in your life...I mean EVER, and that includes things that you did without being caught, then you really need to shut up about M Vick. Sure what he did was against the law but he paid the maximum price that was required by the law so that's it. Now he doing many things to make the world a better place, unlike you who sit around posting hypocritical opinions about a man who is so much better than you that by comparison you don't even exist except to be an example of how NOT to live your life. Don't believe me? Watch the stadium or a bar after Vick makes a great play...Watch as the crowd erupts in cheers and happiness...he is doing something good for millions and is an inspiration to society. Unlike YOU HYPOCRITE! IF you want to judge, go to law school, practice law for 20 years and then you can sit in front of hardened criminals and hand out death sentences for dog fighting and any other crime you believe makes someone "trash". Too bad it wasn't you that was caught doing something wrong so someone could judge YOU in the way you are judging Vick. YOU hypocrites that put a dog's over a man's are truly the disgusting ones. If you want to be a good person, go out and do something that makes the better place (donate to charities, give advice to youth, etc). Don't sit here and do what you are doing...its really pathetic. I would root for Vick even if he weren't playing football now.— sedale
- Too bad the game was postponed, though I heard the Pennsylvania Penal League was having its championship game last night. If Vick needed reps he could have just played in that - he was the two time MVP in it...— VicksParoleOfficer
- He still has a debt to pay, that's why he needs a big contract. I still think he's putting on an act and we won't really know how sorry he is for what he did for years to come. We know he's sorry he got caught. For something he didn't think or realize was wrong, I find it strange that he painted the buildings used for this business black so they'd be harder to find. He also found it necessary to lie about his involvement in something he didn't realize was wrong. He lied then and I just don't believe him now. I hope he has truly changed, I just find it a little soon to canonize him and condemn everyone that has doubts. I honestly don't think the lesson he was supposed to learn started to sink in until his birthday party this past summer. It's sad that it took a second incident to make him realize how lucky he was to get a second chance in the NFL and life in general.— kmon
