Michael Vick's 60 Minutes
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Michael Vick's 60 Minutes
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
If you haven't seen Michael Vick's "60 Minutes" interview, here it is.
I missed tonight's original airing, but recorded the segment conducted by "60 Minutes" contributor, James Brown. (I can't imagine Andy Rooney greeting Brown in the CBS corridors with a, "What's up, JB!"). The interview was the first Vick gave upon his release from prison three months ago for organizing and running a dogfighting operation.
Apparently, all those old fogies at "60 Minutes" haven't figured out today's 24-hour, up-to-the-second news cycle. They should have posted it on their Web site immediately. The media-savvy Eagles trumped the news show by signing Vick last week and the quarterback's first public mea culpa post-incarceration was on Friday. It was up on philadelphiaeagles.com (at least you got the plug!) in a matter of minutes. (Mike Wallace vs. Dave Spadaro? A toss-up in my book).
Nevertheless, the segment was thoroughly done. Vick came off a little more human than he did at the NovaCare complex. It may have had something to do with there being just one interviewer and one camera as opposed to the tens of each at the Eagles' home base.
I've now seen Vick apologize for his heinous acts twice (once in person), and I can say -- taking off my reporter's cap -- that I don't believe a single word he has said.
"The first day I walked into prison, and he slammed that door, I knew the magnitude of the decision that I made, and the poor judgment, and what I allowed to happen to the animals," Vick said on "60". "And, you know, it's no way of explaining the hurt and the guilt that I felt. And that was the reason I cried so many nights. And that put it all into perspective."
There could have been plenty of other moments that made Vick realize how colossal his errors were -- when losing dogs were electrocuted, when someone suggested, "Hey, let's have a rape stand!", when he was charged with a host of barbaric crimes, when he lost millions of dollars, when he was convicted, when the NFL suspended him, when ...
But, no, it took that prison door hitting his tail (no pun) that finally made him see the light. Talk about denial.
Brown reeled off the laundry list of crimes: "And the operation, Michael, that you pleaded guilty to bankrolling, to being a part of, engaged in barbarous treatment of the animals - beating them, shooting them, electrocuting them, drowning them. Horrific things, Michael."
"It's wrong, man," said Vick, who looked down as Brown rattled off his sins. "I don't know how many times I gotta tell, I gotta say it."
How about one time for every dollar you lost?
"I feel tremendous hurt behind what happened. And, you know, I should’ve took the initiative to stop it all. And I didn't. And I feel so bad about that now. And I know that I didn't I didn't step up. I wasn't a leader."
Apparently, Vick wasn't just a horrible leader in the huddle.
"I was lazy," Vick said about his well-earned reputation. "You know, I was the last guy in the building, first guy out. I know that. You know, I hear everything that people say. And that hurt me when I heard that, but I know it was true."
"I think everyone looked at it that way. Tremendous athlete. Tremendous talent. Very, very gifted guy, who relies on his natural ability," Vick sponsor Tony Dungy said. "He was exciting and probably didn't scratch the surface of his potential. And he and I talked about that for along time in Leavenworth. He talked about not working out, not training, not studying. You know, kind of taking things for granted. Gifts that the Lord had given him."
Why is it that people at their lowest say they only found salvation through God?
"It's the only way I made it through prison," Vick said. "It's the only way I could live life is having faith and believing in the higher power, believing in God."
You may say that I'm just cherry picking through Vick's comments. That may be true. He may be sincerely contrite for his crimes. He may end up turning into a Dr. Doolittle.
But it's hard to not be cynical when you see the team that was put together to coax, guide and rehearse Vick through his return to the Vick that made he and lots of other people rich. Brown and "60 Minutes" are to be commended for pointing this out. The collection of agents, lawyers and advisors were out in full force on Friday. Vick also now has the Eagles' strong arm of a PR staff working on his behalf. How can he fail?
"Mike, just keep saying your sorry. Make a few public appearances. Let a few dogs lick your face, pee on your shoes and you're back in the public's good graces, out of bankruptcy and we're one step closer to completely selling our souls out for a Super Bowl."
To reference "The Simpsons" episode when Bart sold his soul to Millhouse -- Eagles fans praising Vick's coming to Philly are Millhouse and the Eagles are Bart.
Millhouse: A pleasure doing business with you.
Bart: Anytime, chummm ... p.
Of course, Bart spent the rest of episode trying to get his soul back. Luckily, he was able to. I'm not so sure about the Eagles.
Gimme a break. Jeff McLane is a chump. Nice article, you cherry pick to perfection. Go back to whatever cave you crawled out of.— PG- HEY: Other teams do whatever is necessary to win a Super Bowl and no one say that they sold their souls. Souls are in church, not in sports.— mungman
Comment removed.- Free Download Full Movies (HTML deleted)— netzs
- "Nevertheless, the segment was thoroughly done" is bad English, dude. "The thanksgiving turkey was thoroughly done" makes the grade, but not your clumsy statement, which I'm not even sure how we're supposed to translate into English. Did you mean to say the segment was professionally done? Or that the interview as comprehensive in content? He who thinks clearly expresses his thoughts clearly.— Richard S
- "Why is it that people at their lowest say they only found salvation through God?" The question you should ask is why do people who claim they KNOW God quite frankly dont believe in redemption or forgiveness but love to pretend that this country was founded on judeo-christian beliefs. I wish those hypocrites would stop saying they're christians.— mlr710
- He deserves a second chance. He's attempting to throw a football, not marry your daughter.— Anne Arkey
- I believe Michael Vick is sorry he got caught. Is he sorry he tortured and killed all those poor dogs? I highly doubt it. Has he called Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah to see how the surviving dogs are doing in their rehabilitation? I highly doubt that either. If he truly cared about his former dogs, I would have thought calling to see how they are doing, would have been one of his priorities. Vick will say and do whatever it takes, to resume his lucrative career in the NFL. Too bad it happened to be the Eagles who fell for Vick's lines.— JoAnnD2
- No one is outraged when the Giants sign not 1, but 2, domestic batterers in the offseason. (Rocky Bernard and Michael Boley)— bleedmidnightgreensection236
- Keep your reporter's cap on, share the facts, and keep your opinion to yourself like the profesional James Brown did when he was asked to share his opinion of Mike honesty. The Eagles believed him....you know the folks writing the check.
Hey 236. Thanks for those details on Bernard and Boley. I'm surrounded by Giant fans and needed something to shut them up. Of course being Giant fans they may not see any problem with spousal abuse. as long as the dog is well taken care of.— tpizza- You're new here Jeff, and I understand that you're playing the story up to stir the pot like all the other journalists, but I have to make a couple points. First, keep your journalist cap on, no one cares about your opinions, especially when your aim is to sensationalize. Second, your efforts here are misguided. If you are a beat writer, act like it, write about football. Eagles fans (you know, the ones who follow the team because they like FOOTBALL) have already had enough of this nonsense and want to read FOOTBALL stories from the FOOTBALL writers. It is not going to endear you to Eagles fans to trash our new QB, so I'm not real sure who you think you're playing up to here. And finally, Vick doesn't owe you an apology and it doesn't matter if you think he is sorry! He committed a crime, payed for it, and is now a free man with a right to earn a living. If you aren't a big enough person to give the guy a second chance the least you can do is keep it to yourself. You went down a few notches in my book with this post.— sla6yer
- Belief in Vick's statements have more to do with the person's personal outlook than it does with anything Vick says. You either want to believe that people can change, can be redeemed and trust what Vick and the people around him are saying. Or you don't believe people can change or that the kind of behavior he exhibited is not something you can change on the inside and you interpret everything coming out of his mouth and the people around him as spin choreographed to get him back to making millions. If he does work in the community with animals some people will say he's working to be better while others will say he's just fulfilling obligations. Vick's contributions won't be known until after football. If he continues work in this area when it no longer affects his making of a lot of money, maybe he wins over more people, but never all. And maybe that's the way it should be.
- Comment removed.
- The ancient Romans had a saying that applies to Vick's situation: "Deeds, not words." Vick's statements of contrition are part of paying the dues for his actions. Whether we believe them or not is moot. What happens now is up to him: How he spends his time and money, and how he supports animal rights causes. By signing with an NFL team, and a prominent and universally respected team like the Eagles, he has the stage set before him to make a difference and influence the behavior of others still involved in this disgusting activity. Let's all hope & pray he's successful at that. Whether or not he brings a Super Bowl to Philadelphia is, frankly, of secondary importance.— Richard_LV
