What if Michael Vick was white? Hypotheticals are easy to ask, but even easier to answer if you ask me. A hypothetical question has an even more hypothetical answer to it. Would Vick have been given a lesser prison sentence if he was white? Would he ever have been involved in dog fighting at all if he had a different skin tone? Would he be in the NFL if he were white? The list of questions could go on and on, and to be honest, we'll never know for sure the answer to any of them. But since ESPN has raised the question, I'll take my shot at answering it to the best of my ability.
I am a white, male, 18 year old college student enrolled at a predominantly white university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have owned a dog through the majority of my childhood, but I have loved the Eagles my entire life. Ever since my parents bought me Madden 2002 for Christmas when I was 8, I was addicted to anything and everything related to football. I didn't buy the 2003 version of the game because I didn't have any money for the game, and to be honest, I enjoyed updating the roster myself. I was just that kind of kid. But when the 2004 version of the game came around I found myself becoming bored with the older version of the game and decided I wanted to get the latest one. Of course, Madden 2004 was the year Michael Vick graced the cover. I remember I went to Best Buy the day the game was released with my grandparents (my parents were celebrating their wedding anniversary in San Francisco at the time) and I don't think I've ever played a game more thoroughly in my life. I payed "franchise mode" religiously and I would always choose the Eagles, but my first roster move was always to trade Donovan McNabb and a draft pick to the Atlanta Falcons for Michael Vick. There was no player more exciting and more superior in Madden 2004 than Michael Vick.
My perception of Vick was solely based on his insane athletic ability and the fact that he graced the cover of my favorite video game. Thats it. I could care less that he was black. Or had cornrows. Or anything else that ESPN might think had influenced my perception of him as a person. I had grown up only knowing one QB for the Philadelphia Eagles, Donovan McNabb. Hearing ignorant people talk about how "black quarterbacks" can never be successful because they have an "athletic skill set" has always left me confused and shaking my head. How can skin color influence the way a quarterback preforms in big, pressure filled moments? It can't. When Vick was first indicted on n a federal conspiracy charge for his alleged role in a dog fighting ring, I didn't know what to make of it. Being a middle class white teenager from a Philadelphia suburb, I had no idea dogfighting really went on. I'm quite a naive person, I know. However, the more I began to learn about where Vick grew up I began to understand the cultural differences between West Chester, PA and Newport News, VA. Allen Iverson, perhaps my favorite athlete of all time, is from the same area as Vick and I feel as though I am able to understand Vick's mentality as an athlete because of my frequent exposure to Iverson throughout my childhood. Being a dog lover because of my attachment to my family dog, Jackson, I didn't disagree with the sentencing Vick received following his trial. However, I am a firm believer in "second chances", or as I like to refer to it "getting back into the workforce".
If someone is willing to employ you, despite the marketing maladies and PR hits they may endure, they should be able to employ you. That being said, I was absolutely blindsided when the Eagles announced during their preseason game of the 2009 season that they had signed Michael Vick. Blindsided and confused. I was beginning to get fed up with McNabb's consistent lack of production in "crunch time" (note: nothing to do with skin color, as I mentioned earlier) but I supported the team drafting Kevin Kolb in the 2nd round of the draft in the season prior. Where was Vick going to fit in? Was he just a gimmick player? Were the Eagles going to try to flip him to a team in the offseason for a draft choice after taking the PR hit? Nothing about the signing seemed to add up in my mind, but I was still all for it. Sure enough though, the Eagles used Vick in a limited role during the season (which seemed to hurt Donovan's feelings, or ego, at times) and attempted to see what they could get on the open market for him at the end of the season. Nobody nibbled at the Eagles' asking price for Vick. So what did the Eagles do? They trade their long time franchise QB who had won more games than any other Eagles' QB in history in Donovan McNabb to the division rival Washington Redskins. Then everything would fall right into place for Vick from there. Kevin Kolb would enter training camp as the start and leave the Green Bay game week 1 as a backup. Vick goes on to have a season worthy of MVP consideration and now Kolb is in Arizona with a $63 million dollar contract.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Michael Vick play for the Eagles last season. Every time he took the ball from under center I knew there was potential for a big play to happen. Not one time did I think to myself "I really wish Vick were white so I could view him differently." I saw Vick as the most exciting player in the NFL who had recently come out of jail because he was found guilty of committing unlawful dogfighting activities. He was looking for a job and it just so happened that it was the team I support which gave him an opportunity. The only color I care about with Michael Vick is the midnight green on his helmet.
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