Dungy To Visit Vick

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that former Colts and Bucs coach Tony Dungy plans to visit imprisoned Falcons quarterback Mike Vick on May 5. Though Mort didn’t come out and say it directly, it sounds like Dungy will be serving as an unofficial emissary from Commissioner Roger Goodell, charged with the task of getting a feel for whether or not Vick has “genuine remorse” for the lifestyle (not mistake, lifestyle) that resulted in his incarceration for dogfighting, gambling, and killing in cold blood dogs deemed unfit to die while fighting other dogs. There’s also a chance that Dungy’s endorsement would help lessen the P.R. hit resulting from the reinstatement of Vick and his eventual addition to a team’s roster. Mort also surprisingly stuck his neck out for Vick’s reinstatement, point out that Vick will have paid his debt to society and that he has lost millions of dollars along the way. Fine, but plenty of people who have paid a similar debt likewise can’t walk right back into the jobs they previously held. Goodell has said that playing in the NFL is a privilege, not a right. Vick, in our view, has squandered that privilege. And he has yet to show “genuine remorse” for anything other than getting caught. And he lied to the Commissioner’s face multiple times. And thus there’s no reason to believe he can be trusted not to embarrass the NFL again. So our position remains that Vick should be suspended for at least another year, if not longer.