Give Michael Vick His Job BacK

Next month, upon his release from federal prison, the suits at the NFL will have to decide whether Michael Vick should be allowed to play professional football again. I say, give the man his job back.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not apologizing or downplaying what he did. I love dogs, even when they keep you up all night with their scratching or smell like a clam bake, and abhor those who would treat them inhumanely. Nor am I particularly a Vick fan. In general, I prefer college football and ignore the NFL unless the Dolphins are playing.

My argument for reinstating Vick has little to do with dogs or football. I want to give Michael Vick a chance because he's not the only one being released from prison this year. Vick is in a graduating class of almost half a million, and all these folks deserve a shot at a succesful life on the outside.

Among this huge graduating class, I would guess that Vick's experience is representative for approximately zero of them. Few are wealthy, famous, or skilled in such a lucrative field. Many have been raped, mistreated, or contracted life-threatening illness while in jail. Statistically speaking, over two thirds of them will be back in prison before the next presidential election. Of course, most have had their voting rights revoked anyway.

Somewhere along the way in this American experiment, we stopped caring that people had payed their debt to society in prison. In our current mindset, someone charged once with a crime is guilty for life. And these kinds of beliefs have an insidious way of manifesting themselves. They are self-fulfilling prophecies. We fail to give those released from prison a chance, and they fail to prove us wrong.

These folks know what we think about them. They hear it every time they try to get a job or an apartment, only to rebuked upon the results of a background check. With few allies and fewer options, most make the pathetic choice to reoffend.

I know many will disagree with my argument to let Vick play again. They'll say that playing in the NFL is a privelege, and that he's no longer worthy. Well, it may be a privelege, but so are many jobs. These days,it's a privege to just have a job. And playing football is Vick's job. Hell, it's what he studied in college.

So I say it's your lucky day, Michael Vick. Lets make an example of you just one more time. Not for the kids, or the Virginia rednecks raising fighting dogs, but for the graduating prison class of 2009. Lets let these folks know that they still have a chance.