I like John Canzano. I really dig him as a sports columnist and he is an alright sports radio personality. I often listen to him in the afternoons on Sports radio 95.5 the Game here in Portland. Last week one of his topics was whether Michael Vick should get another chance at the NFL upon his release from jail for heinous dog abuse charges.
Canzano argued that people need to earn the right to have a second chance. Later in the week I was listening to Portland's other afternoon sports radio team, on 1080 AM, ESPN radio. Jason Scukanec (Suk) argued that Daniel Hood, a prep football star who was convicted of brutally raping his 14 year old cousin when he was thirteen, should not have been a scholarship to Tennessee because of the crime he committed, even though the girl he was convicted of kidnapping and raping thought he deserved a second chance.
As I listened to both conversations I was wonderfully ambivalent. Canzano argued that some crimes require the criminals to prove themselves after they have completed their sentence. Suk made the point that there are some people that he would prefer not to have on his team in part so he wouldn't have to cheer for them. (I actually thought this was one of the better arguments I heard. I am not sure I want to cheer for a convicted rapist either. But I digress.)
Both of these examples are great ones to mold this conversation around because both crimes were most grievous. I think one has to hold Vick more culpable, however, due to his age and position when he committed his crime. In addition, he demonstrated a pattern of disgusting behaviour.
Hood was thirteen, and in actuality did not participate in the rape but neither did he act to stop it. He watched and did nothing having helped restrain her. He admits that what he did was disgusting. He admits that he doesn't deserve the chance he is getting at Tennessee. He knows that everything he gets is grace. Having read the story after Suk reported it made me realize that I could cheer for this kid quite happily. Anyone who understands that everything they get is grace is on the right track in my book.
Vick is a different story altogether, but I still think Canzano is wrong. I don't like Vick. I don't like what he did, and I think he does have an expectation that he deserves more than he is getting, but that is what is so hard about grace. It is given to those who recognize it and those that don't. If it didn't, it wouldn't be grace.
I don't think Canzano worries that someone is giving Vick a chance to work a $10 an hour construction job for forty hours a week. So why would he worry if someone gave him a chance to play quarterback for an NFL team for several million? What difference is there between the two really? Football players are gladiators. To play the sport well you have to have pent up anger. You have to have an edge to you that may not play well in the rest of society. I wouldn't trade my life for theirs for anything. I do not think they have the capacity to love required to perform my job. I know I don't have the anger to do theirs well.
Does it matter that we live in an upside down society that pays its gladiators millions while cutting teaching positions that pay thousands? No. I wouldn't let Micheal Vick teach my kids, but I have no trouble letting him get hit by 200+ lb men in tight pants for lots of money. His reward down here is all he is going to get anyway. fame is fleeting. Just ask OJ.
It is not a question of second chances. Once released every convict needs to be able to prove himself again to society. Why not give him that chance in a safe environment like a football stadium where he can do little harm? Let him have a chance to succeed or fail. His best chance at success is to let him play and I think we'd all like to see more successes and less failures. Our failure rate with released convicts is already too high. No one is going to think more of Vick simply because he's really fast, he throws a football well, and has amazing escapability. Those things a real man don't make. They only make for great entertainment. And that is pretty low on the values chart when it comes right down to it.
Both Hood and Vick should get their shot, but for my money, I'll root for Hood based upon what I read. I might go wow watching Vick. If he went to the Seahawks I might even cheer for him. But unless he changes, I mean really changes, as it appears Hood has done, I'll never respect him, and that is what I think every man wants more than anything.
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