Vick

Michael Vick is a convicted felon, recently released from prison. Like all felons back on the street, Vick needs a job. He may as well play football because, let's face it, he probably doesn't have any skills other  than the ones that make for being a good NFL quarterback. If you think he gained any skills at Virginia Tech, then I've got a bridge to sell you. That's not a knock on Virginia Tech. It's a knock on how all major universities pimp young adults who are long on athletic prowess and short on brain power.

Employing Vick creates a public relations problem for the Eagles, but not the one you think. Eagles fans are a reprehensible lot. These are people who cheered when Michael Irvin went off the field immobilized, his neck in a brace. For some bizarre reason they hate their current starting quarterback, even though Donovan McNabb is the best QB in Eagles history. Let McNabb throw a pick or two, and the fans in Lincoln Financial Field will be thrown into a dog-fighting-like frenzy to see Michael Vick under center.

What's interesting to me is that, from a pure X and O perspective, Michael Vick is a much more attractive talent than, say, Terrell Owens--another pro athlete fans love to hate. All Terrell Owens is is a drama queen. He's not a sadist. And yet, as long as you aren't electrocuting dogs in the locker room, being a drama queen is far more disruptive to the work environment than running a dog-fighting ring.

Vick is far more morally reprehensible figure than Owens, but if I were a professional athlete I'd be much happier working with Vick than Owens.