Vick Coming for a Look??

That's exactly what I was thinking! LOL. It's a brilliant move so that he doesn't sign with another team for 2 weeks to beat us before getting benched again....

 

I would just wait for the first round of cuts. I don't think Vick has much left in the tank, even as a back up.

 

ELVIS??? ELLLVIS??? Dude, just, what???

 

There's actually a huge animal rights activist on this board. He's actually a really nice guy.

 

Well if that's all it takes then we should sign Bruce Grad...... nevermind...

Here are the names of a couple of other other sketchy QB's that claim wins over the Steelers in the past 2 seasons and I wouldn't want any part of these guys as Steelers backups:
Terelle Pryor
Jake Locker

 

Exactly. I'm a life long southerner and am deeply immersed in our old fashioned culture down here. I had literally never even heard of dog fighting until the Vick thing happened. Now I DO know a lot of people that fight chickens and make a lot of money doing it too. When I was in high school my buddy's dad was really in to it and we went over there to watch them fight when I was like 17 or so. It is actually quite brutal. They put huge curved blades on their feet and the roosters fly up and drill each other with them. It was just a bunch of rednecks gambling really. It's illegal in TN and finally got shut down but I think in KY it is still legal. They used to have a place called "Rooster Arena" and it was like a stadium for chicken fights in KY. It is a pretty big business really. I think I went to it with him twice and a guy pulled a huge knife on a guy that he thought was cheating and I never went back. It's pretty stupid honestly but I'd say it doesn't elicit the sorta visceral response that dog fighting does. I can't imagine how brutal that would be but I've honestly never heard of anybody doing it.

 

Mettenberger might be about to hit the block as well. A lot of people seem to think he has some potential. It IS just a backup after all and I was saying the other day that Haley's system really protects Ben a lot more and makes it a lot less likely for him to have to miss time than he was under BA's system. I think the odds are really good that Vick would never even sniff the field.

 

Idk about less players with character issues. I feel like the number is the same, it's just today's media makes it impossible to hide these issues. Everything is news today, and with how many eyes are on these guys everybody knows everything about them it seems. Much less gets to remain private in today's age

 

Can I nominate this for the dumbest post of the year award?

 

1. The dog ate my homework
2. An NFL QB served time in prison for running dog fighting rings
3. A candidate running for POTUS in 2012 tied his dog to his roof carrier on a return from vacation
4. The POTUS actually ate a dog and admits such in an autobiography

Only one of the above statements is in doubt. After seeing the passionate exchanges herein, I don't think the Steelers need this frenzied attention by signing Vick. He will be lumped right in there with who the rest of the NFL fan base call Raplisberger. No one needs this unwanted attention.

 

Hmmmm... I'm thinking more "Most Against the Board Rules" Post of the Year. LOL!

 

This makes me so happy and it has nothing to do with Vick....lol

 

Both are pretty ****ed up, but what puts people over the edge is the fact that dogs are domesticated animals. Aside from being the most common pet on earth, they aid physically handicapped people, police, military, and on and on. People relate to dogs because their a daily part of our lives. I'm not going to start a dog vs chicken debate... But it's the reasoning why so many people are fired up over this. You have to be one sick **** to do what Vick did. It's not culture, it's being sadistic.

 

No to that low life dog killer. we cant have Troy , who was still capable of doing his job but we are going to possibly see this trash on the side line dis gracing the black n gold uniform. Art Rooney will roll over in his grave.

 

Nice detective work there TTF!

 

Yeah I have two dogs myself and DEFINITELY consider myself a "dog person" and we consider our dogs family members.

 

And it's offcial

 

Those of you leaving Steeler Nation please hang your jersey and membership card next the door on your way out.

 

I second that motion.

Vick is worthless on the field and off. Seriously disappointed in the Steelers with this move. Scumbag person, with a washed up skill set, and you're going to piss off a large portion of the fan base "just in case".

 

WTF This is one of the stupidest post I've seen.

 

Bye

 

Thanks Ray. I've been working all day and haven't read the last 7 pages or so. I wonder if I'll ever get there. Probably too many posts will set me off on rants, so I'll try to keep it to just one.

I like the Sandusky analogy. Come on, people, if Keith Butler gets hurt, why not a child molester? If that man has paid his debt and gotten out of prison, doesn't he deserve a second chance? Don't you believe in second chances? Leave him alone! What does he have to do for you people to forgive him? He's a changed man and hasn't done wrong in years! He shouldn't be sentenced to a life of [blah blah blah...]

I like the Sandusky analogy not because one thing is worse than the other (dog torture-murder/child rape), but because of the length of and intention behind the crimes. Methodical, premeditated, evil, cruel, for his own pleasure, and over the course of many years, guaranteed to continue until being forcefully stopped. Those adjectives apply to both men in a way that they don't apply to most other NFL crimes, including someone like Ray Rice. I hate Ray Rice, and I wouldn't want him on the team, and would like to see him in jail, but I would classify what he did as a "mistake", albeit a huge one. To call Vick's wrongdoings "a mistake" is like calling Sandusky's wrongdoings "a mistake." Those dog murders and child rapes weren't slip-ups or lapses in judgment, they were Vick and Sandusky being themselves. I'm glad Mike has, as far as I know, been able to control himself for as long as he has, and I hope that continues even if there comes a time he no longer financially benefits from torture abstinence. But I have no forgiveness for the man whose insides drove him to do what he did, refused to take responsibility, and missed the point entirely when finally forced to "apologize."

Add to the similarities of the Vick/Sandusky crimes: betrayal of those most trusting, most loyal, and most dependent, with no other choice. An authority figure raping a trusting and helpless child is as bad as betrayal gets. The same heartlessness comes into play when abusing a dog. As an educated dog lover I know better than to anthropomorphize them, but their feelings are real, and their loyalty, love, and dependence is every bit as strong as a human child's. This is particularly true of pit bulls, who tend to be especially attached to their humans - real "people pleasers" of the dog world. To take that love and loyalty and stick its head into a bucket of water while my friends hold its back legs until the thrashing stops, or to grab it by the front paws and have my friend grab the back paws so we can slam it into the ground like a jump rope again and again until enough bones are broken and the whimpers stop (I could go on)... to take advantage of them that way sickens and outrages me as much as the sickening behavior of Sandusky. Hell, a guy like Sandusky, his attraction to children isn't even what sickens me most. He probably can't help that. But instead of just sitting on it or seeking help, he turned to manipulation and betrayal. He caused pain and lasting damage. He did it all for his own pleasure at the expense of innocents. Those are the things that make me want to kill him. If he had just said, "Oh my god I'm fantasizing about kids, somebody help me," I'd have sympathy for him. Then you look at Vick, who behaved similarly, but I doubt he even (I'm just guessing now) had some kind of sick, twisted, burning desire inside him the way Sandusky obviously did. I don't think Vick has some pathological uncontrollable urge to hang dogs from trees, I think he just does it because it's fun for him. It passes the time, brings back fond memories, makes him popular, whatever. And that just makes me sympathize with him even less. He wasn't driven to do horrible things. He drove himself there, instead of to the bowling alley.

By the way, I don't feel like it's manipulative to describe the horrible details of Vick's crimes. That's a trick I'm not fond of in the courtroom: distracting the jury by bringing focus to the heinousness of the crime instead of whether or not the defendant is the one responsible. But we know Vick did it. The issue now is how much we should care, and the level of cruelty is 100% relevant to the debate. I think a lot of people would rather not think about it - probably especially now that he's on the team. But I encourage you to embrace it and educate yourself. There's cruelty in the killings, and there's cruelty in the fights, but it gets even worse. There's a reason people like me are so passionate, and if you learn about what it really takes to fight dogs, what you have to do to get these creatures to do what's so unnatural, you might join me. This isn't making your baby cousins box in the back yard. It's different, it's exponentially worse, and not just because of the stakes.

As to whether or not I'm done as a fan, we'll just have to wait and see. It's hard to say how much I control who I root for. I just root. Can't help it. I have lost respect for the coach I liked and the GM I've defended, and the owners I used to think were a cut above, ethically. I imagine I'll root extra hard for the team as long as Ben is healthy, but the minute Vick sets foot onto the field, I will be hoping for sacks and interceptions, and that's just not something I have control over. It's open to interpretation what kind of fan that makes me - if it makes me fickle or less than die-hard, whatever. And that's fine. I'm proud to keep some limitations to my loyalty. I'd be out the door if we were in the Patriots' cheating shoes, and if you want to get on my case about that, then guess what, you're as bad as Patriots fans. I like to have reasons for why I support a team, and if that team chips away at those reasons, so be it.

- This link is a 14 minute video that briefly covers what happened to some of Vick's dogs after his arrest. It's a little dated, but still good:

Their success not only vindicates pit bulls as a breed, but it further demonstrates the lengths one has to go to get them to fight at all. Once given another option, they took it.

- This is a wonderful book written by Sports Illustrated's Jim Gorant, that breaks the saga down into three sections: what Vick did, the legal aftermath, and what happened to the dogs. It has a 5 star average on Amazon:

You will not support Vick in any way after reading it. If his cruelty doesn't get you, his indifference will. If you're enjoying your support of Vick, this is a challenge. Learn a little more and see where you stand.

 

Sure, go ahead! Either way, he's your favorite team's quarterback

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, people are overreacting with all this I'm done with the team because of the Vick signing. He has played for the Eagles and Jets since he got out of prison, and the fans were cheering for him. Steelers fans want to believe their team is special and different from the rest of the league get over it. I don't like the signing myself as a football move, as soon as the team starts winning those disgusted fans will be back. That's a bad analogy the Steelers wouldn't hire somebody like Sandusky, he's worse than Vick.