HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — In his first extensive interview since being released from federal prison after serving 18 months for running a dogfighting ring, Michael Vick took full blame for his actions.
"I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals," he told James Brown in a "60 Minutes" interview that aired Sunday night. "I could've put a stop to it. I could've walked away from it. I could've shut the whole operation down."
Vick said he initially lied about his role in the dogfighting ring because he realized his career was in jeopardy.
"I felt the guilt and I knew I was guilty, and I knew what I had done," he said. "And, not knowing at the time that, you know, actually telling the truth may have been better than, you know, not being honest. And it backfired on me tremendously."
Vick said on the day he walked into prison, he realized "the magnitude of the decisions" that he had made, leading to several lonely nights of crying in his cell.
"And, you know, it's no way of, you know, explaining, you know, the hurt and the guilt that I felt. And that was the reason I cried so many nights. And that put it all into perspective," he said.
"I let myself down, you know, not being out on the football field, being in a prison bed, in a prison bunk, writing letters home, you know," Vick continued. "That wasn't my life. That wasn't the way that things was supposed to be. And all because of the so-called culture that I thought was right -- that I thought it was cool. And I thought it was, you know, it was fun, and it was exciting at the time. It all led to me laying in a prison bunk by myself with no one to talk to but myself."
Vick was reinstated by the NFL in July and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday.
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Comments
nice going, debbie.
nice going, debbie. convicted felon or not, anybody who gets caught doing something that know has consequences feels sorry. don't prepare yourself for class or work -- i screwed up. cheat on your girlfriend -- isn't worth the guilt. speeding -- the $300 ticket wasn't worth me getting there five minutes earlier. since you cede that he could not be held responsible since there was no conscious act of reprobation, why are you holier than thou??? people eat animals everyday, and disassociate what they eat with how terrible the process is of the food arriving to the plate. will you cheer when they get heart disease? i find that your response is the one that is absent of compassion and rings lower than the act you disdain. sickening.
at the risk of parsing vick's
at the risk of parsing vick's comments, and reaching your status, "let happen" encompasses all his actions and the actions of others that he sanctioned -- financially or otherwise. he could have specifically mentioned all actions, but perhaps he believes his way of saying "let happen" declares that, every detail too, since he has admitted to killing dogs, but reasonably stops shorts of beating oneself unconscious as if he belonged to some 12-step program. i killed james, and i killed tony -- i imgaine -- could be a heavy cross to bear, which seems to go along with his earlier view of dog-fighting being different. i think it is always going to be easier to impute an absence of morality to others, and covet their feelings of shame that one would never welcome or practice for oneself.
What a contradiction! It
What a contradiction! It says, quote, "Michael Vick took full blame for his actions." Then it quotes Michael Vick as saying, "I was disgusted, you know, because of what I let happen to those animals" and "I could've put a stop to it." It clearly isn't only about what HE LET HAPPEN to those animals but what HE PERSONALLY DID to those animals that is at issue here. Vick was a participant in killing dogs with his bare hands, in drowning dogs and in electrocuting dogs. Those facts do not comport with his statement, WHAT I LET HAPPEN. Inferring you allowed animals to be horrifically abused when you were actually one of the people who participated firsthand in that abuse is not taking full blame.
I am the kind of person who will forgive someone who is truly remorseful, but Vick's words felt hollow to me.
HSUS has a program (http://www.hsus.org/acf/fighting/dogfight/programs/) where ex-dogfighters and youth at risk for dogfighting bring their dogs to classes and bond with them and work together with them and learn together and build a positive and loving relationship. Vick needs to take a course like that with a dog before he is given the position of speaking on the issue. One can hope that then he would actually mean what he is saying.
Like every other convicted
Like every other convicted felon they're always sorry after they get caught. Don't buy it. He's been witnessing and partaking in the killing of dogs in dog fighting since age five. This is who he is to the core. Brought up believing this is cool. Never taught compassion for animals. Not something learned after years of enjoying animal cruelty. Don't buy it. Never will. Hope he gets taken off the field in a stretcher. Then I'll cheer for this low life!!
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