The Pittsburgh Steelers announced yesterday that they had signed embattled quarterback Michael Vick.
The move was done simply because Bruce Gradkowski suffered an injury that will require him to miss the rest of preseason as he was put on injured reserve. Now the Steelers can avoid putting Ben Roethlisberger in harm's way for a couple of extra snaps, the only problem with the signing was that it was National Dog Day.
This made for some pretty poor timing and the Steelers felt the brunt of the criticism. The animal rights group "Justice with Animals" have begun protesting the organization due to Vick's involvement with a dog fighting ring eight years ago. Vick spent 21 months in prison but has never been able to shake the controversy. Vick's past transgressions may have some people captivated however the former Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback recently worked with the Humane Society to help save dogs but could he ever do enough to pay for his misdeeds? Vick stated,
"You still have people who feel a certain type of way about what happened. But I think you have to look at the right I'm trying to do. You can't take back what happened in the past. Everybody is different when they're 20 than when they're 35. You can't fault people for some of those mistakes. If that was the case, you would have a lot of people who wouldn't get a second chance and wouldn't be successful. It is what it is. You move on, stay positive and keep building what I've built the last five or six years."
Vick continued
I just try to make it right after going through what I went through, after what transpired. The best thing to do was make amends for what I did. I can't take it back. The only thing I can do is influence the masses of kids from going down the same road I went down. That's why I work with the Humane Society and affecting a lot of kids' lives and saving a lot of animals.
"We've had lot of a progress. We've been able to change some laws and do some great things that I'm very proud of. I never thought I'd be doing that."
Some people may not forgive Vick but the bottom line is the Steelers are just trying to win a Super Bowl, a big part of that is keeping their franchise quarterback healthy. Landry Jones did not instill any confidence in the coaching staff that he could be the primary backup right away so they signed a veteran who still may have some gas left in the tank. Vick served his time and is trying to make up for his past transgressions, now he is just trying to play football in the twilight of his career.
