Nike endorses dog killer Michael Vick again
Nike doesn’t condone Vick’s actions but sponsors him anyway
The Michael Vick comeback continues: Nike has re-signed him to an endorsement deal, reports AP. The company cut ties with Vick nearly four years ago after his dog-fighting troubles, though it had been supplying him with equipment since his NFL comeback. It’s not the Eagles’ quarterback first endorsement deal since his return in 2009, but it’s easily the most high-profile.
“Michael acknowledges his past mistakes,” said Nike in a statement. “We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field.”
What do you think about this latest multimillion endorsement of Michael Vick by Nike.
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How can anyone buy anything NIKE with the decision they made choosing a monster like Michael Vick? I think people should contact NIKE and tell them.
I thought NIKE dropped Vick? Am I mistaken?
OH PLEASE, of course he is pretending to not condone animal cruelty! He wants his career and money back. He is still a dirt bag and this is why I have not and will never again purchase a NIKE product!!! I will also not use or purchase any other companies I find, big or small that endorse him. He feels he has paid his debt. To who, all the neglected, abused, and harmed dogs that he took part in. I think he is an idiot and his mother should have held him underwater when he was born as he did to the dogs that made him unhappy. I am sure his mother must be just as ashamed and unhappy. I would be embarrassed and ashamed to admit this was my son. The only product I would endorse that has anything to do with him is the Michael Vick dog toy that I would purchase and hand to a pit bull so he could maul it!!
I agree completely Lisa!
Thank you! 🙂
Vick said in an interview that he regrets NOTHING in his life and when asked again, he said “I regret the time I spent in prison.” He NEVER SAID HE REGRETS WHAT HE DID TO THOSE DOGS. Oh and don’t give me that “it’s a culture thing” claptrap. It used to be “culturally okay” to OWN other humans, does that make it OKAY because they were “raised that way”? NO! Only a sociopath can do what he did to those animals, enjoy it and have absolutely NO REMORSE for what he did. Do you think those dogs (cats/dogs/puppies/kittens used as bait) didn’t scream and feel pain? OMG, wake up people he is a looser and just because he can throw a flippen football does not mean he has “changed his ways.”
Michael is sociopath, he will never change. He’s doing what he has to do to get his big paycheck back. They aren’t just dogs, they are living, breathing, pain feeling beings. I don’t condone violence to humans or animals. Michael Vick will get involved with this activity again when things settle down. He said he cried the day they closed the cell door on him. Asked why he cried, he was sorry for for the way his life turned out. He was sorry he hurt his mother and family. He never once said he was sorry about what he did to the dogs. Reality is, it’s just lip service. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong. He also said he would not change anything, because he has learned so much. No second chances for this subhuman.
Nike is just about the money. The fact they use child labor for their products shows they have no morals.
IMHO, the rehabilitation of Michael Vick is a complete red herring here and I don’t care if he’s become Mother Teresa, ministering to the terminally ill and giving strangers the clothes off his back.
It’s nice that Michael Vick was able to be rehabilitated or to rehabilitate himself. That is a luxury that none of the dogs who came into contact with him when he ran Bad Newz “Kennels” have. Many of them are dead, after being brutalized and tortured. Where is their “rehabilitation”? Many of them are struggling to live normal, uneventful lives as dogs, their ability to live a single day without fear having been stolen from them by the man who oversaw their brutalization and torture. For them, “rehabilitation” is a faint hope.
This isn’t about Michael Vick the man. I don’t give a sh!t about him. This is about the DOGS that gave their lives and their spirits because of his sick, rotten soul. This is about not forgetting them, and honoring and respecting what they represent. By jibber-jabbering about Michael Vick’s “rehabilitation” Nike sends the message that the dogs don’t matter and never did.
Michael Vick is making a nice living. He makes more money in a year than many — most– of us will earn in a lifetime. Fine. But endorsement contracts are a perk that he should not be allowed; not because he is or is not “rehabilitated” but because of what he did to those dogs which can never be undone.
It’s called a consequence of an action.
NFL = NATIONAL FELONY LEAGUE. ‘NUFF SAID.
YES!! YES!!
Couldn’t agree more!
Shame on Nike, once again the almighty dollar wins out over morality.
True!
No surprise Nike is sponsoring Vick.
Nike doesn’t care about its overseas workers, many of whom are paid wages insufficient to meet their basic needs. Why would anyone expect them to care about animal abuse? Nike has a record of hiring overseas employees who are not allowed to organize independent unions and often face health and safety hazards.
The man is a dog abuser and killer, their is no coming back from these facts, shame on Nike.
The man is a sociopath, he probably beats people as well, most dog abusers do, their no rehab from killing the innocent….testocerone makes excuses but everyone knows the truth.
I know you have strong opinions about dog issues Mike and so do I, but from all I’ve seen of Vick’s actions and words since his conviction, I ‘d say he has done a lot to actually rehabilitate himself and take a different perspective on what he was involved in.
You are right SH, but I still have a hard time getting by what he did. It takes, in my opinion, a soulless individual who knows nothing of compassion and has no respect for life to do what he did. When it comes to rehabilitation I am very much a cynic. Thanks.
I don’t think that people are born compassion-less. It’s easy to lose compassion, and even to lose respect for life, by objectifying others, whether animal or human. I think we’re all closer to that line than we like to think.
Vick crossed that line. If he’s come back over… to use a Martha Stewart quote, “it’s a good thing.”
Be a cynic Mike, but if he proves to be true to his word, we could use him.
I am a realist Bill. I don’t believe in the myth of rehabilitation.
I am so tired of hearing that he has “paid his debt.” He has paid his criminal debt, but as far as I’m concerned he will never pay his moral debt. He abused helpless creatures.
That’s a character flaw – not something you can pretend goes away.
If Nike is paying him money, then of course they are condoning what he did. He should never have been allowed to return to pro sports and he should never have been given another endorsement contract.
Kathleen, I would never portend to impose on how your feel in this issue but to imply that no one ever changes is to imply that they are either psychopathic or sociopathic. Whil Mr. confess to doing some seriously bad things in his life, some of those were cultural in nature. As I have mentenioned I have observed him, and will continue to onserved him, carrying out nor only his court mandated duties but going beyond those. If he has indeed, reformed, think of the many young people that he could turned away from this behavior that you nor I could never reach.
thank you for speaking the truth!
Professional athletes in the major sports are generally unpleasant people. There are people who have been convicted as accessories to murder, rapists, drug addicts, wife beaters, etc.who continue to enjoy not only their lucrative endorsement contracts, but major support from the fans of their teams. I don’t single out any of them as being more reprehensible than the other. And I certainly don’t give a crap what brand of shoe they wear. I buy what’s on sale. And I don’t think that Nike signing Michael Vick means they endorse cruelty to animals any more than their long term relationship with Michael Jordan means that they endorse infidelity in marriage.
I am not sure about this Mike. I have been keeping up with Vick since he got out and rejoined society. He has gone over and beyond what was required of him by the courts in terms of his PR campaign against cruelty to animals and dogs in particular. A number of his anti dog fighting public service works have gone largely unnoticed because they were not major media events. To date he has more than met the requirements laid out for him by the courts and the Humane Society and in the events where I have listened to him he seems sincere. He also has a yet unscheduled event with Caesar Milan (The Dog Whisperer) coming out later this year. My hope is that he has changed. He can probably impact more people’s views on dog fighting in a week than either of us could in a year or more. There has to be a point where we give the system a chance to work and stop condemning the person after they have paid the penalty handed out by the courts. Unlike many celebrities he never complained, he did his time. Now he doing the rest of what is required of him. Let’s see if he continues to be a friend of the animals.