Hello readers, despite this hilarious picture of an old lady and her humongous dog, this week we are talking about a fairly serious matter: The difference in sentencing between NFL players Michael Vick and Donte' Stallworth. (By watching those videos you can tell they are both tremendous athletes.)
Today I read a headline that said that today Nike denied a new contract with Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick. However, on Wednesday, a spokesperson of Vick's said that he was re-signing a contract with Nike.
This made me think back to the whole Michael Vick incident. As many of you probably know in April 2007 Vick was caught being involved in an illegal dog fighting ring that had been going on for five years. In August of 2007 he pleaded guilty to felony charges. Since then, he missed two seasons of football (much to Falcon's fans dismay), spent 18 months in prison, a few months of house arrest, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, and has been the arch-enemy of PETA. Now, I am OKAY with that. I am a dog lover but I am definately NOT affiliated in any way with PETA. I just thought the punishment fits the crime.
However, with our next contestant on "Who is Rich and a Moron?", I don't think the punishment fit the crime. On March 14, 2009 Donte' Stallworth was out drinking at a Miami bar the night after receiving a 4.5 million dollar bonus from the Cleveland Browns. Coming out of the bar the next morning he decided to get behind the wheel of his Bentley and drive. Around 7 a.m. he struck and killed Mario Reyes, 59. After pleading guilty, Stallworth financially settled with the family, was sent to prison for 30 days, put on two years house arrest, and suspended for ONE season with reinstatement after this year's Super Bowl. Now, like Vick, he has a group that is unfond of him- MADD.
I am not even going to state my opinion further on this matter. I want to hear from you. Do you think this is fair? Thirty days of real jail for killing a person compared to 18 months for killing dogs? Should Vick have a smaller sentence? Should Stallworth have a larger sentence? Maybe they should have equal sentences?
I definitely feel that Stallworth should have been given a much greater sentence. He killed a person!!!!! He should never be allowed to play again and should be in prison for years! Just think about the sentence for a non-NFL player. A regular citizen would loose his or her job and be in prison for years. Why should it be any different for players in the NFL? This just does not seem right to me. Something needs to change in this country. I thought this was a country of equality for all, well we need to start acting like it!
ReplyDeleteThat is just ridiculous!!! I think Michael Vick got what he deserved and Stallworth got a slap on the wrist. What kind of precedent is that setting for the rich and famous? Not that one isn’t obviously already set because how do you go about driving drunk and killing someone and get sent to jail for 30 days. That seems like a bit…wait no A LOT RIDICULOUS! If you have that much money I don’t see how hard it would be to pay somebody to come and pick you up. I mean there is such a thing as a taxi in the first place…but you get driven around everywhere else you go, how hard is it to pay someone to pick you up. Heck you could probably find somebody off the street and pay them $100 bucks and there ya go…disaster avoided! They need to start using their brains to avoid these situations and quit using their pocketbooks to get them out of these situations!
ReplyDeleteMy boyfriend and I have talked a lot about the punishments that Vick and Stallworth received, and we are both in agreement that something seems slightly off. However, in the interest of staying with the most current information, the part that really irritates me is that Nike took Vick back. Just because he served his time does not mean that he is now a 100% cured and wonderful person. I lost a lot of respect for the Nike corporation when I heard they resigned Vick to promote their products. I do not believe for a second that they couldn’t find someone else to sponsor…
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