Hypothetical Vick flips on fellow players thread

[hockeybeat]

My understanding of Vick's plea is that he has to testify about other dogfighting rings, including those that NFL players participate in.

If Vick's testimony implicates 10 players per team--I used ten since it's a nice round number--what would Goodell's reaction be? Year long bans for 320 players? Lifetime suspensions for all?

 

[Chi City 81]

I would say there's no way that many players would be involved in something like this. But if Goodell's going to suspend Vick, he would have to suspend everyone that's convicted of/pleads guilty to dogfighting.

 

[Hiro]

"Abortions for some, tiny American flags for others!"

 

[WaylonJennings]

If there are that many athletes involved in this, is it an indictment of pro football beat writers the same way that the steroid scandal was an indictment of pro baseball writers, in terms of them not catching onto this?

 

[Chi City 81]

If there are that many athletes involved in this, is it an indictment of pro football beat writers the same way that the steroid scandal was an indictment of pro baseball writers, in terms of them not catching onto this?

Not really. What about their play on the field would indicate they're involved in dogfighting?

 

[Armchair_QB]

I wouldn't assume that NFL players are the target of the Feds either. They're after the biggest fish in pond, which wouldn't necessarily be athletes.

 

[Ace]

I call dibs on the name Hypothetical Vick.

 

[WaylonJennings]

If there are that many athletes involved in this, is it an indictment of pro football beat writers the same way that the steroid scandal was an indictment of pro baseball writers, in terms of them not catching onto this?

Not really. What about their play on the field would indicate they're involved in dogfighting?

I understand that the parallel isn't exact - but don't you think if there were 300 NFL players involved in this, if it was that pervasive in the culture of the league, that at some point the media dropped the ball in not snuffing it out? It's just a thought - I'm not slamming those guys. Obviously we're dealing in hypotheticals here. I guess the question is - how much should guys on the beat be reasonably expected to ferret out.

 

[Starman]

Remember, the whole thing started with a "drug investigation involving one of Vick's relatives."

I suspect that may be where the whole thing is ultimately going.

 

[Chi City 81]

If there are that many athletes involved in this, is it an indictment of pro football beat writers the same way that the steroid scandal was an indictment of pro baseball writers, in terms of them not catching onto this?

Not really. What about their play on the field would indicate they're involved in dogfighting?

I understand that the parallel isn't exact - but don't you think if there were 300 NFL players involved in this, if it was that pervasive in the culture of the league, that at some point the media dropped the ball in not snuffing it out? It's just a thought - I'm not slamming those guys. Obviously we're dealing in hypotheticals here. I guess the question is - how much should guys on the beat be reasonably expected to ferret out.

The steroid rumor was there in baseball for a while. McGwire had the andro thing. But if this kind of culture was pervasive enough that 10 percent of the league's players were involved, something would have happened before the feds lucked into Vick on an entirely separate investigation.

 

[old_tony]

If there are that many athletes involved in this, is it an indictment of pro football beat writers the same way that the steroid scandal was an indictment of pro baseball writers, in terms of them not catching onto this?

No, considering that pro football beat writers don't hang with the players during the off time. And that's pretty much the only way they'd know.

Of course, it is possible that the writers were into dogfighting on their own and occasionally ran into some players at the underground fight venues. Yeah, then I'd see your point.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Where's the condemnation of Vick for snitching from those who condemned his buddies for snitching on him?

 

[cranberry]

If there are that many athletes involved in this, is it an indictment of pro football beat writers the same way that the steroid scandal was an indictment of pro baseball writers, in terms of them not catching onto this?

While waiting at the local Mavis for a slow tire leak to be fixed this weekend, I was reading an SI article from the spring, when the Vick story started to break. It quoted an expert (forgot exactly who) who said a subculture of dogfiighting permeates the NFL and NBA. The story also said dogfighting is mentioned in the lyrics of a number of rap songs.

However, I'd hate to see the discussion of dogfighting degenerate to the finger-pointing level that the steroids story has over the past couple years. As with steroids, it's a law enforcement issue and, as with steroids, it obviously didn't rank very high among law enforcement priorities until recently.

I don't think assigning blame to reporters or leagues for not dealing with the topic earlier is productive in the least. Of course, some people probably enjoy the self-flagellation part.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

"Abortions for some, tiny American flags for others!"

Dammit, was thinking just that very thing.

I'd be shocked if Vick could spill the guts about too many people, becuse for as brazen as Vick apparently was about his dogfighting attendance, it took this long to get an indictment.