Michael Vick, the star National Football League quarterback whose career was interrupted by a dogfighting conviction, has reached an endorsement agreement with athletic equipment maker Nike.
"We have re-signed Michael Vick as a Nike athlete," Megan Saalfeld, a Nike spokeswoman, said in an e-mail to CNN.
See rare photos of Michael Vick
Vick, currently on the roster of the Philadelphia Eagles, served 20 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting operation. He has since emerged as a spokesman against dogfighting.
"Michael acknowledges his past mistakes," Saalfeld said. "We do not condone those actions, but we support the positive changes he has made to better himself off the field. "
I wonder what types of skeletons the Vick haters have in their closet he who is without sin cast the first stone......
Read http://www.thelostdogsbook.com/ and see how you Vick supporters feel after that. Nike (and BET and Subway, etc) should be ashamed of themselves.
you should be ashamed of yourself for being so close-minded
@ Thomas. You made me laugh. Read the book... uh.. you *CAN* read, can't you?
Angie, please... your psychotic obsession with one particular animal has warped your mental thought process
Hey Mark Parker. Are you freaking tarded? What is wrong with you? I am going to get me some Nike shoes then go to the kennel and kick to death some puppies!.. You are as dumb as this loser Vick. Hopefully some stray dog bites your face off along with this garbage Vic. This is what is wrong with our country. I bunch of losers that worship losers. This piece of garbage is a totally morally deficient. How can people look up to him. So as long as he performs he could be a child rapist and you idiots would still support him. I am done with Nike. I will not buy another Nike product
Here is a tip for you...if you don't like it, don't buy Nike! IIf the fact that they use slave labor to make their shoes and really do nothing to build jobs here in the US doesn't bother you this probably won't either.
I agree. Each Nike costs the company $3-$5 dollars a pair...and how much do you pay for it?....Life is full of humans falacies...what makes one forgiven in the public's eye on what actions one take to make him/her better....Vick is on progression.
NO more nikes for me. Dog killer shoes, damn they will do anything for a dime. Shamefull!
Yes, how quickly ppl forget. If one more person says to me "it's only a dog" I will punch them out. Never any Nike in this family. Greed!!!!! To inflict so much suffering on an animal is unforgivable. Vick says he's sorry and the endorsements fly out of the woodwork.
@Janet Harris
it is only a dog.
Wow! I thought Nike had better morals. What happened to the days when companies endorced positive role models, especially for our kids? I guess it leaves the American people with the reponsibility to vote with their purchasing power.
You jerks who put animals above people make me want to vomit. You should be striped of any and everything that is a result of some kind of harm to animals and dropped naked into a wild animal nature preserve. Then the world will be a truly better place.
That certainly is a funny mental image
Redneck!!!
who said anything about putting animals above people (unless you think this is some sort of benevolent gesture on Nike's part to help Michael rehabilitate his image, and that worth more than lives of the dogs he choked, drown, or threw into a ring to get shredded by other dogs). There is a difference in eating or wearing the by products of animals and wasting them for some frivious form of demented entertainment.
We animal lovers have no qualm against Nike providing a positive role model, and Vick ain't it.
Vuck Fick! 😉
So thinking that slaughtering and torturing dogs for pleasure is an unforgivable crime and we won't support Nike or Vick anymore as a result makes us put animals over people how? That literally makes absolutely ZERO sense. Your comment is so ridiculous that I am mad at myself for even responding.
You make us sick, thinking that this guy is okay. He's a dog-killer, he's just not killing dogs right now. An alcoholic who doesn't drink still is an alcoholic!! Standing up for the defenseless is not crazy, it's actually heroic and noble. Two words you're obviously not familiar with. If there's a next life for you, hopefully you'll be Mr. Vic's dog!
People can take care of themselves.
This is typical "Southern" mentality at its finest!
Angie, you guys aren't "animal lovers"... you're DOG LOVERS. Let's get that straight. 40 billion animals a year are tortured and slaughtered for our pleasure (to eat meat) and you choose to champion the rights of the smallest minority of animals... if you were really animal lovers, you'd be similarly condemning (possibly) yourself, your friends, your family, etc. for indulging in eating meat.
I bet you are full of sh1t. You are just baiting ppl.
@ Thomas again. What, you think we don't support any other animal besides dogs? Really? Here's another that we all support:
http://www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com/
It's so true. These people need to realize that we are humans – we make mistakes – and that forgiveness SHOULD be a central idea for all humans. But instead, someone does something wrong and we automatically write them off. They say he isn't remorseful, but what if he is? We don't know Vick or his heart. What we do know is that this man has come from the depths of society and turned his life around.
So you people are putting animals above human beings... it's sad really. They eat burgers and chicken wings, but don't realize the cruelty that those animals are getting put through as well.
I don't condone Michael Vick's prior actions with the dogfighting, but everyone deserves a second chance. I'm sure glad Jesus didn't write us off when we sinned against Him and the Father. Real talk.
I don't want to be striped, I prefer spots
Angie, only a small minority of you do... and, where's all the hate towards your friends, coworkers, and family for eating meat? If you directed 1/10th of the anger towards them that you do towards Vick, they'd probably knock you out (even when considering the fact that you're a woman).
Saint Young well said, threads and posts like this prove while so many people here in America claim to believe in God, it is very clear they don't know him!!! He did wrong, paid his debt and you still won't forgive him? It's only because he's black. Just admit it!!! We already know it's what's really in your hearts!!!
You are as ignorant as they come budy. We won't forgive him becuase of the horrendous manner in which he killed these dogs. If you did any reading on the trail and the manner in which these animals were killed you would realize that he is seriously messed up in the head.
Ah playing the Race card I see.
You are an idiot. It has nothing to do with color.
Vuck Fick.
Are you kidding? It's only because he is black that they are offering him a deal. Just like they will Tiger Woods shortly.
Well I would boycott them but I never bought their junk anyways. No suprise that a company that caters to meatheads, jocks, gang-bangers and d0uchebags would sign up a psychotic dog killer. You are all so gulible to think that a man can change that fast and that he really feels bad about what he did, ha.
No more Nikes for me either!
If anyone one has ever read "The Lost Dogs" then maybe they would come close to understanding why there is so much anger and ill will towards Michael Vick. Dogs have evolved to become our companions and family members and should be treated as such, in my opinion. They should not be bred to fight each other unwillingly, they should not be shot repeatedly, they should be held down in a bucket/pool of water until they die, they should not be electrocuted and most certainly not be slammed into the ground over and over again until they die. I, for one, am very disappointed in the NFL and Nike for allowing Michael Vick to be where he is today. Any hard working individual with a felony would not be able to find a career so easily (20 months was not long enough) in the real world. Those dogs did not deserve to die or even live the way they did. I know that they are running and playing freely, without fear or shame in Heaven. Even though in it in his past, Michael Vick should not be put up on a pedestal getting paid millions of dollars or even be sponsored by Nike. Dogs would never treat anyone so badly...sometimes I think they might be more civilized.
Great post.
That was a very well written book...I suggest everyone read it.....It was hard for me to fight back tears! But I believe that it will make ppl see a different side of the story..
Interesting timing. I wear Nike's now and was about to go shopping today to buy another pair. But as long as Nike supports Vick, I will not buy anything from Nike. I don't care about Vick's alleged "transformation." We all have the power to vote with our wallets. That's the only feedback Nike will understand.
I was going this weekend for new athletic shoes, also. I was going to be near a Nike outlet, too. Well, I'm glad I read this today. No new Nike's for me!
This has nothing to do with the ghetto or race. What Vick did was typical of sociopathic behvior. Sociopaths have no regard for life of any kind, except where it may benefit their own desires. No normal person with a normally formed personality kills any living thing for self serving reasons. I doubt Vick is reformed and I believe his only real remorse is over the fact he was caught. But the American public (and American business – i.e, the NFL) have to have their "heroes" no matter what cost to our social "soul is!
The people passing out the phone number of NIKE are just too funny.
you think the marketing department of NIKE is stupid?? they clearly made a market research before signing Vick again, thus i am sure a vast majority have forgiven Vick and that is the reason why he got his contract back. Nike could care less about bunch of whiner on the NET.
exactly
I eat dogs
You must be in China where they skin dogs and cats while they are ALIVE.
Another idiot troll.
Vuck Fick.
and, that's different from us somehow Angie? Farm animals are drugged up, forced to reproduce at an accelerated rate, forced to live in the worst of conditions, mutilated while still alive, and then slaughtered... just so we can enjoy the luxury of eating meat.
they should "NOT" be held down in a bucket/pool of water until they die (SORRY...TYPO!)