The recent hiring of Michael Vick as Norfolk State’s head football coach has sparked a response about his criminal past from the animal rights group PETA. Norfolk State has not confirmed Vick’s hiring, but the Virginian-Pilot reported it Tuesday.
President Ingrid Newkirk provided a statement to Pak Gazette Digital, recounting her experience with Vick during his sentence for participating in illegal dog fighting in 2007.
“After interviewing him at the PETA office in Norfolk, Virginia, while his sentence was being considered, and listening to him tell me blatant lies about his poor dogs, I came to believe that he is a charming and charismatic psychopath, but since I believe that “We will not see him again fight with dogs no more, PETA is focusing on working with authorities to arrest those who still do it,” Ingrid said.
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PETA animal advocates demonstrate as Michael Vick appears in Sussex County Court for a plea deal on his state dog fighting charges. (Carol Guzy/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Vick’s dogfighting scandal came to light in 2007 when his father Michael Boddi told the Atlanta Constitution-Journal that the former star quarterback was hosting dogfights in the garage of the family’s Newport home. News, Virginia. Boddie also said Vick kept fighting dogs in the family’s backyard, including wounded ones that the father helped nurse back to health.
In April of that year, a search warrant for a drug investigation of Vick’s cousin, Davon Boddie, resulted in authorities discovering evidence of illegal dog fighting at one of Vick’s properties in Virginia. Vick was indicted in July 2007 for running an illegal interstate dog fighting enterprise known as “Bad Newz Kennels” along with three other men.
Vick eventually pleaded guilty to “Conspiracy to Travel in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Illegal Activities and Sponsoring a Dog in an Animal Fighting Enterprise.” He also confessed to having participated in the killing of between 6 and 8 dogs, hanging, beating and drowning them.
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The crimes resulted in Vick spending 21 months in federal prison, which proved to be a transformative gap in his NFL career and reputation. Although he returned to the NFL after serving his sentence, joining the Philadelphia Eagles, his public persona was forever tainted and overshadowed by the crimes.
The backlash against Vick was particularly perpetuated by animal rights groups such as PETA. PETA released multiple statements about Vick following his indictment in 2007, and the organization even hosted him in September of that year for its “Developing Empathy for Animals” course.
In a 2009 blog post titled “The Day I Spent with Michael Vick,” the organization expressed skepticism about his stated intention to become an “ally” in the fight against dog fighting.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick makes a stop in Durham, N.C., Friday, Feb. 26, 2010, to speak with students and local residents at New Horizons Alternative School about his mistakes in being involved in dog fights and about second chances in life. Ralph Hawthorne (right), of the Humane Society of the United States, introduced him to the packed auditorium. (Harry Lynch/Raleigh News Observer/MCT)
“Michael and his group have done little more than claim that he has learned his lesson. Since this meeting, they have only come to light when Michael had scheduled court appearances, until now, when he asks to get his old job back.” the blog read.
At the time, Vick was attempting to launch a return to the NFL, which he successfully accomplished in Philadelphia in 2009, where he played until 2013.
He then joined the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. He last played in the NFL in 2015.
Pak Gazette Digital has reached out to Norfolk State University for comment.
