Has America Forgiven Michael Vick?
by JasonB on Dec 15, 2010 12:26 PM EST
in Xfinity Sponsored Posts
Email
PrintThere were two numbers that came out this week that seem to indicate that the country has forgiven Michael Vick. Not only have they forgiven him, but they appear to actually like the guy...
The first number is 25.7 million. That's how many people watched the Eagles vs Cowboys game Sunday night and it's also the highest rated Sunday Night Football game ever. Now you might say, that has something to do with the Cowboys being in the game because they're always a good ratings draw. That's true, but when you look at the kind of ratings the Eagles have drawn this year, it becomes apparent that they're the draw this time around.
Their Sunday night game against the Giants was the highest rated Sunday night game in 12 years. Their game against the Bears was the highest rated NFL game of the season on any network. Their early November matchup with the Colts was the highest rated regular season game on CBS in three years and was at that point the highest rated TV program in America since the start of the NFL season. That game eclipsed the previous highest rated TV program in 2010 which was… Eagles vs Packers on opening day.
Other than the opening day game against the Packers, Vick started every one of those games and he's really the major difference between this year's Eagles team and last year's which wasn't out breaking ratings records every week.
The other number is 981,687. That's how many pro bowl votes Michael Vick has gotten so far, he leads the NFL in that category. He has over 34,000 more votes than second place Tom Brady. If pro bowl voting is just one big popularity contest, then Michael Vick, who everyone apparently hates, is winning it.
So people are tuning in record numbers to watch Vick, they're casting more pro bowl votes for him than anyone else... Is it not fair to draw some assumptions from this? There's not doubt that he's always going to have his detractors and that's certainly their prerogative... but there really seems to be a lot fewer of them then I remember. His play has turned a lot of people around and his general demeanor and attitude has converted others. People love a comeback story and this is the best one the NFL has going right now.
18 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
My guess is there are still many people out there who have not forgiven Vick who tune in to either, watch the game in spite of him or root against him. I would not be surprised if casual fans were tuning in (and setting records) because they wanted him to fail.
The Pro Bowl voting is promising though and shows that many hardcore fans (aka the ones who would vote) seem to have forgiven him or are at least recognizing his great season.
Definitely a little bit of both
People who love him are tuning in to see him succeed, and plenty of people who hate him are tuning in to see him get injured.
Michael has let his actions do his speaking for him.
I was never that mad at him to begin with, thought it was silly how many people came out to condem the man in the first place, but that is neither here nor there. Since he has gone to prison, Michael Vick has been nothing but the model of personal responsibility. I hope he keeps his life on the right path and except when he is playing my Giants I wish him nothing but success.
by Late for Dinner on Dec 15, 2010 1:14 PM EST reply actions
Yeah, well Greg Easterbrook (TMQ) says he’s not getting late hits because he’s a black man who was in jail. Since he’s the smartest man in the country (just ask him if you don’t believe me) then obviously everyone in the country but the NFL officials have forgiven him.
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Bear Bryant
People
who haven’t forgiven him need to take the time to listen to him speak. All the touchdowns in the world wouldn’t matter to me if he hadn’t learned from his mistakes. If you listen to him speak he never shys away from his past and in many cases he is the one who brings it up. He is the one who reminds people that he was once an asshole but now has seen a better path and that path has brought way more success than his old ways.
Cowboys suck.
It is the “independents” who are starting to swing back to Vick. If he can get a majority of those back on his side, he’ll be in great shape. And he is making progress. Not that a ton of women watch football but I’d be very curious as to how they view Vick now and how they viewed Vick 3 years ago.
Perspective of a female Eagles fan
I was 100% behind the signing of Mike Vick from day one. I always saw the awesome offensive weapon he could become and now he is getting his chance and he is motivated. A good fit for QB for this team, focused, a leader and best of all he knows that a team can come back from a deficit. He paid his debt. End of story as far as I’m concerned but some people are going to be jealous of the talent and success of the man and the team that was savvy enough to sign him. And now the Eagles have the opportunity to sign him for arguably the best years of his career and keep him on his upward swing.
by Neveradullmoment on Dec 21, 2010 1:55 PM EST up reply actions
nfl revenue
means be careful when you hit him.
it is a comeback story.
and he is an exciting big play player.
and desean is both exciting and entertaining. that little endzone plunge was the best td celebration in my recent memory. maybe back to the moss mooning.
and then mccoy breaks a fifty yard run
and then the d lets the other team keep it interesting and make some highlights too!
by andyfrombrooklyn on Dec 15, 2010 6:40 PM EST reply actions
racial component
conservative white judge in virginia sends black dude to slammer. vick has been there. my guess is there is a huge black audience. tom brady …not so much.
by andyfrombrooklyn on Dec 15, 2010 6:46 PM EST reply actions
nfl revenue
watch the desean endzone loop on jason’s game summary. and that is it.
by andyfrombrooklyn on Dec 15, 2010 6:52 PM EST reply actions
I think a better question is whether Vick deserves forgiveness at this time.
There was a big back and forth on Big Blue View but my post there is way too long to copy to another team’s blog. The long and short is that Vick engaged in a pattern of illegal, and IMO reprehensible, behavior for a relatively long period of time (meaning that he didn’t mistakenly do something stupid, but intended to do what he did, and didn’t show remorse by removing himself from the situation voluntarily). I believe that a person should be given the chance for redemption after serving his sentence, but playing football is the incorrect venue to be judged in that regard. I hope Vick is really a changed person—notwithstanding that I hope he wakes up one morning having forgotten how to throw a football—but to ask for forgiveness at this point is premature. Sitting in a prison cell is compulsory and playing football for a large paycheck is ultimately self-serving. Neither of these categories lends itself to being evidence of true rehabilitation.
And I hope Philly fans are so magnanimous in their support of Plaxico once he finishes his sentence…
It's a triumph of number crunching over the human spirit...aaaaaand, it’s about time. -- Play-by-Play Announcer, The Simpsons.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Bleeding Green Nation
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
- Roger Goodell wants Wi-Fi in every stadium
- Plaxico Burress wants to workout for the Dolphins; Dolphins don’t want Plaxico Burress
- NFLPA files collusion claim against NFL, claiming salary cap arrangement in uncapped year
- Donald Driver compared winning ‘Dancing With The Stars’ to winning Super Bowl
- Report: Most NFL players would have no problem with an openly gay teammate
