Vick & Rose suffering from the same rush to judgement

What Vick did was a horrible thing, but the point of my last column wasn’t to give him a free pass, rather, it was to say people make mistakes and while his was worse than some others I can think of, it wasn’t the kind of mistake a person can never recover from.

Like I said then and I stand by now, Vick has paid his penance and now deserves a shot to make things as right as he can and to use his massive celebrity to further good causes – notably animal rights.

If I were on PETA’s governing board, the first thing I’d do now that he’s back in action is sign him on as my top spokesperson.

Who better to champion animal rights than someone who has experienced the dark side of animal cruelty? If Vick really is a changed man, this would be a great opportunity to move animal rights into the forefront of society.

The principal argument I’ve heard against Vick being allowed back into the NFL and against him getting a second chance was well reflected in last week’s reader comments like "No, he does not "deserve" a second chance in the NFL. No, he does not belong in a position that influences children. PERIOD."

A lot of the hatred for Vick seems to come from the old "athletes are role models" argument, which essentially says that a person with his profile shouldn’t be allowed to make mistakes.

Well, why not? Are athletes not people? Are people supposed to be infallible?

This morning, I read an article about how Pete Rose has potentially lost millions of dollars due to his betting-related ban from baseball. In that article, I read what I found to be one of the most compelling pro-Rose, pro-Vick, pro-anyone-who-hasn’t-committed-rape-or-murder arguments I’ve ever come across:

"If his record were clean, ‘Charlie Hustle’ would be a no-brainer for people. He was the embodiment of the All-American way, a hard-working, get down and get dirty guy."

That quote, from CNBC.com’s "SportsBiz by Darren Rovell" was from a memorabilia company VP named Bobby Mintz who feels that Rose’s ban from baseball has hurt the value of his merchandise and autograph.

And he’s probably right.

But, why, I wonder, have people abandoned Rose for his mistake? Yes, what Rose did was completely wrong – you don’t bet on the sport you’re in, it’s that simple. I think Mintz summed up the error on the part of fans and collectors by saying he was the embodiment of the All-American way – until he was caught gambling on baseball.

But isn’t part of the "All-American" way being able to build your life from scratch or pick up the pieces, learn from your mistakes, and do it again?

How many people fail the first time around before launching a successful business? How many people learn from their mistakes and make something of their lives? Hey, even Marky Mark went to jail as a teenager and was caught not only throwing rocks at black kids, but once robbed a pharmacy while high on PCP and partially blinded a woman.

Does that mean he shouldn’t be able to work as an actor today? No, he clearly learned from his mistakes and has turned what he learned into one of the most successful movie careers of his time. In my eyes, Mark Wahlberg is a better example of the true American Dream to me than someone who has never faltered along the way.

Vick and Rose are the same; they just made their mistakes while owning a higher profile.

The saying goes "fool me once, shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me." The point is that almost everyone deserves a second chance. For the most part, I draw my line at rapists, murderers and child molesters. Just remember that you’re also only human when you draw your own.