Jets Pick Up Vick

This was one pick up of talent that, admittedly, I was not in favor of the Jets acquiring.

The New York Jets picked up Vick, which I was hoping they would not do, although it has nothing to do with his talent. Obviously, he is a very talented quarterback.

Yes, it has everything to do with who he is and what he has done. He is a man who was blessed not just with football talent but, ultimately, with wealth beyond what most people could ever imagine. Yet, he was pictured giving the home fans of Atlanta the bird back when he was the starting quarterback of the Falcons. Then, of course, he found himself in legal trouble with the whole dog scandal.

Of course, he made it back into the league. Was picked up some years ago by the Philadelphia Eagles and, before long, became the starting quarterback. The Eagles, under his leadership, began to show a level of unpredictability with him at the helm, and they began to win. At one point in 2010, they defeated the New York Giants, after trailing the G-Men by 21 about midway through the fourth quarter. Instead of remaining classy about the big win, Vick suggested that the Giants had been poor sports after the game. He was the only Eagle to have done so, and there are pictures of him embracing a Giants player after the game.

And, of course, there was the talk of dynasty after Philadelphia enjoyed some success. Only, the Eagles did not have quite the success of some other teams -say, those who actually qualified - let alone won - the Super Bowl.

When it comes to dynasties, players can really show their stuff in their talk. I remember a Cowboys offensive lineman who shied away from the "D" word, saying that the Cowboys still had a long way to go to reach the level of dynasty, even after winning two Super Bowls in a row.

But a few years later, Brett Favre predicted that his Packers, who had won the previous season's Super Bowl, were an emerging dynasty. They did go to the Super Bowl that year, but lost in a shocking upset. They never recovered.

Last season, Vernon Davis of the San Francisco 49ers suggested that the division rival Seattle Seahawks were :"building a dynasty", although that was probably gamesmanship on his part - even though, the Seattle Seahawks did indeed go on to win the Super Bowl.

But Michael Vick claiming that the Eagles were on their way to be a dynasty was the first, and so far only, example that I am aware of a prominent member of a football team claiming that his team was building a dynasty, even before they actually qualified - let alone won - a Super Bowl.

Always classy, isn't he?

There was always something about Michael Vick that made him particularly agreeable, and I see him alongside Ben Roethlisberger as the two black sheep among quarterbacks in the NFL. There may be others who have done stupid, or possibly even illegal things. But those two committed criminal acts so heinous (rape in one case, dog fighting circles in the other), that I have actively rooted against these guys since. It's just hard to want these guys to succeed. I lost respect for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their handling of "Big Ben", and felt that same level of disappointment with the Philadelphia Eagles when they acquired Michael Vick.

But now, he is officially a New York Jet.

Vick is expected to compete with Gino Smith for the starting position this offseason. It is not impossible that Michael Vick will be the starting quarterback for the 2014 New York Jets, although I certainly do not hope that happens.

No, I don't hate the Jets now. And admittedly, I will not necessarily pull against them, either. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite. Who knows?

I will say this, though. As a fan of the Jets, they have disappointed me a great many times. This is just the latest example, but this one is very different, because this one has nothing to do with their performance on the field of play.

Michael Vick is a man who has consistently shown a lack of class and character throughout at least his NFL career, which was disrupted, of course, by a well-deserved stint in jail. He may be talented, but he is one of the most visible symbols of spoiled multi-millionaire athletes who feel so privileged that the rules do not apply to them. He, and others like him and Roethlisberger, are the reason that so many people, fans and non-fans alike, are so disgusted with the perceived image of NFL players, and professional athletes, in general. He has always shown a despicable side to him, and that does not appear about to change soon.

And the Jets, by signing him, showed their own lack of class, with a "win at all costs" attitude that, frankly, will continue to disgust fans like myself.