Bryan Burwell

Before much longer, the Michael Vick saga will probably give us all something to shout about. It’s been barely two weeks since he was indicted on felony dogfighting charges, and in that time the defrocked Atlanta Falcons quarterback has become a symbol for just about everybody and just about everything.

PETA thinks he’s a villain. The NAACP thinks he’s a victim. The NFL and his corporate endorsers think he’s poison. Most of us, though, just think he’s a damned fool. Yet as the carnival unfolds, and the madness mounts, and the sublime slips smoothly into the ridiculous, tell me haven’t we seen this act before?

The actors change, the plot remains the same. Here we are with another high-profile athletic indignity that will surely give us the same queasy feeling as the others. Chart a line through the absurdity of the O.J. trial, slash a path through the Bonfire of the Vanities sensationalism of the Duke lacrosse scandal, then weave it through the Pacman Jones insanity. By the time that line reaches the disturbing case of the United States versus Michael Vick, we can see the familiar ties that bind them all together.

Every last one of them gave us that old fashioned instant offense for anyone with a healthy sense of knee-jerk reactionary in them. Celebrity. Power. Wealth. Class. Culture. Sports. Privilege. Politics. If you substitute “animal cruelty” for “sex,” then the Vick saga is nine-tool extravaganza sure to incite and delight everyone and anyone with Jerry Springer sensibilities.    

Before this is over -- in fact before it barely gets started -- there will be those out there more than willing to fan the flames of stupidity, trying to craft this into something it is not. There will be idiots out there who will attempt to diminish the severity of the crime, as if despicable acts of cruelty against dogs are merely some cultural and class-based misunderstanding.

This is not exactly what I would call a smart line of defense. I’ve heard from rednecks and country boys and inner-city underground cultists who swear dog fighting and cock fighting isn’t much different from ultimate fighting, and that anyone with a healthy blood lust would understand. That of course is preposterous. Animals have no free will. Humans do. If a man chooses to engage in a no-holds-barred caged brawl, that’s his business.

Michael Vick dogfighting case NYT: Humane Society sees Vick as ally, not pariah Vick returns to court, meets with probation officer   Discuss: What's your take on Vick? Sporting News: Joining T.O. on Bills? Not bad idea Curran: Few teams would be good fit for Vick Opinion: Vick has incurable disease — stupidity JT's Rant: What more do you want from Vick? Opinion: Wounds too raw for 2009 return

But animals have no such options in the fight business.

So before we go much further, I want to stop all the silliness. Michael Vick will have his day in court, he will have every opportunity to prove his innocence or expose his guilt in a court of law. But it does little good for anyone to try to cast him in the role of victim. He’s too wealthy to be a victim in the American justice system. Just like OJ, he has the cash to buy a strong defense.

But there is no obligation by the corporate world to stick with him, even if his toadies and sycophants choose to remain loyal. If Rawlings and Nike, Reebok and Upper Deck have joined the National Football League in putting him and his damaged image at arm’s length, this too is part of the American way. Money can buy you a lot of things in this country, including a damned good defense (which after reading the indictment, he’s really going to need one). But it can’t insulate you from the wrath of an angered public. And right now, everyone in the real world can understand why no one in Corporate America wants to have Michael Vick’s toxic image attached to its products.

The presumption of innocence does not extend to the world of print ads and TV spots. It stops at the courtroom steps, and if he didn’t know it before, Vick surely knows that now.

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