PETA protests NFL office in NY and quarterback Michael Vick

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And if the Road Warrior says it, it must be true..
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The blitz is on Vick


Alleged dogfighting ring has rights groups calling for his suspension


By RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, July 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

This morning at 10 a.m., the NFL will hear from PETA, whose members are expected to converge on league headquarters on Park Ave., carrying signs that read "NFL: Sack Vick" and "Tackle Cruelty." PETA, along with The Rev. Al Sharpton and hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, had earlier sent a letter to the league, the Falcons and Vick's sponsors condemning dogfighting. PETA has similar protests planned for Atlanta and Richmond.
McCarthy said the NFL is aware of PETA's planned protests, but did not have any comment.
 

And if the Road Warrior says it, it must be true..
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Bob Raissman
<HR>Dog days looming for NFL, networks

<HR>
Friday, July 20th 2007, 4:00 AM

Anyone at the National Football League, or in the offices of their TV partners, not familiar with the kind of heat the Humane Society of the United States is capable of bringing should flash back to December 2004.

That's when Wayne Pacelle, president/CEO of the Humane Society, targeted HBO Sports, calling for the network to fire Roy Jones Jr., an analyst on the network's "World Championship Boxing" telecasts, if he did not give up his heavy involvement in cockfighting.
HBO Sports boss Ross Greenburg, an animal-rights supporter, was confronted with a troubling, complicated dilemma. HBO Sports was not responsible for Jones being a participant in a barbaric practice - at the time illegal in 48 states - and Jones was not breaking the law.
Normally, broadcasters are under an inordinate amount of scrutiny from viewers. Things get much hotter - like in the Jones cockfighting situation - when activist groups, relentless in their pursuit of a cause, get involved.
Just ask Don Imus.
Jones was terminated, a year after the Humane Society contacted HBO Sports, for what the network said was an unrelated matter.
This brings us to Michael Vick, who was indicted on dogfighting charges on Tuesday. It would appear the quarterback is just a problem for Falcons owner Arthur Blank and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Here's who is also in a fix: the NFL's national broadcast partners - Fox, ESPN, CBS, NBC and the NFL Network.
For if any network suit believes activist groups that want Vick suspended are not going to put major pressure on them too, they are delusional. Vick is not an employee of the networks. Yet these outlets televise NFL games, including ones Vick plays in. This gives them target status. On its Web site, the Humane Society is now urging its members (of which there are more than eight million) to implore the NFL to act and suspend Vick.
If Goodell does not suspend Vick, it would not be surprising - as it did with HBO and Jones - if the Humane Society, and other concerned citizens, put pressure on the NFL's high-profile TV partners.
It would be hard for animal-rights activists to affect broadcast coverage. Fox, NBC, ESPN, CBS and NFLN have contracts with the NFL that must be honored. The network suits can stand - or hide - behind them. No one should expect them to refuse to televise a Falcons game.
There is another way to negatively affect the NFL's TV partners and force them to pressure Goodell into suspending Vick: activists could certainly make life uncomfortable for the broadcasters, and their advertisers, by urging a boycott of products sold by any company advertising on an NFL game.
This would immediately generate more terrible publicity for the NFL. It could also have severe financial implications. If NFL advertisers start believing the public perceives them as being in bed with a league that allows one of its marquee stars, involved in dogfighting, to keep playing without sanction, these major corporations could start pulling their money out of NFL telecasts.
Another issue for these networks is how they handle the Vick story. Traditionally, NFL TV rights-holders have been very cautious covering players' off-field behavior when it had little or no impact on the game they are broadcasting.
These Vick allegations rise to a level far above the deviant behavior routinely exhibited by some NFL players. The warped mentality described in the Vick indictment is off the charts. This is not your standard drug/alcohol/nightclub fracas kind of thing. Those stories usually have a short shelf life. The Vick story won't. It's about a player who may have a dark side beyond description and comprehension.
The pregame and halftime shows will be hard-pressed to give the story short shrift. But never underestimate the ability of these programs to sweep negative NFL stories under the artificial carpet. Last season, CBS' "The NFL Today" cast interviewed Shawne Merriman and did not ask him one question about being busted by the NFL for steroids.
ESPN will be first up. It is scheduled to telecast the Aug.27 preseason game between the Falcons and Bengals. Already ESPN, through "Outside the Lines" and "SportsCenter," has showed a willingness to tackle the Vick story. Will the clowns on "Gameday" and "Monday Night Football" rise to the same level?
The Falcons will make three national regular-season TV appearances in 2007. Even if they made none, thanks to Vick, they will be a national story.
And perhaps a costly one - for the NFL and its TV partners. braissman@nydailynews.com
 

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Jul19

NFL: Vick Will Play

Posted at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (66)

<TABLE cellPadding=5 align=right><CAPTION align=bottom>MSNBC/Creative Commons</CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD>
Roger_Goodell.jpg
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Since taking over the job, Commissioner Roger Goodell has talked a big game about cracking down on character issues in the NFL—and until now, he's backed up his commitment, doling out tough penalties to Bengals receiver Chris Henry for DUIs and Bears tackle Tank Johnson for charges related to illegal firearms possession, and suspending Titans cornerback Pacman Jones for a full year following his troubles with the police. But now, in the face of national outrage over Vick’s indictment on dogfighting charges, Goodell has announced that Vick will be allowed to play when the season starts in September. Why, Roger, are you folding now when one of the NFL's biggest stars (who's certainly been no stranger to the courtroom since he was drafted by the Falcons) has been indicted for a crime that is nothing short of torture? What kind of a message does this send to the communities that are working so hard to stamp out this crime, or to the young fans of Michael Vick who are waiting to find out whether dogfighting is something that will get you into trouble? Goodell's weak response to these deadly serious allegations is tantamount to admitting that the National Football League doesn't consider ties to dogfighting rings a character issue at all.

Starting tomorrow, we will be holding demonstrations calling for Vick's suspension from the league, so I'll keep you posted with details, and if you want to let Goodell know that he's made the wrong decision, you can contact him about the issue here.

There is some good news, though. I know a lot of people have been contacting Vick's sponsors asking that they sever their ties with him, and it looks like some companies have been listening: Nike just announced that they will be suspending the release of the Air Zoom Vick V this summer. You can read about that here. You can be certain that we'll keep the pressure on Vick's other sponsors and the NFL to do the right thing here, and I'll let you know as soon as there are more developments in the story.

http://blog.peta.org/archives/2007/07/nfl_vick_will_p.php
 

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For what it's worth, Roy Jones Jr.'s suspension had absolutely nothing to do with his cockfighting sideline. He was fired because he irritated HBO execs by constantly failing to show up at meetings.
 

SG1

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This is unraveling fast. Peta pushing for lifetime ban. Even the defenders of the black man, including my ol pal Reverend Al Sharpton are calling for his head. Nike just pulled his shoe to be marketed, meaning they have a huge inventory of unsellable shoes. They were to rollout this Month or next. And as far as prosecutions, the state has decided they want to play along with dogpile on the loser and are working on their own seperate charges. The feds have a 17 page indictment, a no nonsense district judge who cares nothing about fame, the NFL or Nike contracts. Even Blank is contemplating severing ties with him. You start getting people boycotting games, shoes, their season tickets and the pressure may be to great to let the courts decide first. Still running 90% against in the polls. Do I hear the Longest Yard IIII, Dog Killers vs. guards? The first shoe has dropped, and it ain't a Nike. The second one will soon fall, then the stomping should commence.

Keep up the great work Max.
 

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I got the PETA petition asking for me to email the comissioner, I did, so you can officially call this an international incident.
 

And so it goes......
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i signed it too...It's been stated Vick was apologenic in his conversation with team owner Arthur Blank. What gets me is that he is only sorry to have gotten caught, not sorry for his actions. Big difference.
 

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He's a disgrace...If I'm Arthur Blank, I'd have a hard time sleeping at night knowing an employee of mine, that I pay millions of dollars to, is involved in such dispicable acts...

I hope the big corporate sponsers that the Falcons have pull the plug on their sponsorship.
 

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This almost sounds like a mental illness type thing, like a sexual predator... Why a pro athlete with so much going for him would even bother doing this is mind boggling.

We knew his brother was a POS , it just took longer for M. Vick to fall thru the cracks...a real shame.
 

SG1

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He's a disgrace...If I'm Arthur Blank, I'd have a hard time sleeping at night knowing an employee of mine, that I pay millions of dollars to, is involved in such dispicable acts...

I hope the big corporate sponsers that the Falcons have pull the plug on their sponsorship.

It goes a lot deeper than that. Blank has backed him up and rewarded him. For what? Between the flippin the bird to the fans, the airport water bottle episode and general jerk behavior, Blank brought him on the carpet and said, I pay you a good amount of money, show some respect. Vick looked him in the eye and shook his hand, assuring him all is well. But, the corporate sponsors, with an "O", are the power brokers here. As usual. Cancel my luxury box please, I can't be seen sponsoring your product. Or we can't pay, to watch Mike Vick play? That's catchy.
 

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