Michael Vick has signed an endorsement deal with Nike, his agent and the shoe titan both confirmed. That the former federal prison inmate and admitted dogfighting ringmaster so quickly procured a contract with the world’s most powerful shoe and apparel company is illustrative of his nearly complete comeback from being a social pariah. Vick’s ascension from the depths of shame actually seems to be going at a much more accelerated pace than, say, Kobe Bryant, who was never convicted for allegedly sodomizing a 19-year-old white woman in Eagle, Colo., in 2003.
Theoretically, this is the way it’s supposed to be. If you do the crime, you do the time, and you should be allowed a second chance to resuscitate your career.
Vick and Bryant were both maligned and vilified for their acts of moral turpitude. Both served time (Vick did his time in prison; Kobe was sentenced to almost universal condemnation and ostracism in the court of public opinion). Both had fallen so far down into the abyss they needed a telescope and a compass to find their way out. Now, both Vick and Bryant have been able to mend the deep lacerations of their souls and reputations after offering a mea culpa and atoning for their behaviors.
But that’s in theory. In reality, the public wanted to peel their skins, layer by layer, then grind them into sawdust — even after they paid dearly for their transgressions.
Both Vick and Bryant had to chart long, cumbersome courses to land back in public favor. Vick’s course was 18 months in a federal prison, loss of a $100 million NFL contract, bankruptcy, a slew of lawsuits, and loss of endorsements deals. Bryant was only able to take off the Scarlet Letter after bedazzling the sporting world by securing an NBA MVP award, and finally winning a title without Shaquille O’Neal.
Of course, detractors of both still want to watch Vick and Bryant squirm in pain and humiliation and twist the screws in them further. This is especially true of the dog lovers who feel that almost two years of Vick’s life was grossly insufficient to reconcile his horrific acts of cruelty to those pit bulls.
Nike, to be sure, could care less about that — they would sell their children into bondage in exchange for the next big deal.
This deal signifies that it’s all about profits, ratings and championships. After Nike found that Vick’s jersey was the one of the league’s best-sellers — before he even made an appearance in his first preseason NFL game — and that public indignation about his return to the game was muted, they opened their wallets and showed Vick some love. –terry shropshire
