It’s over.
You know when you’re the only person who thinks something can work out, but everyone around you is trying to tell you that it won’t? Like a relationship that fell apart months ago, but you’re still confident and stubbornly blind to think that some way, somehow, it will end up working out the way you hoped. That’s how I was with Michael Vick. I was like that when the charges were first brought forward. “Please. It’s Michael Vick. The whole world loves Mike Vick. He’s not going to jail man.” Okay, I was wrong there. Then the trial. “Yeah they’re not going to find him guilty or if they do, he’ll get some deal with probation.” Um. Wrong again. Then, “Even if he goes away for a year, and serves maybe 8 months of it, he’ll come back to the NFL in 2008 and teams will fight to get him on their roster.” That was strike three before I realized I need to come back down to reality. The dreams and predictions of many about Vick revolutionizing the quarterback position to a level we had never seen? Those aspirations are over. The reality is, Michael Vick the football player is over.
He was sentenced Monday morning in a Richmond, Virginia courthouse to 23 months in prison. He will also be on probation for 3 years after. The federal sentencing guidelines suggested a year to 18 months of prison time. The Judge thought 23 months was more adequate. The topic of this article isn’t going to be about what could have been with Michael Vick because that tune has been played enough the past few months. Instead, I want to talk about the sentence and how, similar to how I was stubborn in my belief about Vick eventually walking, Judge Henry Hudson was stubborn about making a national statement rather than adhere to the guidelines of the sentencing.
We live in a nation that puts more cameras and spotlights on celebrities, athletes, and all entertainers more than any other place on earth. Young girls worship Hannah Montana, teenage boys look up to Lebron James, middle aged men dream about what it would have been like to be Brett Favre. We live vicariously through the athletes and entertainers we look up to. But just because WE as the public put a lot of attention on them and their daily lives doesn’t mean that they should be treated harsher, or be exempt from what an everyday citizen goes by.
Explain to me why Lindsay Lohan can be found driving drunk, chasing another car, have no license, and be caught with cocaine in her pocket; and then sentenced to less than a day in jail. Explain to me why Paris Hilton can be caught driving drunk and serve jail time only after she is caught on camera ignoring a judge’s probationary sentence. Explain to me why Britney Spears can be the total mess of a human being she is, neglect her children for almost two years, and then finally get her children taken away from her months, if not years after any other normal citizen would have. Are they above the law? They sure as hell seem to be.
Now tell me why Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months for a crime and offense that was suggested federally to be a year to 18 months. What was the reasoning for him being put away an extra five? Last I checked, those guidelines are put into place for a reason; after a lot of thought and careful analysis. You’re out of your mind if you think the 23 months wasn’t because of his name. Henry Hudson went out of his way to make a statement, and Vick paid the price for it. This was solely a political, resume boosting move by Hudson. He knew the entire nation was awaiting his decision to see whether he cut Vick some slack or not. He chose to show everyone that Henry Hudson plays by his own rules and will deal with Vick how HE wants to; not as suggested by the law itself.
If we want to use the celebrity card for making a statement, let’s take a look at everything that has transpired with Vick since the day he was indicted. He has lost all of his endorsement deals. He has lost millions of dollars of signing bonus money and his NFL contract. He has been sued by numerous banks for defaulting on loans. His name has been dragged through the mud on every television and radio station. He will forever be viewed as a heartless, animal killing individual. Take all that into consideration. You’re still going to go over and beyond the suggested sentence? Is that really necessary? You can’t sit here and tell me that the judge was trying to teach Vick a lesson because the public humiliation that he has endured is worse than anything he will face in prison. Psychological beatdowns are a lot worse than physical ones. So why the extra five months? Are the extra five months in jail going to make Vick feel worse about what he did? Absolutely not. This sentence, ironically, wasn’t about Michael Vick. His name was just the platform for Judge Henry Hudson to stand up infront of the public and thump his chest. This was Hudson’s chance to show that he doesn’t need guidelines; he goes by his set of laws. This was Hudson’s chance to make a statement, the biggest of his career, with all his colleagues and people he will encounter in the future watching.
This situation on a smaller scale is similar to when you’re at work and a big project is presented. You do well on this project, you know you’re going to get either a promotion or a pay raise, or at the very least; a lot more respect. The Michael Vick project landed in Hudson’s lap. He had a career of putting away Richmond, Virginia scum who meant little or nothing to society. No one cares if drug dealer #824802 gets put away or not. That was his career. Look it up. Look up his biggest cases. But as the saying goes, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Michael Vick’s mistake was Henry Hudson’s gold and he seized it quick as any.
Well congratulations to you Judge Henry Hudson. You have shown that it’s not about the guiding principles or courses of action set forth by the law. It’s not about what’s right or wrong. It’s about how you want your contemporaries to view you. It’s how you want people to remember you. “Judge Henry Hudson, the man who put Michael Vick away for two years.” It’s not about Michael Vick. At the end, it’s all about you.