Vick is a dilemma for Eagles fans who are also animal lovers

We will all make our judgments about whether Vick should or shouldn’t be allowed to play professional football again through our own personal prisms. For instance, if you somehow knew that he actually tortured and killed YOUR dog, I don’t see how you (even if you’re an Eagles fan) could possibly root for Vick. I guess it’s possible to cheer for the team and not for Vick, although that seems, at best, an awkward proposition. Do you mentally subtract six points if he scores a touchdown?

As a fan of all Philly sports, I was not happy to see the infamous Terrell Owens (T.O.) join the Eagles. And he hasn’t even committed any crimes. Although, if narcissism were illegal, he would surely be in jail right now.

The point is, as much as I love sports, I also hate “bad citizens,” for lack of a better phrase. And Michael Vick, no matter how much you want to ramble on about second chances, is clearly a “bad citizen.”

So what do I (and I would guess lots of other Eagle fans/pet lovers) do?

One thing I want to avoid is that lame fan cop-out that says, “Well, he did something bad, but he’s on our team, so I can cheer for him.” For instance, I don’t think you’ll run into too many Ravens fans who don’t love Ray Lewis. Involved in a 2000 post Super Bowl fight in which two men died, Lewis pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice charges in what appeared to be a very cloudy case. As far as I can remember, he has avoided problems since then. But still, I think fans are way too forgiving when it comes to productive players.

So does that mean Vick’s past problems will be forgotten if he starts playing well for the Eagles? Sadly, I think so.

I guess the only way I can root for the Eagles is to hope that Michael Vick doesn’t get into the game.