Pittsburgh Reporter Makes Alarming Vick Comments

On a recent sports talk show in Pittsburgh, sports columnist Paul Zeise stated that Michael Vick would be suffering an easier time had he raped a woman. In the heat of a disagreement on the Sunday evening program, Sports Showdown, Zeise, made the analogy based on the vehement onslaught of attention heaped upon Michael Vick since his dogfighting indictment in Virginia.

Zeise's comments landed him in hot water with the television show and his newspaper as both condemned his comments as disturbing and gregarious. The talk show made the decision to disallow Zeise from joining the show in the future. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has not fired the columnist but it has demonized the comments. Michael Vick has become the center of the sports world after he was indicted for his involvement in an alleged dogfighting scheme on a property he owns in Virginia. While Vick has maintained his innocence, things have certainly gotten bit more hairy for him as one of his co-defendants changed his plea, and became state's evidence against Vick. It is believed that he will stipulate at trial that Michael Vick bankrolled the dogfighting operations that included dogs being drowned, electrocuted, or slammed to death after losing in the dogfighting ring.

Stars like Allen Iverson, Emmit Smith, and Deion Sanders have come to Michael Vick's defense over the last few weeks as Vick has been blocked from the Atlanta Falcon's training camp by the league in an unprecedented move by league commissioner Robert Goodell. The owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Home Depot founder, Arthur Blank who looks at Vick like a son, has been visibly tormented by these accusations and was prepared to suspend Vick for the maximum of four games to start the season when the league stepped in, believing that in the best interest of the league, Vick should not be allowed to participate in any league or team functions until the case is resolved.

Paul Zeise's comments created a firestorm when in the midst of disagreeing with another panelist, Zeise said that Vick would have been better served to rape a woman than be involved in this dogfighting indictment. The basis of his claim is in the overwhelming media attention the case has received. Zeise went on to say that Goodell's hand was forced with the political attention received by nationwide media.

On Monday, Zeise apologized for his comments but the damage was already done. The TV station had already made the decision not to invite Zeise back and the newspaper was working on a way to retract the damage Zeise had done. But to no avail. This case is filled with hot-button issues. When the Atlanta Falcons arrived for training camp last Thursday, protestors from PETA met the players at the entrance to the training complex. Had Vick been allowed to practice and participate in team functions, PETA most certainly would have ramped up its campaign.

There are no winners in the Vick case. It is certain that Vick is headed to jail. The only question is, how long. Comments like the one Zeise made are unfortunate and an individual's unwise stating of an opinion that should have remained silent. Has Vick suffered more media attention than Kobe Bryant did during his rape case in Colorado? That fact is debatable, even disputable. But in Kobe's defense, there is no room for Vick to dance out of the grasps of this like he has linebackers since he entered the league six years ago.

Michael Vick will not be playing in the NFL this year. He is scheduled to go to trial in November. But if the testimony of his co-defendant is as damaging as is believed, Vick will not wait to go to trial. He will seek to strike some kind of deal. And then, it will not matter one way or the other. The question then will be how long will Vick get for dogfighting.