Mercy Mercy Me

Syracuse University’s former starting
quarterback and Super Bowl contender has brokered a return to the arena
for Vick, who will join him on the Philadelphia Eagles for the upcoming
season. Until McNabb and the Eagles made their play for Vick, it seemed
likely that his time in the NFL had come to an end as a result of his
conviction on federal charges related to running a dogfighting
operation. The details of the torture of canines were more than his
former team, the Atlanta Falcons, could stomach. Even though he was
among the most gifted quarterbacks of his generation, and had promised
to serve with groups promoting humane care for animals, Vick was
considered damaged goods.

Donovan met Michael lo those many years
ago when Vick was invited to Syracuse as a potential recruit. Today a
seasoned veteran, Donovan opens the door for Vick to come back to the
game after serving 18 months in prison for doing unthinkable things to
dogs. McNabb made the gesture in spite of the fact that Vick rebuffed
Syracuse’s offer of a college scholarship, and then returned to the
Carrier Dome in 2000 to defeat the Orange with a dazzling 55-yard run
in the closing seconds of their game against Virginia Tech. That’s
reminiscent of John Paul II forgiving Mehmet Ali Agca for a little
incident in St. Peter’s Square. 

You’ve heard the arguments. Some say
there’s no forgiving Michael for what he did to those dogs. Since a
quarterback is inevitably a role model for so many children, it is
argued, a felon like Vick, who initially denied the charges against
him, and only plead guilty when his partners in crime fessed up, should
be shunned by the big leagues. Then there are those who say he has paid
his dues, he’s already lost so much ($135 million by some counts) and
he should be allowed to come out and practice his profession now that
his sentence is up. 

I’m kind of hard core on the notion of
sports figures as role models. Charles Barkley can insist that he’s not
your kid’s role model, but the good guys like McNabb and Derek Jeter
and, gradually, Carmelo Anthony, know that your kids select them for
adoration and emulation whether they like it or not. And parents and
police alike find their jobs easier when the athletes behave. 

This goes way back. If I had a vote,
Juan Marichal, the Giants pitcher, would never have gotten into the
Hall of Fame because of that one day in the summer of 1965 when he
bopped Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro in the head with a bat. Most
folks, including the gatekeepers down the road in Cooperstown, don’t
practice the art of the grudge with such tenacity. Not even Johnny
Roseboro still holds it against him.

But who can forgive someone who
practiced electrocution on dogs? This was not an act of passion: Vick
tortured and killed animals as part of a premeditated program for
profit and pleasure. Yet, apparently, McNabb can get beyond that. You
know who else can? My dog. And yours. Dogs are the most forgiving
creatures on earth. Dogs just love to love. (Some people who really
love dogs have adopted the survivors of Vick’s kennel. You can read
their inspiring stories at
www.dogtime.com/michael-vick-dog-adoption-stories.html.)

While we were debating Vick vs. Vick,
the sports drama of forgiveness was overshadowed by a real-life drama
in which real people, many of them our neighbors, were thrust into deep
pain by a Scottish attempt at mercy. Until Scotland released Abdelbeset
Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, convicted of planting the bomb that brought down
Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, and let him go home to die in Libya, I had
never heard the term “Scottish mercy.” Braveheart, anyone? 

Scotland released the man who was
convicted of the Lockerbie massacre, supposedly on humanitarian
grounds. Then, to rub salt in the wounds, al Megrahi was welcomed at
the Tripoli airport by a cheering mob and later met privately with his
one-time boss, Mohamar Gaddafi. Now there is more than a hint that
trade arrangements were the grease that made the deal to release this
killer work.

Watching al Megrahi descend the steps of
the airplane to an ovation, and later being welcomed by Gaddafi, I felt
all over again for the families of the Lockerbie dead. They did not
deserve to be forced to revisit their pain and loss once again in such
a public and painful way.

To let al Megrahi die comfortably in his
Scottish prison, well fed and tended by prison doctors, would have been
mercy enough for someone apparently unrepentant for his atrocities. He
has done nothing to compensate the victim’s families, nor done the type
of community service which Vick has sworn to continue.

The Scots have asked the families of the
Lockerbie victims for more forgiveness than anyone should have to
provide. Justice has really gone to the dogs.