"I think everyone deserves a second chance," Vick said. "If I can help more animals than I can hurt, then I have contributed and I have done my part."
Coach understands
Certainly, Reid understands about forgiveness and second chances, dealing with two troubled sons who have done time.
Still, they can talk about second chances - so much that it began to sound like the Eagles' new fight song - but in the end, as it always is in professional sports, this is about winning and money.
Lurie, enriched sixfold by the Eagles, claimed to do a lot of "soul searching." Then he searched his wallet, paying the NFL bargain-basement price of $1.6 million this season for the three-time Pro Bowler.
"I wanted to understand if he had enough self-hatred for me. I needed to see a lot of self-hatred in order to improve this," Lurie added. Perhaps self-hatred, along with a physical, is a prerequisite for signing.
As news of Vick's acquisition by the Eagles spread at Thursday night's season opener against the Patriots, fans at the Linc let out a chorus of barks.
This is dog-adoring America, after all, where pets are pampered and loved unconditionally, sometimes more than children, sometimes more than NFL stars - though they frequently amount to one and the same.
To many people, training pit bulls to kill or be killed is heinous, unforgivable, and there are no second chances. During the quarterback's trial, an associate testified that after one dog lost a fight, Vick sanctioned the pit bull's torture by dousing the animal with water, then electrocuting it. For that dog, and others under Vick's "care," there were no second chances.
