To hear Vick and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie tell it, Vick's success will be measured as much for this social change as for yards gained.
In May, Vick partnered with the Humane Society of the United States to combat dogfighting. It is a counterintuitive partnership, since Vick served 18 months in prison for running a vicious dogfighting ring, a conviction and sentence encouraged by the very same Humane Society with which Vick now works.
"We were the toughest critics of Michael Vick," said Michael Markarian, chief operating officer of the Humane Society of the United States. "When this came to light two years ago, we urged the NFL to suspend him and Nike to drop him. But . . . we felt, two years later, we thought, 'Is there a role for him with us to help stop dogfighting?' "
Last week, Vick was in Chicago at a Humane Society event urging those in attendance to reconsider the practice of dogfighting. He participated at a similar event in Atlanta.
"I was wrong for what I did," Vick said during Friday's news conference introducing him as a Eagle. "Everything that happened at that point in time in my life was wrong. It was unnecessary, and for the life of me to this day I can't understand why I was involved in such pointless activity. And why I risked so much at the pinnacle of my career. I was naive to a lot of things. But if I can help more animals than I hurt, then I'm contributing and doing my part."
Lurie said Vick could - and should - become an "agent for change." Indeed, Lurie made it sound like a prerequisite for becoming an Eagle.
It seems the groundwork of this change could be in Philadelphia.
