Thursday, January 18, 2007

They'll Stone You when You're Trying to Board a Plane

You have to hand it to Michael Vick. He's the highest-paid player in the NFL and plays a position where mental ability is a critical part of the job description. So how does he spend his time in the off-season? By trying to board a plane with marijuana concealed in a fake water bottle. This raised a few new concerns about the face of the franchise above and beyond his 20th place finish in the NFL in passer rating.

Trying to board a plane with marijuana in a bottle is an incredibly stupid move, given the level of security at airports these days and the fact that everyone knows that you can't take bottles onto planes. (Were the 273 signs to that effect at every airport too subtle for our quarterback?) Raising a stink when your fake bottle is confiscated is even dumber. The inescapable conclusion is that Vick suffers from poor judgment.

The greater concern is that Vick's actions are consistent with someone who is more than just a casual marijuana user. I have no problem with athletes smoking the occasional joint, but someone who is handsomely compensated for his endurance and athletic ability should not be smoking on a regular basis. The fact that Vick went to the trouble of taking weed onto a plane, as opposed to having a hanger-on buy some when he got back to Atlanta, and then went to the further trouble of buying a fake bottle to transport his weed indicates that a joint isn't just a rare treat for Mr. Vick.

Aside from being a bad sign about Vick, the incident also complicates the Falcons' off-season because it creates the possibility that Vick will be suspended for four games by the NFL in 2007. Thus, it makes it almost impossible for the team to deal Matt Schaub, unless they're very confident in D.J. Shockley.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Michael Vick is a moron and the Falcons are foolish to entrust their franchise to him.

At this point, there's not much more you can say about the issue.

Anonymous said...

Come on, marijuana use in the NFL and NBA is a given. These guys smoke weed like it's beer--and of course, it's actually better for you than beer. There is no question, though, that carrying it into an airport and trying to fly with it is a dumbass move, whether you're a 19 year old hippie or a superstar qb. As long as prohibition lasts, you have to be smart about these things.

Astronaut Mike Dexter said...

I'd always tried to believe that Michael had better judgment than his shitstain little brother, but it's getting harder and harder to believe that.

Bring on the Shockley Era.

Anonymous said...

Michael Vick displays poor judgment off the field. This is a fucking news flash?!??!

If I were Jenkins, White, Hartwell, et. al I would be kissing Vick's ass more than usual this morning because now for the rest of the offseason we can hear about how Michael Vick is the problem with the Falcons and not his 1st Round bust receivers who can't catch shit, overpaid linebackers who can’t play a full season, weak secondary, etc.

Vick is an idiot, everyone knows this. With incidents like this, he is making himself a scapegoat for the Falcons woes as well as a punching bag for our mediocre-at-best local media (790, Jeff Schultz). But until/unless the NFL suspends him, this is nothing more than tabloid-like fodder for folks who enjoy that stuff.

One question- is Schaub a UFA or RFA? I thought he was now free to go anywhere he wants, but everything I'm hearing says he needs to be traded...

Anonymous said...

Right, fox. When you make that kind of money, you don't buy, carry, pick up, drop off or grow pot. You just get the joint handed to you whenever you snap your fingers. Even Rick James employed a guy to cook his rock whenever he wanted, and he wasn't making Vick kinda dough.

He is obviously dumb as wood. That is the sort of cartoonish stoner behavior typically reserved for the worst sorts of tits & zits movies. I know some real Chong-style winners, but none are this stupid.