Dick’s to Vick: We say ‘nix’ to your jersey, sort of
From Sam Wood of the Philadelphia Inquirer comes this predictable news: Dick’s Sporting Goods will not stock Michael Vick’s new No. 7 Eagles jersey until the chain, according to a spokesman, “evaluate(s) the reaction of Eagles fans.”
Wood quotes Jeff Hennion, Dick’s chief marketing officer, thusly: “Right now we don’t know how much of a demand there is for [the jersey]. If there is a demand for it, we’ll sell it.”
I have three words for Dick’s. Those words:
Are you serious?
The Vick jersey will be the hottest seller of the year, hotter even than Brett Favre’s purple No. 4. NFLShop.com is selling Vick’s jersey, which tells us the league itself isn’t backing away from making money off No. 7. Were Dick’s taking a iron-clad stand on moral grounds, that would be understandable. (Self-righteous, but understandable.) To suggest their stores must first test the water is merely a case of trying to cover one’s corporate assets.
Dick’s wants to be able to say to PETA: “Look, we resisted the impulse originally. We’re only doing this because our customers asked for it.” But that’s not a principled stance; that’s a weaselly one. You know you’re going to end up selling the thing, so … sell the thing already!
And it’s about time that people got past this fear of PETA. Roger Goodell did by reinstating Vick. The Eagles did by signing him. Yes, some people are going to be upset by the sight of Vick on an NFL field, but if you’re waiting for unanimity on any issue nothing would ever get done. (Ever been to a neighborhood co-op meeting?)
Frankly, the thought of that smirking prima donna donning the Viking purple upsets me more, but I’m not so outraged I’m about to picket games in Minnesota. Besides, the threat of protest is almost almost overblown. Remember Martha Burk and the Masters. Was Super Bowl XXXV derailed by demonstrators because Ray Lewis was playing a year after going on trial for murder? (Actually, Lewis wound up being the game’s MVP.)
Some folks will never forgive Michael Vick for what he did to those dogs. That’s their prerogative. But more folks, I submit, are willing to grant him a second chance, and some of those might be interested in paying $79.99 to wear his Eagles shirt. Let them.
Last I checked, this is America. Last I checked, we’re a capitalist nation.
(A shout-out to esteemed former colleague and Pulitzer winner John Woestendiek, who published the Inquirer story on his pro-dog blog Ohmidog!)
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153 comments Add your comment
Oz
August 20th, 2009
5:26 pm
CONVICK you are silly!!!!!! You mean to tell me that he is not entertainment? Let’s be honest we watch sports for entertainment. Football is the biggest sport in AMERICA…Vick was one of the best players in the game. He (we pressume) still has ability and he has proven in the past he can make miracles happen. What he did was wrong but lets be honest he did not kill any human. I am sorry IT IS JUST TO MUCH FOR ME TO CARE ABOUT AN ANIMAL THAN A HUMAN..I am getting off the point…his name bring people to the stands period he is going have more watching him then he did before. Why because of the entertainment value.. You can say he is not a QB or whatever people are going to go and watch him play..Atlanta will be sold out when we play Philly..I will wear MY Eagles Vick jersey to every game but that One..I am die hard Falcon but I like Mr. Vick and I think the punishment was waaaayy too stepp for the crime. That is my opinon and just like ass—- every one has one..Peace
YUP!!
August 20th, 2009
5:35 pm
Just kidding – I can’t even afford my trailer park dues
Warren Peace
August 20th, 2009
5:36 pm
Did someone call?
John
August 20th, 2009
5:38 pm
What about a Ron Mexico jersey?
POKUINURI
August 20th, 2009
5:41 pm
Oohh “feral” , you took it RIGHT from the article.
So now you are an expert on dog habitat, just from that one article? “Dogs acting as wolves”.. OOOoooo..
Right just like pit bulls who fight. They are trained to be killers. By the way, I hate dogfighting because of the type of dogs they become.
By the way, I always love the “sold by their own people” B-S.. Right.. at the barrel of a gun and the sweetness of riches bestowed by the wonderful Europeans. It doesn’t justify once they reached this land the hell suffered, being considered less than human and thus legislated against as such up until 40 years ago.
And like I said, Vick would admit to shooting Lincoln if you asked him if he did it right about now.
Greyhounds do nothing in their “sad” little lives but when they can’t win …POW!!
Horses do nothing in their “sad little lives”, but let them come up lame or can’t win.. POW!!!
Finally, the world does not revolve around the U.S. right is right, wrong is wrong.
Again man, spare me.
jill
August 20th, 2009
5:44 pm
HEY,how about a contest…Dick’s should sell Vick’s $80 shirt next to the one that shows a pitbull pissing on Vick’s helmut. How much you want to bet that the latter one wins. Buy your shirts here!
http://www.cafepress.com/dogsdeserve
I hope Michael Vick gets his throat ripped out in a game.
Warren Peace
August 20th, 2009
5:59 pm
I hope Mike Vick gets a hangnail, calls an Asian manicurist and they can swap their favorite dog recipes, uh stories.
NeNe's Greg's boss
August 20th, 2009
6:00 pm
Does Vick get some of the proceeds? That trash is sure gonna need it. 1.5 for year one,5 for year 2,maybe, he thought he was gonna get 10 million a year. No sir. He won’t be able to afford an entourage this time. The real story here is his fiancee. Here is a woman who when they got engaged they did not have to worry about money. They had horses, houses, and everything she could ever want. Now she has to tighten that belt, maybe get a job, and decide if she wants to stay with this man. She got screwed. Bankruptcy-ha-well played Mike. He reminds me of one of those idiots who won the lottery and then blew it all.
AL
August 20th, 2009
6:03 pm
YUP- what ever makes you happy.
Frank Wren
August 20th, 2009
6:05 pm
Frank Wren:
If you and Vick went to a BMW dealership, who do you think will walk out with a new car?
Ummm Me
Tonto
August 20th, 2009
6:42 pm
Mark, you really don’t like Favre for some reason. And your judgement seems to be negatively affected by that reason…
BOB WATERFIELD is better than Favre??? BOB WATERFIELD???
Lifetime TD to INT: 97/128 QB Rating: 61.6
Check out the list you rattled off and note Favre’s position:
QB TD/INT RATING
Peyton Manning 333/165 94.7
Kurt Warner 182/114 93.8
Tom Brady 197/86 92.9
Joe Montana 277/139 92.3
Otto Graham 174/135 86.6
Dan Marino 420/252 86.4
BRETT FAVRE 464/310 85.4
Roger Staubach 153/109 83.4
Troy Aikman 161/141 81.6
Bart Starr 152/138 80.5
Fran Tarkenton 342/266 80.4
Johnny Unitas 290/253 78.2
Norm Van Brocklin 173/178 75.1
Sid Luckman 137/132 75.0
Sammy Baugh 187/203 72.2
Terry Bradshaw 212/210 70.9
Bob Waterfield 97/128 61.6
Are you going to say that any of the qb’s rated ABOVE Favre can RUN better than him??
I never saw Graham, but I can tell you from having seen most of these players play a lot that the only two that I saw that were better runners were Terry Bradshaw and Fran Tarkenton. I think you will agree.
Most of the above have championship rings. Favre has one. Plus:
10 time Pro Bowl
3 time All Pro first team
3 time All Pro second team
3 time NFL MVP (AP)
5 time NFC player of the year
Hillbilly Deluxe
August 20th, 2009
7:21 pm
Any list that has Fran Tarkenton above John Unitas and Terry Bradshaw is suspect in my mind. I saw all three of them play many times.
Red Talon
August 20th, 2009
7:27 pm
Neutered – OUCH! ABUSE, this is not? Imprisioning me against my will, just lovely – Thanks!
Pi$$onaDawg
August 20th, 2009
7:28 pm
Dick’s sell the Jersey with VICK’S INMATE NUMBER ON IT. I bet more people will buy that. Buying a shirt with a Convict Ni&&er’s # on it is an everyday event in the National Felon League.
Timmaaayyyyyy....
August 20th, 2009
7:36 pm
Good article Mark… I don’t think Peta’s going to keep anybody out of the stands in Philly… Pitbulls are angelic compared to what Philly fans will do to whoever ruins their gameday rituals. It’s over and MV’s already doing his part for PETA and the Humane Society. With that said… I hope he gets his butt kicked when we play them in December. I freakin hate Philly!
misterwax
August 20th, 2009
7:49 pm
Haven’t been a capitalist nation since FDR and the New Deal….We are a socialist republic with just enought capitalists to pull the welfare wagon for 85 million welfare bums…..such is life.
crabapplejoe
August 20th, 2009
7:57 pm
DebbiedoRight wrote: “What about Danny Heatley? The guy who murdered his friend whle driving drunk and didn’t get ONE YEAR of time for it???!!! Why don’t we EVER hear about him and what he’s doing lately”
Geez, not that sh** again. Heatley wasn’t “drunk” so you don’t know what your talking about. But he is white so I know you hate him….how long you been following the NHL? LMAO.
crabapplejoe
August 20th, 2009
8:00 pm
What is so sad is that most of the folks that will buy this jersey are six months behind on their child support payments to three different women.
midnite
August 20th, 2009
8:02 pm
Vick is a 3rd team QB with the Eagles, So he would be inactive on game. day, unless QB’s 1 and 2 both are injured. He will not play when he comes to town in Dec.too much pressure for him also.
ConVick
August 20th, 2009
8:18 pm
***Hey the best deals on Vick shirts are at http://www.cafepress.com
Just put vick in the search box. They have his jersey and the black hat is a top seller. Have one myself.
Pi$$onaDawg
August 20th, 2009
8:37 pm
Can I get a White Falcons MV7 Jersey to go with my HOOD? I don’t hide that I hate Ghetto Negro Thugs so I want to wear it outside the stadium. I want spend money on any pro sport. Well, I do get my pot from Ricky Williams, my Roids from all the baseball players that have some leftovers, and I get anything I need from the NBA players.
Pi$$onaDawg
August 20th, 2009
8:50 pm
CUZ don’t call me Francis or I’ll kill you! hahah.
Dell
August 20th, 2009
9:00 pm
Pi$$onaDawg did you mean “I won’t spend money”, as in “will not spend money”? Forget it! It’s probably over your head.
sidslid
August 20th, 2009
9:37 pm
I was at the Thursday round of the Martha Burk year. There weren’t 50 people protesting. Hootie Johnson is my hero. A buddy of mine got him to sign his cap.
Pi$$onaDawg
August 20th, 2009
9:43 pm
Yes, Dell I did miss type. You did get the meaning didn’t you?
Dell
August 20th, 2009
9:57 pm
It was pathetic too! Or, should I say “two” for you?
Dell
August 20th, 2009
10:05 pm
Pi$$onaDawg, it’s really sad that your comments are worse than your grammar!
cdog
August 20th, 2009
10:17 pm
WHY ARE YOU STILL RUNNING BLOGS ON MIKE VICKS. HE HAS MOVED ON. YOU LOVE TO PUT PEOPLE DOWN I SEE. I STILL LOVE ALL OF YOU AND MIKE DOES TOO.
disqusted
August 21st, 2009
12:03 am
To Convick, MV7 would have been better off shooting his mother, instead he messed with dogs. You people need to stop making your freaking animals into God’s. p.s all dogs don’t go to heaven. Your ancestors did inhumane things in this country but I don’t think any of you would ever want to know about it. Self righteous jerks.
Ken
August 21st, 2009
1:13 am
Unfortunately (editorial content), there is a poll in the Inquirer that has recorded 2600 plus votes, and 57% of the respondents said they would buy a Vick jersey. 33%, myself included said they never would, the rest undecided. I applaud Dick’s for their stand. Those early numbers suggest Dick’s made a bad business decision, but I respect their moral one. My problem with the whole thing is that the Eagles have acquired a player that I feel forced their fans to root for a player that I don’t trust to be a long term asset to society. It’s been compounded by Donavan McNabb making what I perceive to be a fool of himself by talking about how he recommended Vick. That’s his business if he wants, but I feel he should be quiet about it until the move proves to be an asset on the field, and the Eagles have reason to look back on the way the roster was built as at least a Super Bowl team.
James
August 21st, 2009
1:17 am
I read most of the post on here and if it wasn’t to over the top hateful.Some of you need a life and God.Imagine in this countries if the law didn’t give you a second chance at all how this world would be.Life is about making mistakes and making them right and yes I said mistakes because we are going to make plenty of them if we keep living.None of us are perfect and Mike deserves a chance like any one else.Some of these people are really sick lol.I like animals but I love my fellow human being better.Now getting back to the topic the Dick’s people are smart because now the jersey will sell faster and I got to get one.One more thing I got to say this.Mike did bad things with his friends concerning dogs but for what he been through he got my support.The man is trying to do right and get his life together and he will.I got to get direct tv now to catch all the games I like to watch.Stop the hate and I am out!
Question
August 21st, 2009
1:37 am
Frank Wren:
I mean without stealing it.
By the way, I think Vick’s home alone is more than you can afford, otherwise you wouldn’t be on these blogs, you would own it
Vick has losts more money than you could even count!
joe for 3
August 21st, 2009
3:29 am
wow these comments are just terrible. you guys have given your tithe right?
JB
August 21st, 2009
4:50 am
Who would want to wear an item of clothing associated with a dog torturer?
(Word to guys who care what the ladies think: a lot of women do not like what M. Vick did and won’t appreciate your showing support for MV via the jersey.)
Crabkilla
August 21st, 2009
8:06 am
We were a capitalist nation. Barrack Hussein Obama will do everything in his power to strip that away. I hate him.
Baby Ruth
August 21st, 2009
8:48 am
Sorry, but I don’t shop anywhere with the word “Dick” in the title.
I don’t even like the name Riddick.
My #2 jersey
August 21st, 2009
9:09 am
You people who have switched from Falcons fans to Eagles fans just because of Vick are stupid. You don’t know anything about sports. You are following one guy and leaving behind a team. We don’t need you here anyways. You call yourselves fans of football? You are no fan. You are a fan on a convict. You are a fan of a liar. You are a fan of a man who spit in your face, flipped you off, and told you to kiss his rear. Great role model to follow.
You people are ignorant.
ConVick
August 21st, 2009
9:22 am
Vick fans don’t buy your Jersey yet!!!
THIS JUST IN FROM ESPN SEVERAL MINUTES AGO!
The Eagles have just made an offer to Plaxico Burress to join them in 2 years after he gets out of jail. To celebrate this great event DICKS will be saleing a double sided special edition Jersey. 7 on the front and 17 on the back. It will be orange with black stripes. Don’t wait order now!!!
OZZFEST
August 21st, 2009
9:33 am
This Atlantan is just thankful that Mr. Thug will no longer being wearing a red or black #7 jersey.
A Realist
August 21st, 2009
10:01 am
Dick’s sporting goods, as a company, will be just fine with or without the marketing of a Michael Vick jersey. The CEO was just on MSNBC’s financial program last night and he explained the company’s current financial picture and he also discussed their position on the MV jersey.
If you’d monitor the Philadelphia media, you’d find out that the reception of Vick joining the Eagles is split right down the middle in terms of support. There are as many people against having him on the team as there are for it so only time will tell whether or not this is going to be a PR nightmare for the Eagles organization.
Falcons Minority Owner
August 21st, 2009
11:03 am
Realist….guess how many empty seats there will be in the Linc for the Eagles home games this fall…NONE. How many games will be blacked out? NONE. Apparently you people dont understand PR at all. If the Linc is filled up, if Vick’s jersey is flying off the racks in Philly, if its the top seller on nfl.com, then its not a PR disaster no matter what any poll says. Money talks, everything else walks.
Falcons Minority Owner
August 21st, 2009
11:05 am
Ozzfest, dont worry, Vick doesn’t have to wear a red #7 jersey, you’ll see plenty of other people wearing it on Dec 6th though. LOL – go ahead and clench your jaws and turn as red as the jersey, because you know its true. Just be grateful the Dome will be packed to capacity for at least one home game this season!
Michael Vick Dog Jerseys Licensed by the NFL for Sale … Oh This is in Good Taste | Scared Monkeys
August 21st, 2009
11:16 am
[...] Dick’s to Vick: We say ‘nix’ to your jersey, sort of Share This [...]
Fox
August 21st, 2009
12:47 pm
I won’t lose any sleep… DICKS is so contraDICKting… (yeah I know I spelled it wrong) They won’t sell a d*a*m*n jersey, but they’ll sell bullets, rifles, guns, bows, arrows & “scents” to atrract & kill innocent “game” that can’t protect themselves… OH I FORGET… That’s a SPORT… LOL It’s ALL ABOUT MONEY and you know what DICKS… WHO cares… I bought my jersey from Modell’s Sporting Goods.. they have stores in Philly & NJ… I put it on & then walked in Dick’s to go piss the workers off!!!! GMAB…
phoenix falcon
August 21st, 2009
1:50 pm
how come they never call white dudes thugs?
just asking.
phoenix falcon
August 21st, 2009
1:52 pm
and dick’s still sells stallworth jersey’s , hmmm, according to dick’s it’s not ok to kill some dogs, but it is ok to murder a human being. wow
Tonnia Blount
August 22nd, 2009
8:00 pm
Enter your comments here
TCCB
August 22nd, 2009
8:49 pm
Please!!! leave Vic alone. I don’t like dogs and if I keep reading all of the negative things that you people say I won’t like PEOPLE. You all need to get over it,VIC is back the people of Atlanta wish him well the Georgia Dome will have plenty of fans sporting the#7 jerseys when VIC comes to town in December no matter how many PETA protesters are outside; I only wish I had a fire hose and a Bull Conner hat and I would wash them all away: but you never know what will happen maybe PETA will stay home or risk getting eggs thrown at them or even shot with a paint ball gun. This is the South and even the TREES BARE A STRANGE FRUIT
The Truth
August 24th, 2009
10:32 pm
New Rule… No WHITE person can post beyond this point without answering the following questions:
1) Why was Danny Heatley not criticized and banned from hockey for killing a teammate?
2) Why was Bobby-wife-beater-Cox not run out of town for admitting to slapping his wife around?
3) Why do so-called Christians/Catholics pray for forgiveness for their pedophile priests who molest little boys, but yet care about some dumb dogs being killed?
Huh? Answer the freakin questions, you damn cowards! I’ll tell you why… because they’re lilly-white, and you like to, and try to protect your own. Once again, unless every crime against another human becomes a felony, who the HELL cares about some stupid ass dogs being killed… especially pit bulls. Good Riddance to the dogs, and good riddance to all of you ignorant, racist bastards!
Floridadawg
August 26th, 2009
9:21 am
Whenever I see a No. 7 jersy, my first thoughts are dogfighting. People who wear these shirts are scum.
http://www.sackvick.net/