Bobby Petrino (above, left) — he of the embarrassing exits in Atlanta and Arkansas — is on the brink of returning to the scene of his greatest glory (no, not this place), the University of Louisville. Lest you believe Petrino has not suffered sufficient penance for moral/ethical lapses that have made him something of a laughingstock, CBS Sports’ Greg Doyell wenthusiastically stumps, “for a man who has been humbled, for the same reason I can buy a stock at its lowest point. Nowhere to go but up.” Prior to leaving his desk to drop membership fees for the Shia LeBouf Fan Club in the mail, Doyell asks if can “bring up Michael Vick.” Sure, why not?
Petrino was found guilty in the court of public of opinion after the motorcycle fiasco that brought down him and Arkansas’ top-10 football program, and revealed the mistress he’d hired for a job that reported directly to him. Vick was found guilty in an actual courtroom, and went to jail. Big difference. Got it.
Vick lost his freedom, his money — the fallout from his dog-fighting conviction included bankruptcy for the former $130 million man — and his reputation. For lots of people that wasn’t enough. They were outraged when the Eagles signed him in 2009. Four years later they were still outraged, and Vick had to cancel a book tour because of death threats. In September 2013 a restaurant 90 minutes from Philly, where Vick was still the Eagles’ starting quarterback, canceled his scheduled appearance after customers complained.
This is what we do to the fallen. We demand that they stay down, either at our feet where we can kick them or simply out of sight — free to live their life so long as they don’t live it where we have to actually notice them.