To the Concerns Of Many

Dear Michael Vick,

I haven’t a clue what it’s like to spend time in prison. And you’ve been in serious prison no less! Not like Club Fed down in Florida. We’re talking Leavenworth. Real Federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. I hope that trademark elusiveness has served you well.

I imagine you’ve had a lot of time on your hands. Maybe the facilities have enough in the way of resources to help alleviate the long stretches of boredom.

I know some prisons offer courses in different trades like personal fitness training or landscaping. Some places can even give you training as a paralegal. With all your recent experience in the justice system, you might have a jump on that career track.

With your future in the NFL in doubt, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to explore some other options.


Even with all that time on your hands, I’ll confess surprise when I learned you were writing a book.

It’s not that I doubt your tutors at Virginia Tech didn’t do their absolute best to keep you academically eligible; rather, I pegged you for the quiet type that might shun the spotlight for awhile considering your time within it these past two years.

People have speculated the book might simply be an attempt to raise some quick cash. Your recent financial troubles are well documented. It’s a long hard fall from 130 Million Dollar Man to hounded by every federal, state, and local justice agency for every cent you’ve made.

(Oh, sorry about that “hounded” analogy, I suppose you’re sick of those.)

However, if your book project is a sincere attempt to help rehabilitate yourself, not just your image, then let me make you an offer: I will help you write your book.



You may be asking yourself why you should even consider a writer such as myself with minimal exposure who as of yet has not published a book on any subject.

A completely valid question.

Here me out though first.

Some people have come to your defense, noting, among other details, that you never physically harmed another human being in the course of your crimes.

Your defenders point to the hypocrisy inherent in the justice system vigorously pursuing your crimes when more violent and dangerous crimes run rampant in southern Virginia. It’s the value of an animal’s life over a human’s life, they say.

Let me make this clear: I am not one of your defenders.

A few years in prison and other detentional facilities seems fitting to me for leading an illegal interstate operation, an operation built upon depraved practices inconsistent with the moral progress of society.

Some arbitrary balance of an animal’s life versus a human’s life is irrelevant to your crimes. The weight of one crime has no bearing on another. Knowingly breaking a law then attempting to cover it up doesn't exist in shades of gray.

(The balance is perhaps not irrelevant to the fervor with which you were dogged – oops, sorry, did it again – by the media and protesters, but irrelevant to the hard time you are doing and the hard work you must yet do to become a productive member of society.)

Facts are the public is split down the middle on you and the weight of your crimes. I imagine not many who feel as I do will reach out to you as you attempt to piece your life back together.

But for some reason, maybe because I’d like to believe we can all change if we’re honest and sincere enough in our attempts, I am offering you my services as one disgusted and deeply unsympathetic to your crimes.

I don’t doubt your abilities, watching you singlehandedly destroy the Lambeau mystique leaves me incapable of such. But your path to recovering your abilities and your good standing in society is a long and difficult one and won’t be affected by preaching to the choir or making excuses.



If you want your book to really address your fans as well as your detractors, you need to confront hard truths from all sides of your story. I can help you do that. No questions can be left off the table. I would expect your full cooperation with delving into your past, the good and the bad.

And, if I find you sincere in your attempts to atone for your crimes, you have my word as a man to paint your actions as sympathetically as my powers allow. Some ugly facts you may not want to see light may surface, but absolute truth is your only path to convincing doubters to give you a second chance.

So please, consider my proposal. I have extensive training as a researcher and have written enough material these past few years to fill two books. As for my objective and impartial nature, I can give you recommendations from several ex-girlfriends who can attest to my patience and thoughtfulness.


Only the truth will set you free, truth you can only approach from all sides of your story.

(Unless of course you don't feel a stitch of remorse for your actions and/or haven't learned from your mistakes. Then you may want to go the sensationalist "My Side Of the Story" route. And in that case you can go to hell for all I care.)

Sincerely,
Cian O'Day