Michael Vick is pleading guilty to dog fighting charges. It will mean that the NFL's premier player (at least the one that they market the most heavily) will spend one to two years behind bars instead of behind his linemen with the Atlanta Falcons.
So, I started thinking this afternoon: What will happen once his sentence is complete?
He'll still be in his prime.
He'll be creating curiosity and anticipation as each month passes...people will be counting down the days until his return.
He'll have a "bad boy" image. The NFL frowns upon that in public, but privately they know he'll be more marketable and create more buzz than he does right now.
While he's admitting to a serious crime - one that has a lot of people upset 
because of it's overt cruelty to animals - he can bounce back from that fairly easily. He'll prove he's changed, he'll attend the right classes, he'll say the right things.
The result? He'll be bigger than ever, if he plays his cards right.
Isn't it an interesting society that we live in? To generate buzz and public interest, it helps if you're a little bad. It's worked for Paris Hilton, it's worked for Martha Stewart, and I predict it will work for Michael Vick.
When the dust settles, and he does his time, he'll be a bigger (and, strangely, more marketable) than he is right now.
Dan, I agree. Our society does tend to glorify negativity in general and bad behavior specifically. It easier to become infamous than it is to become famous for doing something positive.
Posted by: Kimberlee Morrison | August 22, 2007 10:30 AM | Permalink to Comment