Let me start by saying that on a personal level, I do not like Michael Vick. In fact, I don’t like him at all. What he did is reprehensible and vile and not just because I have two dogs.

He destroyed defenseless beings that could not comprehend why they were being tortured. There is something very disturbing about the psychology of a human that is capable of doing these acts to relatively simple-minded creatures.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am in no way equating human life to that of a dog. A person is much more valuable than a dog no matter how much I love my own two, but he killed animals that did him no harm.

And, regardless of how much jail time he has had, I don’t think I will ever be a fan of Vick.

However, it goes against everything I believe in to deny Michael Vick a second chance. He did horrible things, but he paid for them.

He has tarnished his image and not just with me, but he now gets the chance to make good with his life.

Even the President of The Humane Society has agreed with this assessment albeit with a caveat that he needed to do charity with the society.

If the president of a group that involves canine well-being can give Vick another chance, then it would be odd if we couldn’t do the same.

I’m not going to debate whether he is a changed man or if he has fully dealt with the mental state that lead him to oversee or actually commit acts of violence.

There is no way for any of us to know if he is a better person now or if he just is putting on a good public face.

But sports have always been about second chances. There is always another play or another game even if it occurs next game or next season, and it makes sense to me that he gets another chance in football even if I find what he did to be deplorable.

So far this season, which is the second since he served his time, he has made good with his second chance. He played well against both the Packers and the Lions.

The Lions play football like blind giraffes usually, but he still put up good numbers against them.

Again, let me stress that his potential success in football doesn’t mean it makes up for what he did or show that on a personal level he has changed.

For instance, his birthday fiasco this summer where one of his dog-killing defendants got shot shows that he is still a fool.

Vick was not involved with it and no legal ramifications came from it.

All his possible success will mean is that the Eagles made a good football decision in signing him.

So far he hasn’t disappointed them in that sense, and baring a case of the stupid, he has behaved off the field too.

I won’t deny that it is hard for me to give second chances to people like Vick, but the worst among us should get another chance. This is what the legal system is about in this country: not only punishment, but also rehabilitation.

I, and maybe many of you, won’t be rooting for the man or showering him with accolades. I won’t be calling him a changed person either.

But that doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s right, even if that’s hard to take.