I don’t really understand the intricacies of football, but I do know this: Michael Vick got Kendra Wilkinson’s husband Hank Baskett fired. In a manner of speaking at least. Baskett, who up until yesterday was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, was let go from the team in order to make room for Vick. Who is apparently incredibly popular amongst NFL fans – his jersey is the fourth best selling in the league.

Michael Vick can throw passes to his teammates instead of ball boys. The Philadelphia Eagles elevated Vick to the team’s 53-man roster Tuesday, a move that allows the quarterback to practice with the team. Wide receiver Hank Baskett was released to make room for Vick, who is eligible to play Sept. 27 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Vick will begin practicing with the team Wednesday, though he cannot play in Sunday’s home opener against the New Orleans Saints. Vick was suspended for the first two regular-season games as the final league penalty for his role in running a dogfighting ring.

…Vick was brought in to give the Eagles another dimension on offense. He ran Philadelphia’s version of the wildcat offense and took some snaps as a traditional QB under center in two preseason games. The Eagles were heavily criticized by animal rights activists for signing Vick less than a month after he finished serving 18 months in federal prison. Dozens of protesters voiced their outrage outside the team’s practice facility the day after Vick was signed, and many fans threatened to give up their tickets.

A month later, Vick’s jersey is the fourth-highest seller in the NFL behind Brett Favre, Jay Cutler and Troy Polamalu. The league rankings are based on the sales period from April 1 to Aug. 28, so Vick – and Favre, for that matter – had plenty of catching up to do since both joined their teams last month.

Baskett was one of seven receivers the Eagles carried on their 53-man roster through Week 1. He became expendable after Philadelphia selected Jeremy Maclin in the first round of April’s draft and added Brandon Gibson in the sixth round. Baskett had 72 catches for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns in 48 games with the Eagles.

[From the Huffington Post]

I feel badly for Hank. I don’t know why but I really like the guy. He just strikes me as genuine and all-around nice. Generally speaking I think Kendra Wilkinson is pretty lucky to have landed him. And to lose your spot on your team to slime like Michael Vick has got to make the whole thing sting even worse. It is unconscionable to say that the only thing that matters is that the guy’s a good football player. I don’t care how great his skills, you do something like Michael Vick did and you don’t deserve any second chances.

I’m guessing that Kendra and Hank aren’t exactly strapped for money, thanks to their reality show. And they’ve got their first baby due in January, so he’s got a lot of other things on his plate. Hopefully he’ll get picked up by another team that eventually kicks the Eagles’ ass.

Here are Hank and Kendra at the park with their dogs, Raskal and Martini, on July 25th. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.

This past summer PETA famously offered to pay for a scan of the prefrontal region of Sharon Stone’s brain. They claimed it was probably underdeveloped since she clearly lacks empathy for others, both human and animal. PETA often writes these open letters to celebs as a way to get attention and free press. Their offers/pleas are generally ridiculous and I don’t think they ever expect anyone to take them up on it.

But they’ve made a very serious demand – not an offer – to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell that he require dog fighting player Michael Vick to get a brain scan to rule out psychopathy before he’s allowed to play again. Vick won’t get out of prison until this summer, but the organization is damn serious about this.

The only bright side for Vick may be a PETA campaign that could be overplaying its hand.

PETA is demanding that Vick be barred from the league unless he has a brain scan to prove he’s not a psychopath. It has written a letter to Goodell to press its case and is urging supporters to write e-mails to Goodell.

From the PETA Web site:

“Vick’s behavior seems to fit the American Psychiatric Association profile for anti-social personality disorder (APD). People with APD are commonly referred to as “psychopaths”. They are usually male, often charming, prone to lying and manipulation, and incapable of genuine remorse. They can also take pleasure in inflicting cruelty.

Before the NFL even considers the possibility of allowing Vick back into the League, where he will be in a position to influence many fans, including countless children, PETA wants the League to require him to undergo a brain scan, coupled with a structured, standardized test (e.g, the Psychopathy Checklist, approved by the American Psychiatric Association). If Vick emerges from these examinations without evidence of psychopathy, this may mean that he has the capacity to express true remorse. If he is a psychopath, the chances of recidivism are great and remorse is virtually impossible.”

Extra point: The use of brain scans to predict future criminality is a controversial subject, and has some Orwellian undertones. After his two years of prison are over, do you think Vick deserves to be reinstated? Would you be comfortable if your team signed him? Chris Harry of The Orlando Sentinel is predicting that Vick will first play for the U.F.L. franchise in Orlando.

[From the New York Times]

The entire contents of PETA’s letter can be read here. I go back and forth on PETA, but I always give their marketing people a lot of credit for innovative ideas. This particular issue doesn’t seem to be about marketing though; they’re not targeting Vick for his celebrity but due to the heinousness of his crimes. I’ve never been tempted to sign anything on their site, but they do have a form letter you can submit urging the NFL not to reinstate Vick without the brain scan, and I’m thinking about sending one.

But frankly I’d rather send one saying not to let him play at all. It makes no difference to me whether or not he’s a psychopath, he did what he did. I expect he’ll get a fresh round of negative publicity when he’s released from prison in July, and I hope a PETA protest follows him everywhere he goes. And that’s like wishing plagues and boils on someone.

Here are PETA activists outside a sentencing hearing for Vick in federal court in December 2007 in Richmond, Virginia. Header of Vick speaking to reporters after agreeing to a guilty plea in August 2007.

In her first show on “The View” on Tuesday, Whoopi Goldberg defended dog fighter/football player Michael Vick, saying that he came from the Deep South, and dog fighting was part of the culture there.

“‘He’s from the South, from the Deep South … This is part of his cultural upbringing,’ Goldberg said of the Atlanta Falcons quarterback, whose recent fall from grace has been one of the most stunning in the history of U.S. sports.

“‘For a lot of people, dogs are sport,’ Goldberg said on the show. ‘Instead of just saying (Vick) is a beast and he’s a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not questioned.’

“Veteran ‘View’ co-host Joy Behar took immediate issue with Goldberg.

“‘What part of the country is this? … How about dog torturing and dog murdering?’ she asked.”

[From Reuters]

Whoopi, I love you, but that’s waaaaaaaaaaay off base. First off, there’s reason to believe that dog fighting is considered barbaric by most of the country.

“Goldberg’s comments were denounced by Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, who disputed that dogfighting was a cultural fixture of the South or any other region.

“‘To suggest that there is some ethnic group or racial group or regional group that finds this acceptable is just not accurate,’ he told Reuters, adding that public opinion polls show opposition to dogfighting ‘is a universal value in America.’ He noted that dogfighting is outlawed in all 50 states, and a felony in all but two — Idaho and Wyoming.”

[From Reuters]

Secondly, just because something terrible is considered okay in one region doesn’t mean it is acceptable behavior. There were a lot of things that used to be considered okay in the Deep South that weren’t as common in the rest of the country. If we sat back and said, “Well it’s okay there so don’t be mad” the south would be a very different place today. And it couldn’t have been considered that okay, because Vick has pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges, and admitted that was involved in an interstate illegal dogfighting ring called Bad Newz Kennels. Vick also admitted that he helped kill dogs that underperformed.

Whoopi seems reasonably intelligent, so part of me is wondering if she really believes this, or is just trying to stir up some publicity for her new gig. If so, it’s clearly working – tons of papers and blog have picked up the story. There certainly aren’t a lot of people out there willing to defend Michael Vick right now, so that gets her some attention. It seems like she’s trying to make it clear that she’s going to continue Rosie O’Donnell’s role as instigator of controversy – though to what extent remains unclear.

Picture note by JayBird: Here’s Whoopi at the 6th Annual Tribeca Film Festival – Vanity Fair Party on 4/24/2007. Images thanks to PR Photos.