Here are two names that will elicit a reaction from just about everyone in America - Michael Vick and Mike Tyson. These are men who arguably had the greatest athletic skills of anyone in their respective fields. During Vick's troubled career he could never really win the big one. He was cheered and booed by the same people. He could run like a deer and escape the grasp of linebacker in Houdini-like excitement. One of the last recollections many have of Michael Vick's antics was when he exited the field and gave an obscene gesture to the fans. He was a punk and just plain bad man off the field. A multi-millionaire - he was addicted to gambling via illegal dog fights? He appeared to me to be a kid who never grew up, got in with the wrong people, never was told "no," and never became all he could be.

The same can be said of another Mike. Mike Tyson. He was known as Iron Mike. His early fights were a joke. No sooner did one sit down and start eating his popcorn than the fight was over. Tyson was unstoppable. Then along came James Buster Douglas. Douglas entered the contest as a 42-1 underdog. With six seconds remaining in the 8th round, Tyson floored Douglas with a right uppercut. Douglas could barely stand up after a nine count when the bell sounded. In the 10th round, after a vicious five-punch barrage from Douglas, Tyson, to the shock of the world, was dropped. The portrait of a defeated Goliath will be forever impressed upon the minds of sports fans everywhere. There he was, a dazed Tyson on his hands and knees, groping for his mouthpiece. If the beginning of the end for Tyson was this fight, the actual end was the "bite fight" when he tried to bite off the ear of Evander Holyfield who at that moment was giving Tyson an old fashioned whipping.

What do these two Mikes have in common? Certainly, neither of them realized their full potential as athletes. But there is more. They both heard and received the Gospel only to walk away from it when they chose to become the companions of fools. They both went to prison. They both lost their careers. They both became tragic figures of "what might have been."

Now, my team, the Philadelphia Eagles, has signed Vick to a contract. After the brutal massacre of many dogs at Vick's hands he now is "rewarded" with a contract to play again in the NFL. The uproar is predictable as fans from all over the country hop aboard the "hate Michael Vick band wagon." The press and talk shows daily remind us in vivid detail how Vick tortured, electrocuted, hanged, drowned, and clubbed to death these animals when they could no longer serve his gambling interests. Outrage over this cannot be over exaggerated. Vick was a dog killer and America could not stomach him; and rightfully so.

Many loyal Eagles fans are now questioning if they can support a team with such a criminal playing. But now I ask you this - where is the outrage over the burning, scraping, mutilating, and even brain sucking of innocent babies from the womb? Not hundreds. Not thousands. Millions. Millions upon millions of babies killed before they breathe their first breath of air outside the womb. Where is the shock? Are dogs more valuable to our society than little babies? Apparently so! How sad! How terribly sad! We should all be weeping. What has happened to our society? But wait. Maybe we shouldn't ask that question about a society where many believe God is dead and oh, yes, some believe that Elvis is alive.

(Next week - Should Michal Vick have a second chance?)

In His Grip,
Dr. Chuck Betters

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