Vick_tv
This is just getting ridiculous.

After being scheduled to appear for an interview on ESPN First Take this morning, the show's Facebook page sent a message to its followers saying, the following:

"The Philadelphia Eagles have pulled Mike Vick from our interview. First Take and Oprah now have something in common."

 

Well, apparently, Vick never agreed to appear on the show, nor was he ever asked. Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko called the accusations towards the Eagles "ridiculous". He instead suggested it was someone else who was behind the whole ESPN blunder.

“Lou Tilley booked Michael for an interview with ESPN and never asked Michael or myself or any Vick representative,” Boyko said. “I was here with Michael. He never canceled. He was never asked. It was ridiculous.”

 

If you don't know who Lou Tilley is, he works for the Maxwell Club, where Vick will accept an award today. Tilley has been dabbling in Philadelphia sports media purgatory for the better part of a decade, and is believed to bathe twice a day in a vat of insignificance. Who the hell knows what he was thinking when he set this up… if in fact, this is the true story.

This is the latest in a series of event-related snafus involving Vick, or at  least his name. Here's a quick list:

  • The first notable no-show was the set of Super Bowl parties in Texas last month that were promoted using Vick's name.  He seemingly had nothing to do with the parties. His name was cleared.
  • The next was the highly publicized agreement for Vick to appear on Oprah. Vick and his camp, regardless of who "advised" him after the news broke, pulled out of the appearance. It was a good move by Vick to change his mind on the matter, it couldn't have possibly helped his cause. The risk was too high. 
  • He no-showed (or backed out of, depending on who you believe) a charity event called "What It Takes". The explanation revolved around going to Virginia for family reasons, according to Vick's press guy. This one is probably on Vick.
  • Another conflict arose about a March 26th event, where a group called SEVAA used Vick's name to promote the event. Vick never committed despite the art group's intent to honor him. It's becmoing a broken record… seriously.
  • The ESPN incident this morning.

 

ESPN is frustrated because they promoted the hell out of the interview. The Eagles are frustrated because the finger is unjustly being pointed at them. I would assume Vick is a bit annoyed, and frankly, you should be, too.

His name and likeness are both being passed around like a two-dollar whore. We're talking about a guy who would probably want to be more known for the things he has done since he got out of jail, and not the things he hasn't.

Instead, we're subject to Ashley Fox columns that portray Vick in a semi-negative light, when, in reality, the guy hasn't actually done anything wrong (recently). Even if he did pull out of an event earlier this week, has no professional sports figure ever pulled out an appearance before? Come on.

Does Vick have more of a responsibility than other high-profile athletes to make some appearances and have more of a positive impact on the community? Yes, absolutely. But go check how many of these recent incidents were actually his fault. Very few.

Michael Vick is not giving the doubters "a reason to doubt". Save that quip for if or when he actually does.