Beautiful Sunday here in Virginia, which, coincidently, is where Michael Vick is from.

I'll qualify this by saying I agree with Tyler. Not as big of a dog fan, but killing a dog is absolutely punishable. Speaking to a friend and huge dog-lover the other day, it became clear that some people think Vick wasn't punished enough, that he was treated like an athlete. And that same person made it pretty clear that they will hate Vick no matter what anyone says. So a couple of points.

Please hate Vick. Hate his guts. Boo him as Tyler suggests. But don't pretend you don't like watching him play. Don't pretend you don't like his athleticism. Don't pretend you don't like that arm. Don't pretend he isn't the poster boy for his type of player in the NFL. Michael Vick is as unique and skilled a player as there has ever been in the NFL. And if you like football, you love watching him play.

And if you don't think he was punished enough, don't look at the NFL. Look at the justice system. This man was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No one took bullets for him. Not only that, his case was very public. If there is a better way for the system to show that it takes these laws seriously, name it. On national television Michael Vick was made an example of. Do this and the justice system will not give you a deal. He was sentenced as harshly as he could have been. Don't like it? Get the sentencing guidelines changed.

The NFL of course, doesn't get off the hook so easily. These players are supposed to be 'role models' and stand for all that is good in America. Instead they are just running wild shooting people, killing dogs and defending paternity suits.

Roger Goodell has taken the league and raised standards considerably. How many multi-game suspensions have there been in the last two years? Donte Stallworth is out for a year after his vehicular manslaughter charge. Tyler mentioned Jeremy Stevens. Of course if you're a UW (or grad like me), you'll know he was nice to the former Husky and Seahawks tightend. He has multiple DUI's, assault charges, once crashed his car into a nursing home and of course the rape charge. Not to pour on him, but his part of the Seattle Times Victory and Ruins special was unnerving. He is so bad that someone deleted most of his UW references from his Wikipedia page. Problem is that this is not a very good argument for the NFL. As a matter of fact it is probably the reason why people should stop following the league. It's like the "everyone does it so it must be okay" argument.

This is why Goodell may be a Godsend for this league. Compare what he has made it into to a successful charter school. Adam "Pac-Man" Jones made it rain all the way from a Vegas strip club to the unemployment line. Guys like Stallworth, Stevens, Tank Johnson (yeah, just blame it on Slick Rick) and Vick have all seen their careers derailed by the policies of the new chief. He takes no excuses and says the players shouldn't either. Hurt the image of the league and you'll be punished. That is good for the NFL and even better for the players in it, many of whom see Goodell as one of maybe two strong male figures in their lives, right after their college and pro coaches. Let's not pretend dads are present a lot of the time.

So watch the NFL because it is entertaining and fun, not because the players in it are angels. But recognize that this is a league trying to make itself better. None of its players are doing 24-hour webcasts from their broken homes or trying to figure out why they got caught cheating. They are paying the price for their own transgressions. Something new and different.

Finally, another point of argument was that huge national corporations should not reward individuals who commit crimes such as these. (Full disclosure: the person I was talking to works in politics so my immediate reaction, working in that arena myself, was, 'is there a profession that rewards criminals more than ours?' Maybe drug dealing - but I doubt it.). The NFL is not rewarding Michael Vick. Many often forget that professional football is just that to Vick - his profession. While in other areas of business it maybe be hard to get a job with something like this on your record, this is sure to make money for the NFL, meaning the leagues benefits - which for those of thinking I just made your point is also the measuring stick by which any profession uses. Got a problem, blame capitalism. In addition, Vick has a platform with which to fulfill his obligations to the Humane Society to be an activist. It seems insincere, but it still strikes a cord when the man of the $150 million contract stands in front of a group of people and says, 'because I helped kill dogs, I am bankrupt. That's right, not only did I lose everything, I probably lost another $150 is a new contract and endorsements'. If no professions allowed ex-convicts then there would be a lot more repeat offenders. Our prison system is for so-called rehabilitation. If that is the case he should be allowed to restart his life after serving his sentence. If not, then why have it? Lock everyone up and throw away the key. But don't tell the 13 percent of the population that makes up more than half of the prison population that you're saying they'll all die in prison because 1-in-3 of them end up there.

I'm all for addressing the problems - athlete/celebrity entitlement, the occasional insane salary, America's stupid casting of sports stars as idols - but Vick is not one of those problems, he's a symptom.

Exactly. A symptom of a problem I guarantee most ticket-buying NFL patrons are not trying to solve. Put on your green and head to the stadium. The beloved Iggles are playing. And no, Mark Wahlberg won't be suiting up anytime soon. But Michael Vick will. Maybe this story will be better than Invincible. Maybe it's perfect he signed with the Eagles. Rick Reilly perfect. Keep letting Ron Jaworski tell you how the world spins and how awful it is - wait, Jaworski endorsed the Philly giving VIck his number seven.

Time to accept that the man served his time. Hate him, by all means. But when he retires from the NFL look at what he's done from here on out. Isn't that what we treat our children? When you make a mistake, show remorse, pay the price and get better. When you fall get up again. The world will judge you not on how you fall, but what you do when you get back up. All that storybook, Facebook quote junk.

Rip on Vick. Or help cure the illness, not just mitigate the symptoms.