The True Sadness Behind the Michael Vick Saga

I know everyone has their opinion about the Michael Vick case. But I can't help but look deep into the story to find that after earning $25 million a year, this young man is filing for bankruptcy. Once a millionaire and on top of the world, Michael Vick is now in prison, broke and has a strained family members. What went wrong?

I can say how I feel about dog fighting or how I've heard of people committing rape and murder receiving less time than Michael Vick for his dog fighting case. But what's really getting to me after reading in the local paper (one of the home town papers of Michael Vick), is that one of his five houses is in foreclosure (the one his cousin lived in where the dog fighting took place), two are up for sale including his mother's house and his $4 million mansion in Atlanta, and two homes that he is negotiating to keep under his bankruptcy agreement contingent on the fact that he returns to the NFL.

That is the true sadness of the story. How do you earn $25 million dollars a year and then you're broke. Houses not paid for along with your agent and others suing for unpaid wages. I can't help but think that this young man was used by everybody around him including his family. No one, absolutely no one took him to the side and tried to guide him on spending his money? One of the houses that he is negotiating to keep that his fiance lives in is valued at $400,000.00. This house should have been paid for. Twenty-five million dollars a year and he has mortgages? No one taught or showed him how to build wealth and obtain property? No one?

This is sad and really needs to be addressed. It looks like everyone around him took total advantage of him and sucked him dry of everything they could until the lawyers came along and took whatever was left. And yes I feel sorry for him. In this day and time, he's still nothing but a being that can run and jump and once that's over, he's over. They used him and made him into a household name, a brand name and made all the money they could and now they are leaving him out to dry.

Why is this still happening in 2009 to our young athletes. This sounds like the story of Joe Louis or something from years past. Nobody taught him about finances and how to obtain wealth. I bet you his agent and all others on his payroll know how to obtain wealth. And yes some people need to be taught.

From the words of Public Enemy:
"People, people we are the same, no we're not the same cause we don't know the game."

It's time for us to wise up and teach our kids that is does not matter how fast you can run (Michael Vick broke every rushing record for a quarterback), how high you can jump (they released Michael Jordan from the probabilities of owning a team after they were done with him), how well you can sing and dance (Michael Jackson is one of the world's greatest entertainer and his promoters made more money than him); if you don't understand the game and know how to play it, you'll end up broke and/or thrown away like some side show.

"Just as Christ was a superstar, you stupid star. They'll hail you, then nail you no matter who you are. They'll make you now then take you down and make you face it. If you split the bag open put your pinky in it and taste it." Lauyrn Hill "Superstar"