Michael Vick Gives Lesson In Beating Bad PR

Part of EPR's NFL pillar · Athlete Reputation Recovery cluster: Ray Rice · Johnny Manziel.

Look, I may not be the biggest animal fan in the world, but there is nothing about what Michael Vick did that I like. I loathe that anyone could do that to defenseless animals. But I live in the same world that you do. A world that is governed by rules, and consequences to those rules. Michael Vick served his time in jail, and was released. So who am I to sit here and be judge and jury as to his circumstance? You may have completely opposing views as me, or he, or she — and that is fine. But as far as law and government goes, he's served his time. Which to me makes what his recent accomplishment means, all that more impressive.

Starting quarterback for the NFC in the Jan. 30 Pro Bowl in Honolulu will be Michael Vick. The same Michael Vick who sat out two seasons while serving a federal sentence for dogfighting. Vick won a league-wide vote by NFL players, coaches and fans. Before his jail sentence for running a dogfighting ring, Vick had made three Pro Bowls with Atlanta. After one year as a much maligned backup who attempted only 13 attempts in 2009, Vick is the NFC's leading passer with 2,755 yards with 20 TD's only 5 INT's. Add on 613 yards rushing the ball with an additional 8 TD's and Vick is having the type of season statistically that many of us had with him on Madden back in the early 2000's.

I'm not here to convince you why he should be forgiven, nor am I here to tell you why he shouldn't be. What I can tell you though is how Michael Vick gave you a lesson in PR: production beats everything else. It can be wilded down to that simple statement. No matter the hanis of the action, result, PR, or marketing nightmare — production drowns any and all noise. Feel about Michael Vick as you may off field — on the field, he's proven to be on a level that 98% of the other players in the NFL frankly aren't.

The moral of this story has nothing to do with right or wrong. It has to do with this: is your bark bigger than your bite? (I know that is a horrible analogy given the individual centered in the topic of this blog, but deal with it) Those companies and individuals that can produce at the highest level of satisfaction, will be awarded certain free-passes that you and I simply won't. It's the way of the world. If you can outperform others, we make exception to your shortcomings. Right or wrong, its the facts of life. Production wins, 11 times out of 10.

And in the course of this endeavor, Michael Vick has worked with two leading PR firms, including Michael Sitrick of Sitrick & Company, as well as North Carolina based French West Vaughan.

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