迈克尔·维克的康复治疗正在进行

迈克尔·维克的康复治疗正在进行

The NFL recently announced that Michael Vick will be one of the captains in the 2020 Pro Bowl in January.

美国国家橄榄球联盟(NFL)最近宣布，迈克尔·维克将成为明年1月举行的2020年职业橄榄球大赛的队长之一。

Former quarterback Michael Vick watches an NFL game in December 2019. (Photo: Bob Levey/Getty Images)

During his 13-year career, the quarterback spent six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and five with the Philadelphia Eagles before spending a year each with the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

在他13年的职业生涯中，这位四分卫在亚特兰大猎鹰队待了6个赛季，在费城老鹰队待了5个赛季，之后分别在纽约喷气机队和匹兹堡钢人队待了一年。

But for many people, Vick will always be known more for his involvement in a dogfighting ring than for his football skills.

但对许多人来说，维克更出名的是他参与斗狗，而不是他的足球技术。

Vick and his supporters say that he has changed and has since worked to stop dogfighting and get the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act passed in Congress. Others are not so sure.

维克和他的支持者们说，维克已经改变了，从那以后，他一直致力于制止斗狗，并在国会通过了《禁止斗狗观众法案》。其他人则不那么肯定。

Online petitions are demanding that Vick be removed as a Pro Bowl Legends captain. A Change.org petition has more than 145,000 signatures and another on AnimalVictory.org has more than 229,000.

网上的请愿书要求取消维克作为职业碗传奇队长的身份。请愿网站Change.org上有超过145,000个签名，而在AnimalVictory.org上有超过229,000个签名。

Both petitions argue that the NFL should not honor a known animal abuser and instead should give the position to someone more worthy.

两份请愿书都认为，NFL不应该授予已知的虐待动物者荣誉，而是应该把这个职位给更有价值的人。

The case against Vick

针对维克的案子

Protesters hold signs outside Surry County Circuit Court after Vick plead guilty on two felony counts in November 2008 in Sussex, Virginia. (Photo: Geoff Burke/Getty Images)

Vick’s name may be synonymous with animal cruelty, but the quarterback never actually served time for that crime. Charges of animal cruelty were dropped as part of a plea bargain, and he was convicted of bankrolling a dogfighting conspiracy. He was sentenced to 23 months in prison.

维克的名字可能是虐待动物的同义词，但这位四分卫实际上从未因那项罪行而服刑。作为认罪协议的一部分，虐待动物的指控被撤销，他被判为一起斗狗阴谋提供资金。他被判处23个月监禁。

Ten of the more adoptable canines from Vick’s dogfighting ring went to BAD RAP, an animal rescue group devoted to rehabilitating pit bulls, and in 2007, Donna Reynolds, co-founder of the organization, went to Virginia to evaluate those dogs. She later shared details of the dogs’ abuse on her blog, noting that she wears “some pretty thick skin” but “can’t shake” what she learned.

维克的斗狗圈中有10只更容易被收养的狗被“BAD RAP”收养，这是一个致力于帮助比特犬康复的动物救援组织。2007年，该组织的联合创始人唐娜·雷诺兹前往弗吉尼亚州对这些狗进行评估。后来，她在自己的博客上分享了被狗虐待的细节，指出她“脸皮很厚”，但“无法摆脱”所学到的东西。

“The rescuer in me keeps trying to think of a way to go back in time and somehow stop this torture,” she wrote.

她写道:“我内心深处的拯救者一直在努力想办法回到过去，以某种方式停止这种折磨。”

"What Michael Vick did was not just dogfighting," Marthina McClay, who adopted one of the Vick dogs, told The San Francisco Chronicle. "It went so far beyond that, and most people who defend him are uninformed."

“迈克尔·维克所做的不仅仅是斗狗，”马蒂娜·麦克雷在接受《旧金山纪事报》采访时表示。“事情远不止于此，大多数为他辩护的人都不知情。”

After failing a polygraph, Vick admitted to killing dogs that wouldn’t fight or didn’t perform well, but he never faced animal cruelty charges and many of critics are angry about it. It’s part of the reason why Vick continues to encounter protesters and why people still raise the question of “If he hadn’t gotten caught, would he still be killing dogs?”

在测谎失败后，维克承认杀死了那些不会打架或表现不佳的狗，但他从未面临虐待动物的指控，许多批评人士对此感到愤怒。这也是维克不断遭遇抗议者的部分原因，也是为什么人们仍然会提出这样的问题:“如果他没有被抓住，他还会杀狗吗?”

"It worked out nicely for Vick that he never faced his animal abuse charges in court,” Reynolds said. “That meant football fans were spared the most disturbing details of his tortures and could go back to their Sunday night ritual with barely a hiccup."

“维克在法庭上从未面临虐待动物的指控，这对他来说很好，”雷诺兹说。“这意味着球迷们不必再为那些折磨他的最令人不安的细节操心了，他们可以毫不费力地回到周日晚上的仪式上。”

Has Vick really changed?

维克真的变了吗?

John Garcia of Best Friends Animal Society sits with a rehabilitated Michael Vick dog named Georgia. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Vick is well aware that while some people may have forgiven him, they certainly haven’t forgotten why he’s such a controversial figure.

维克很清楚，虽然有些人可能已经原谅了他，但他们肯定没有忘记为什么他是一个如此有争议的人物。

“The best thing to do was make amends for what I did. I can’t take it back,” Vick told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in August 2016. “The only thing I can do is influence the masses of kids from going down the same road I went down. That’s why I work with the Humane Society and affecting a lot of kids’ lives and saving a lot of animals. We’ve had lot of a progress. We’ve been able to change some laws and do some great things that I’m very proud of.”

“最好的办法就是为我所做的一切做出补偿。我无法收回，”维克在2016年8月接受《匹兹堡邮报》采访时表示。“我唯一能做的就是影响孩子们，让他们不要重蹈我的覆辙。这就是为什么我与动物保护协会合作，影响了很多孩子的生命，拯救了很多动物。我们已经取得了很大进展。我们已经能够改变一些法律，做一些伟大的事情，我非常自豪。”

Since his release from prison, Vick worked to rebuild both his professional football career and his reputation. He since played on three NFL teams, finally retiring in February 2017. Vick has backed animal cruelty legislation and at one point was an active participant in the Humane Society’s anti-dogfighting campaign — the latter of which brought the animal-welfare organization so much negative attention that it addressed its affiliation with Vick in a series of frequently asked questions on its website. (The questions about Vick are no longer there but dogfighting questions remain.)

出狱后，维克努力重建自己的职业足球生涯和声誉。他后来效力于三支NFL球队，最终于2017年2月退役。维克支持虐待动物立法和一度积极参与人道协会anti-dogfighting运动——后者将动物福利组织如此多的负面关注,解决其归属与维克在一系列常见问题在其网站上。(关于维克的问题已经不存在了，但关于斗狗的问题依然存在。)

While Vick's critics argue that he hasn't properly apologized and hasn't expressed believable remorse, others say he's a changed man who's trying to redefine himself. When Vick issued an apology after signing with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009, the New York Times had multiple writers weighed in on whether Vick was truly repentant.

尽管批评维克的人认为他没有适当地道歉，也没有表达出令人信服的懊悔，但也有人说他是一个试图重新定义自己的人。当维克在2009年与费城老鹰队签约后发表道歉声明时，《纽约时报》的多位作者都在讨论维克是否真的后悔了。

Perhaps most surprisingly was the response from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which was somewhat supportive of Vick’s return to football.

也许最令人惊讶的是善待动物组织(PETA)对维克重返足球界的支持。

“As long as he’s throwing a football and not electrocuting a dog, PETA is pleased he is focused on his game,” PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange said in a statement.

PETA高级副总裁丽莎·兰格在一份声明中说:“只要它扔的是足球而不是电击狗，PETA就很高兴它专注于自己的比赛。”