Michael Vick has everything most people would want in their career and in their search for success.  He was a superstar quarterback in a very lucrative career as a professional football player.  He had tons of money.  He had fame.  And in every count, he was very successful in his field.  Apparently that was not enough for him, as he sought additional “thrills” in a cruel and inhumane dogfighting business.

Why someone that has virtually everything would risk throwing it all away to be involved in an activity so grotesque and repugnant is beyond anyone’s reasoning.  According to statements by the co-defendants in this case, they, along with Vick, executed “approximately eight dogs… by various methods including hanging and drowning.”  It makes you sick to your stomach.

Is life for some superstars like Vick so boring that they are willing to throw everything away just to take some risks and do what most people would consider totally unacceptable?  Is it possible that success came so easily for some of these people that they find it totally meaningless?  Or is success as experienced by celebrities such a big psychological weight that it totally throws their mind into a spin making them unable to judge right from wrong?

There is a risk of oversimplifying what is probably a very complex issue, but mere mortals like me who work hard for the money and for whom success does not come so easily would like to understand what goes on in the minds of these celebrities.  Walking into a stadium full of football fans cheering you on is not enough of a thrill?  In order to get your kicks, do you really need to train innocent dogs to become so ferocious that they will fight until the opponent is totally decimated, leaving them dead or crippled for life?  Is this how Vick gets his excitement?  I just don’t get it.

Everyone likes success.  But maybe there is an argument that too much success too fast is not so desirable.  If success, when given in too large a dose too fast, makes you do things like seek pleasure is drugs, drive intoxicated, or kill animals for fun, then it may not be such a great thing after all.

It is sad to see a successful young man get himself in such mess.  But if the charges are true, as indicated by his agreement to enter a plea of guilty, then Michael Vick owes more to society than a simple apology.  He must suffer the consequences of his repulsive and irresponsible behavior.