Updated 8/22/2007 2:23:21 PM
Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL after he finishes serving out his punishment on charges related to his participation in a professional dogfighting ring, the president of the Atlanta NAACP said during a news conference Wednesday.
RELATED VIDEO: NAACP Statement
"Humans are redeemable," said Dr. R.L. White. "We feel that whatever the courts demand as a punishment, once he has paid his debt to society, then he should be treated like any other person in the NFL."
Vick?s attorney said on Monday that the star quarterback agreed to accept a plea deal in the case and a likely prison sentence in order to avoid additional federal charges.
Dr. White went on to say that, despite that plea agreement, he is not convinced that Vick was completely aware of the depth of the dogfighting ring in which he is accused of taking part in the execution of several animals.
"I think there might have been some involvement," White said when asked if he believed Vick was involved in dogfighting at all. "I'm still suspect that there's a vendetta to get Michael Vick and I'm still suspect of the co-defendants who made their plea, that it was coerced in order to save their own necks from deeper sentences in jail."
White also said he believes the star quarterback has received more negative press than if he had killed a human being. "He would not have been persecuted that much if he had killed somebody."
He acknowledged that many animal lovers are outraged at the notion Vick would have executed pit bulls that lost him money during dogfights.
"Let's maintain our [healing] when we are trying to remedy the entire situation," White said. "Yes, there are many dog lovers, fans in the NFL but there are also many, many other people who just love Mike Vick and these people, too, are significant in numbers."
