PETA comments on Michael Vick hiring by Norfolk State Football team: 'Charming, charismatic psychopath'

Michael Vick's recent reported hiring as the Norfolk State head football coach has prompted a response about his criminal past by the animal rights group PETA. Norfolk State has not confirmed Vick's hiring, but it was reported on Tuesday by the Virginian-Pilot.

President Ingrid Newkirk provided a statement to Fox News Digital, recounting her experience with Vick during his sentencing for participating in illegal dog fighting in 2007. 

"After interviewing him at PETA’s office in Norfolk, Virginia while his sentence was under consideration, and hearing him tell me bold-faced lies about his poor dogs, I came to believe that he’s a charming, charismatic, psychopath, but since I believe he won’t fight dogs ever again, PETA is focusing on working with law enforcement to bust those who still do," Ingrid said. 

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Vick's dog fighting scandal came to light in 2007 when his father Michael Boddi told The Atlanta Constitution-Journal that the former star quarterback was staging dogfights in the garage of the family's home in Newport News, Virginia. Boddie also said Vick kept fighting dogs in the family's backyard, including injured ones that the father would help nurse back to health. 

In April of that year, a search warrant for a drug investigation of Vick's cousin Davon Boddie, resulted in authorities discovering evidence of unlawful dog fighting at one of Vick's properties in Virginia. Vick was indicted in July 2007 for running an unlawful interstate dog fighting venture known as "Bad Newz Kennels" alongside three other men. 

Vick ultimately pleaded guilty to "Conspiracy to Travel in Interstate Commerce in Aid of Unlawful Activities and to Sponsor a Dog in an Animal Fighting Venture." He also confessed to taking part in the killings of 6–8 dogs, by hanging, beating, and drowning.

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The crimes resulted in Vick spending 21 months in federal prison, which proved to be a transformative gap in his NFL career and reputation. While he returned to the NFL after serving his sentence, joining the Philadelphia Eagles, his public persona was forever tainted and overshadowed by the crimes. 

The backlash against Vick was particularly perpetuated by animal rights groups like PETA. PETA put out multiple statements about Vick following his 2007 indictment, and the organization even hosted him in September of that year for its "Developing Empathy for Animals" course. 

In a 2009 blog post titled "The Day I Spent With Michael Vick," the organization expressed skepticism about his stated intention to become an "ally" in the fight against dog fighting. 

"Michael and his camp have done little more than mouth assurances that he’s learned his lesson. Since this meeting, they have only surfaced when Michael has been scheduled for court appearances—until now, when he is asking to get his old job back," the blog read. 

At that time, Vick was attempting to launch an NFL comeback, which he successfully did in Philadelphia in 2009, where he played until 2013. 

He then joined the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. He last played in the NFL in 2015. 

Fox News Digital has reach out to Norfolk State University for comment. 

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