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Michael Vick chew toy and doggy jersey keep the Eagles QB in the news

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Easily the most controversial figure in the NFL is the recently signed quarterback Michael Vick, who spent the last year and a half in federal prison for dog fighting charges.

Public outcry at his reentry to pro football was widespread, spawning protests at his new team’s training camp and creating an interesting market for T-shirts and pet toys.

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Two of the more interesting ‘gifts’ you can get for your dogs are a chew toy made in Vick’s likeness and a shirt you can order from the NFL. Although the $17 toy is a bit of tongue-in-cheek revenge, the shirt is clearly a mistake.

The ever-enterprising people at the NFL.com site decided to meet the need of football fans who wish to dress their dogs in the colors of their favorite teams. What they didn’t count on was the league’s reinstatement of the convicted animal abuser. Combine those two facts with an automated jersey-maker and voila: the most politically incorrect fashion statement for your four-legged friend.

The question on the table: Should the NFL pull the option to select Vick’s name and number from the doggy jerseys, or should it, as others have done, accept the idea that the quarterback has paid his debt to society and move on?

Or should the league appease those who will be surely offended by such merchandising by donating the profits of the Vick dog jersey to animal shelters and the like?

RELATED:
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Sports Illustrated features Michael Vick’s pit bulls

Animal advocates react to the Philadelphia Eagles’ signing of Michael Vick

-- Tony Pierce

Photo via NFL.com

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