PETA pushes to ban Michael Vick from Madden NFL cover

For obvious reasons...

Words: Mark_Raby on March 31, 2011

It's not tough to figure out why animal rights group PETA wants Michael Vick to be out of the voting for who should appear on the cover of EA's next Madden NFL series. But EA is not intimated, and given the traction he has been getting it's very possible his mug will appear on millions of copies of the world's favorite football game.

In fan voting, Vick is one of the favorites right now to earn the nod as the cover athlete for Madden NFL 12. And with the real-world NFL locked in a union dispute, there's a lot more focus on the game this year than in previous seasons. Enter PETA.

In a CNBC interview, EA Sports president Peter Moore said, "We believe that Michael Vick, as the runner-up in MVP for the league and the comeback player of the year, deserved his slot."

"I can tell you we've already received the letters from our good friends at PETA urging us to take him out of the bracket."

If PETA had its way, Vick would probably be removed from the game entirely.

"I'm not here to comment on what he did. I personally believe, and this is personal commentary right now, that Michael served his time. He's had a tremendous season," said Moore.

In his time at EA Sports, Moore has had to deal with multiple high-profile athlete controversies. It goes with the territory. When Tiger Woods's sex scandal broke, causing multi-million dollar advertisers to drop Woods, Moore stepped up to say EA Sports would continue to support him. Now he's taking the same stand with Vick.

[Source: CNBC]

Mar 31, 2011

Platforms:

Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP

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ColZechs - April 2, 2011 2:50 a.m.

@IveGotTheGlow Thanks for proving that at least one person here has an iota of sense. I don't condone what Vick did either but on the other hand I don't care at all now, I didn't care at all when the story broke and I'll never care. He committed a crime and went to prison. Now he's out and minding his own business like the members of PETA and every other whining crybaby in this world should do. I also eat steak, bacon, pork chops, chicken, fish, etc. I wear leather shoes, boots, belts, and coats. No so called animal sympathizers are calling for my head...hypocrites.
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Rovert 09 - April 1, 2011 9:09 p.m.

I think Aaron Rodgers should be on the cover. 1. Michael Vick was already on it for Madden 2004 2. As a Bears fan, I'd like to see A-Rod get the Madden curse. :)
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isimikehinde - April 1, 2011 5:23 p.m.

@CoryM1134 thank you, this is a football game, it has nothing to do with his personal life, if his the man for the job, his the man for the job, why should what he does off the field concern me,yes what he did is wrong,let them prosecute him for his cruelty,but when it comes to his duties in the field, PETA has no business in that.
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Darkhawk - April 1, 2011 1:54 p.m.

Actually, I support Vick on the cover. Hopefully the curse will come true and he'll get run over by bus or something. Seriously... what is wrong with North Americans? How can you just overlook someone's criminal and morally reprehensible past because they happen to be good at a sport? Can you imagine saying, "Well, Jack Smith may have murdered a bunch of dogs, but he's a damn fine accountant so we voted him employee of the month."
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TriforcePlayer - April 1, 2011 10:44 a.m.

I hope he gets it. He never should've gone to jail in the first place.
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IveGotTheGlow - April 1, 2011 10:03 a.m.

@Eliath I completely understand that there are shades of gray in the world, but my point is that people seem to want this man to go to every door in America and grovel for forgiveness. My question to everyone here is what does it take to be forgiven in your mind? He is millions of dollars in debt, his brand/career are tarnished, and he served time in jail. What more does it take? Side note: As most of us are carnivores, how many animals are we indirectly responsible for the murder of? I understand the circumstances are completely different, but we're still responsible for the death of a living being.
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Anjaneya - April 1, 2011 8:40 a.m.

They obviously can't stop him going on the cover, but its a shame that so many of these top athletes are scum in their real lives. Plus you've got to be pretty sick to be involved in dog-fighting. Its tough to say he deserves what he gets now that he's served his time - can anyone really deserve millions a year when people are starving?
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SirNinja - April 1, 2011 8:22 a.m.

While we're at it, can we ban PETA?
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LTS - April 1, 2011 5:20 a.m.

Vick shouldn't be allowed on the cover. Not because of anything he did, but because he was on Madden NFL 2004, and to put him on the cover of the current madden would not only lower the legacy of the greatest football game of all time, but Vick himself
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xDxP - April 1, 2011 3:27 a.m.

Forgiving terrible human beings because they're famous is the USA way. Go Uhmerikuh!
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HereComesTheHypeTrainCHOOCHOO - April 1, 2011 3 a.m.

This sounds like EA courting controversy again just like they said they intentionally do 2 weeks ago. For all we know there were no PETA letters sent to EA and they made the whole thing up but if Gamesradar don't make even a token effort to get a comment from PETA who is to know? And that is what EA has been doing lately. They know the gaming press doesn't do a damn thing to follow up claims they make, no matter how ridiculous, all the press does is parrot what they are given by their publisher PR overlords. First there are paid EA-planted protestors for Dante's Inferno at Comic-Con, then EA makes "complaints" to Fox News regarding Bulletstorm just before it ships because they know that Fox will give them free publicity and gaming sites will do what they do best and help raise the game's awareness even higher without EA having to pay for advertising. Now we have some unverified PETA complaints being raised by an EA mouthpiece. PETA is no stranger to publicity. If they were approached for a comment you can be sure that they would give one if they had indeed ever sent any letters. All it would take to verify it would be one simple email but I suppose the gaming journalists don't have even that much time to spare, what with all the top ten lists to make up all the time. This story has EA's fingerprints all over it and the gaming media are too dense to realize that they might be being played for fools yet again. Or even worse they know they are being played and don't give a damn about it.
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kingdom - April 1, 2011 2:28 a.m.

Hate me if you will but from everything I have read the man finally sat back and evaluated his life when all this happened. He fucked up and got involved with a bunch of nasty shit but he has come back and truly seems to want to get better and is trying to help others do the same*. That is what prison is for, to rehabilitate the person to re-enter society. It doesn't always work but people who do take it seriously and work to better themselves generally deserve their second chance. *http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1183564/index.htm - TLDR - He travels with a group that goes to prison's and encourages guys who have ended up involved with the wrong crowds to keep their head up and work towards becoming better and starting over and being a better citizen.
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Redeater - April 1, 2011 1:43 a.m.

PLEASE put Vick on the cover!! Then after enough people complain it may eventually lead to football being handed back to SEGA. If you ask me you people are crazy to spend $60 on updated rosters. SEGA had it bang on with $20 before EA bought out the license. Aside from that fuck Vick. If you are making millions a year and the only thing you can think of to do with that money is fight dogs..........
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superkeijikun - April 1, 2011 1:38 a.m.

While I don't care much for Vick for what he did, the fact that PETA wants him off of the cover just makes me want to see him on the cover, if for no other reason than to spite them.
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Ultimadrago - April 1, 2011 1:34 a.m.

All I hear is "Wah-Wah" So I say, the man has done his time and has apologized along with deciding to work harder on the field than he used to. (Remember how lax pre-prison Vick was?). What more should he do? Do laps around your gaming collection? Put him on the Madden cover.
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dionnysus - April 1, 2011 1:01 a.m.

what a waste of time. isn't there more useful agendas PETA should do for furthering animals rights? his penance is finished. getting Vick out of Madden won't at all erase his crimes from our minds anymore than taking Hitler out of the history books.
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HankVenture - April 1, 2011 1 a.m.

The writer should have included what Vick did, because I play games I don't keep up with world events especially not sporting events.
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BaraChat - April 1, 2011 12:50 a.m.

Michael Vick is my favorite football player, has been for like a decade, even if I thought his whole dog-fighting thing was an extremely dumb idea and I was deeply disappointed. That being said, I don't know if putting him on the cover of Madden is a good idea. It might do as much harm (PETA, a lot of people still hating him, etc.) as good (redemption, coming back through adversity, etc.). Perhaps it would be "safer" to put a popular Packer on the cover, like Matthews or Rodgers.
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Spacegrass - April 1, 2011 12:44 a.m.

PETA are a bunch of crazy douchebags, but in this case the crazy douchebags happen to be right. Michael Vick did not "serve his time"; punishments for animal abusers are extremely light to begin with, and Vick got off easier than most because he's rich. Some crimes are understandable, but I have no sympathy for someone who tortured animals for fun. We should bring back gladiator fights, and force people who run dogfights to compete. That's the only sport Vick should be involved with.
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JayQ - April 1, 2011 12:17 a.m.

@TheWebSwinger well said and to everyone saying he served his time and deserves a second chance....how? He served "part" of his time and that was in a minimum security resort for celebrities. He was running dog fights WHILE he was playing in the NFL getting paid millions of dollars, what that tells me is he was fighting dog's for pure enjoyment and should rot in hell.
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