Vick jersey stirs controversy

Dick’s Sporting Goods says they won’t stock Michael Vick’s Eagles jersey until company officials “evaluate the reaction of Eagles fans.”

Dick’s Sporting Goods says they won’t stock Michael Vick’s Eagles jersey until company officials “evaluate the reaction of Eagles fans.” The number 7 Eagles jerseys are listed as top sellers at Modells and NFL shop. But they weren’t always for sale. Vick’s number 7 Atlanta Falcons jersey was pulled by the NFL back in 2007 after Vick was charged with running an interstate dogfighting ring.

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Two years ago, the Atlanta Humane Society used Michael Vick jerseys to clean out the kennels. Today, Eagles fans are paying 80 bucks for the shirts.

Dan Lebowitz is the executive director of the Center for Sport and Society at Northeastern University.

Lebowitz says NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made the right decision both in pulling the jersey and then reinstating Vick.

Lebowitz: Now with them selling the jerseys, he’s saying in many ways, in practical sense the things that I’m saying verbally, he’s done his time now his jersey can sell. But he wanted to make a statement about the way he was approaching players in his league.

Animal rights groups are split, with the Humane Society working with Vick but the ASPCA saying he has no “credibility” as an educator when it comes to animal cruelty.