Forbes – Vick, who has led a lot of these lists over the past couple of years, continues to struggle with casual NFL fans who know him mainly for his dog fighting legal mess, even as close followers of the sport love him. Vick’s high awareness number (42%) suggests he’s a known quantity outside the hardcore NFL crowd. “His awareness is up there with Peyton Manning, but a lot of it is people knowing him for the wrong reasons,” says Stephen Master, VP of Sports for Nielsen. The past year has brought a fair amount of turnover on the fans’ target list, with the likes of Mark McGwire Randy Moss and Manny Ramirez fading from the collective consciousness. Ben Rothlisberger, who still rates high on the dislike meter, nonetheless dropped out of the top ten as he put more distance between himself and the sexual assault allegations of 2009 (he was never charged). And while owners are included in the polling, none made it this year. The Raiders’ Al Davis passed away in October, while the Cowboys’ Jerry Jones was overlooked this time around, perhaps due to the relatively low profile he kept during his team’s mediocre season. Both were on the 2011 list. Taking their places are Plaxico Burress, fresh off a prison term for gun possession, Kris Humphries, thanks to his dalliance with Kim Kardashian and reality TV, and Kurt Busch, the Nascar driver whose temper tantrums resulted in a divorce from his Penske Racing team.
That’s what I’m left to assume after reading Forbes’ list for America’s Most Disliked Athletes. As you may have guessed from the title, Vick was crowned this year’s winner as the most disliked athlete in the country, after serving two years for financing an illegal dog fighting ring back in the mid-2000′s. But it’s not people’s hatred for Vick and his dog fighting past that surprises me — people fucking love dogs and hate “entitled” millionaire athletes in this country — but what surprised me was how far Ben Roethlisberger has fallen out of the public’s minds. Have we already forgotten that this dude raped a chick in a bathroom stall? A BATHROOM STALL! Led the girl into a dark room that was guarded by his security team and a policeman who later said he “had no memory” of meeting the victim. Cops looking the other way to help the big bad footbawwl QB get his rocks off with a 20 year-old in the shadiest, rapiest way possible. Yet our country shrugs its shoulders and says “Meh”. Why? Is it because he had the legal team and local support to squash her story and never serve time unlike Vick who was shamed, stripped of his endorsements and dignity, and forced to live in a cell for two years? Here I would have thought being properly punished for your acts would bring you more good will.
So what other assumptions am I to make about our feelings other than we think dog fighting is worse than rape? It seems pretty clear with how our nation voted. Uncharged rape = okay. More okay than dog fighting or marrying Kim Kardashian apparently.
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