It has been a while since I have written a blog post about sports public relations, but I felt that after viewing this particular case in both the traditional and social media outlets, I felt that I needed to write about it. It appears that Michael Vick, disgraced football player from the Atlanta Falcons, is now back in the news – and this time he has a new team.
Michael Vick has been involved in one of the most covered sports public relations and crisis communications case studies in the last couple of years. Vick served his time in prison a few years ago for participating in illegal dog fighting. It was announced recently that the Philadelphia Eagles have signed Vick for a two-year contract to play for the NFL team. The goal for Vick is to repair his personal image and reputation in the athletic community as an athlete, and redeem himself in the eyes of the public. Vick’s objective is to minimize the negative coverage about him in the media that is directed towards football fans and corporate sponsors.
The key message in this case study focused on how Vick made a “terrible mistake” in participating in this illegal activity, and that his goal for the present and future is to help those younger than him (ex. fans) not go down the path that he went. The strategy that was used in this particular case was to hire a team of public relations and image consultants who would help him restore his public image in the media. One of the tactics that was used was an interview that appeared on “60 minutes” where he apologized for his actions. Vick was quoted as saying:
“There is no way of explaining the hurt and the guilt that I felt. And that was the reason I cried so many nights.”
Well, I have to say that personally – I sincerly doubt that Vick would have said this if he did not get caught. My guess is that his new appointed PR person and team said that he had to say this to help improve his overall image. Is it believable? I don’t think so.
There are several issues that arise for this particular case study. First, the case study shows that the risk of having a public figure that has been in the news media for negative reasons and being associated with a professional brand is something to consider. Sponsors are going to be either extremely happy if the team performs with Vick on the team, or their own corporate reputation will be effected as well if the public associates Vick with the Philadelphia Eagles, and could ultimately affect their own reputation as well. In the article, it was mentioned that there were attempts to contact the sponsors, but they did not respond to media inquiries.
In terms of public relations efforts, companies need to look at their associations with individuals and corporations, and determine what are the threats and opportunities that may arise with this alliance. Some public relations professionals admit in the article that Philadelphia is the perfect place for Vick because the city shares the same characteristics as Vick – which may not be viewed as a positive attribute to have.
Others have said that this case is not only going to be impacting the reputation of Vick and the Eagles, but all other high profile sport celebrity athletes. Has it come to the point where the public is tired of seeing these athletes misbehave? This of course is nothing new – but what is new is the fact that people are able to see who these individuals truly are without the coverups and “spin” of their image and reputation.
In the case of Michael Vick and the Eagles, this is a huge risk for the reputation of the team, and the discussion both in traditional and social media outlets are just beginning to heat up. The message that this gives to the athletic community, fans, and young athletes is that if you have the talent and you do something illegal or wrong – you will get away with it. I think that the Eagles are making a seriously huge mistake in supporting an athlete like Vick – he has the history of bad behavior and is a risk. The athletic community does not need to have athletes like Vick to be in the sport.
These are just a few of my thoughts about this particular issue. Hope you all are having a great day.
Best Wishes,
Karen
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