Seeking redemption on "The Michael Vick Project"

For the record: I have had and loved a dog, two cats, several gerbils, a bird and goldfish.

I'm an animal lover.

I like people too. Which is why, in part, I decided to check out "The Michael Vick Project" last night on BET. (It will air every Tuesday at 10 p.m.) It's an eight-part documentary series telling Vick's story since he served time in jail for running a dogfighting ring.

Last night's episode focused on his childhood and the crime. Vick and his family tell how he was introduced to dogfighting when he was 7, and the allure it had for him. He and his brother Marcus talk about casually seeing it in their neighborhood and then eventually joining in.

By the time he's a millionaire football player, he's ready to have the premier dogfighting ring in the nation. After all, he's got the money to do it, and he can buy land to keep it hidden. His close family -- mother, girlfriend, brother -- all told him it was a bad idea. But Vick had too much money to listen.

Vick talks about the day he got busted, after his cousin got stopped with marijuana and gave as his address the Surry, Va. site of the dogfighting ring. Vick admits he thought his money would get him off the hook, that the right dollars spread in the right places would make everything all right.

It's odd seeing Vick show off the sites of the dogfighting, in his neighborhood and his own home. He has the same look I've seen on addicts; that almost nostalgic look when thinking of a time that they might know is wrong now, but they still remember enjoying. That doesn't necessarily mean his remorse is insincere, but it definitely means that it's going to take some time for him let go of what I suppose is the rush from the sport.

I can't say Vick is a compelling speaker; he seems forthcoming but not deeply reflective. Still I think the show offers a cautionary tale, and maybe a window into what happens when you make a terrible choice, and then must figure out how to make amends.