Mondesire, NAACP to march for Vick

ESPN's Sal Paolantonio reports that the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and a number of other local civil rights groups are planning a "massive" demonstration to support Michael Vick at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday.

"We believe Michael Vick has served his time, paid his debt to society and deserves a second chance and the animal rights groups want to hold him hostage for the rest of his life," J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, told SalPal on Wednesday. "We think that's patently unfair. It denies Michael Vick's basic civil rights, denies him his ability to make a living."

This is not the first time Mondesire has gotten mixed up with the Eagles. He wrote a ridiculous column in 2005 criticizing Donovan McNabb's leadership skills and accusing McNabb of "playing the race card" in explaining why he no longer runs the ball.

Mondesire wrote that McNabb's tendency to run the ball early in his career "not only confused defenses, it also thrilled Eagles fans," but that abandoning that element "by claiming that'everybody expects black quarterbacks to scramble' not only amounts to a breach of faith but also belittles the real struggles of black athletes who've had to overcome real racial stereotypcasting inaddition to downright segregation."

McNabb was stunned by the remarks.

"Especially being the same color I am," McNabb told the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time. "Obviously if it's someone else who is not African American, it's racism. But when someone of the same race talks about you because you're selling out because you're not running the ball, it goes back to: What are we really talking about here?

"If you talk about my play, that's one thing. When you talk about my race, now we've got problems. If you're trying to make a name off my name, again, I hope your closet is clean because something is going to come out about you ... I always thought the NAACP supported African Americans and didn't talk bad about them. Now you learn a little bit more."