Michael Vick is back in the game. Not the game of football. He’s been back in that game for two seasons now. Rather, Vick is back in the game when it comes to using his name and his face to push products for companies.

He hasn’t agreed to become a spokesperson for Nike again, though. He won’t be gracing the cover of the Madden video game franchise anytime soon, either. But he did just get a two-year endorsement deal to promote Unequal Technologies—the company that outfitted Vick with several speciality football pads after he injured his ribs during the middle of last season.

Some people are already up in arms about this. Why would anyone want to use Vick’s name and likeness to sell something? Who would want to see a dogkilling creep smiling as he tries to sell them a product? How does it makes sense for Vick of all people to get an endorsement deal while other players who live their lives the right way get nothing?

Our response: This is America, people! And hate it or love it, Michael Vick has a big enough name to help companies sell their products. But for those of you who need a better explanation than that, we put together a list of the five reasons we think Vick actually deserves the endorsement deal that he just received. Read them and then ask yourself—why won’t the world just let Michael Vick be great?

1. Vick has paid his debt to society—and then some!

To all the people who look at Vick’s new endorsement and say, “But he’s a criminal!”: Chill out. Vick was a criminal and he served his time accordingly. He’s also jumped through hoops post-prison to get his life and his career back together. That a company is willing to recognize that and overlook his criminal past shouldn’t be all that surprising to anyone out there. Was what Vick did wrong? Yeah, but he’s moved on and you should, too.

2. Last season, he proved that he is one of the best and most exciting players in the NFL right now.

From Tom Brady and Peyton Manning to Chad Ochocinco and Adrian Peterson, all of the NFL’s top athletes have endorsement deals. Vick fits nicely into that crowd and he was a Pro Bowl player this season. For that, he should be rewarded with the ability to endorse products.

3. The Unequal Tech padding products are specific to Vick’s role as an NFL player.

Vick isn’t going to be doing commercials for batteries or trying to sell the world a new energy drink. Not yet, at least. His first endorsement is a product that he actually used this season. So, how can you say he doesn’t deserve to get paid now to promote it? We think it’s a nice transition for him and it should help him land other less obvious endorsements later.

4. If the league has made amends with Vick, why shouldn’t companies do the same?

That the NFL—a league that accepts millions of dollars every year for advertising purposes—has allowed Vick to move beyond his past mistakes says a lot about how other large companies should treat him as well. At its core, the NFL is also a business that needs its players to represent them as best they can week in and week out. So the fact that the NFL has deemed Vick worthy of representing it means that other companies should do the same.

5. Vick deserves to parlay his success on the field into financial opportunities off of it.

We can’t hate on Vick anymore. The guy made a mistake—a big mistake—when he got involved in an illegal dogfighting ring. But he’s done everything in his power to make up for it. He’s lost years off his life. He’s lost friends. And he’s lost a boatload of money as a result of the decisions he made in the past. Now that he’s turned his life around and made things right, why shouldn’t he have the opportunity to start over in all aspects of his life, including his endorsement deals? Why shouldn’t he be able to transform his newfound popularity into a paycheck? Why shouldn’t he become a celebrity endorser again? The answer: He should be able to do all of them. We just hope you are ready to see him do it.

Bookmark to: