Vick speaks to kids about dog fighting

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - NFL star Michael Vick paid a visit to his old middle school in Newport News Monday to teach kids about the wrongs of dogfighting.

Vick, who grew up in the city's East End, spent two years in prison for running a dogfighting ring at his former property in Surry County.  Now, Vick is playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and working with the Humane Society of the United States. He told the crowd of screaming kids at Huntington Middle School to do what their mothers and teachers tell them to do and that if they do wrong, it will cost them, no matter how rich and famous they are.

"It's easy to do the wrong thing. It's hard to do the right thing," Vick told the students. Vick was trying to convince the kids in his old neighborhood that forcing dogs to fight is wrong. He said he wanted the kids to understand how he learned the hard way.

Vick talked openly with the kids about being indicted by a federal grand jury and paying a heavy price for his illegal dogfighting, even though he was a famous football star.  "I had to leave my family and go to prison and be away from football which I worked so hard to achieve."

Vick's speech was part of his committment to help the Humane Society end dogfighting by reaching out to kids in urban areas. One of the students asked Vick why he kept dogfighting until he was arrested. Humane Society spokesperson Dale Bartlett told WAVY.com, "He stood up and said, 'I thought it was wrong, but I thought if I got caught, because I was wealthy, I could get out of it and what I know now is that your actions catch up with you and if you keep secrets about bad things it will harm your future."

Before Vick left the school, he urged the students to do what is right, in themselvs, in school and with animals.