I've said it before. I'm about to say it again.

People need to forget about Michael Vick, the dogs he hung and drowned and the misleading information he gave to federal and Virginia investigators in the form of his buddies in crime.

I've been saving this rant for some time, but now there's the news of Dante "I'm going to drive home drunk and kill a man" Stallworth getting 30 days in the clink. No matter where you turn, if you've paid attention to anything involving Stallworth in the past several days, you've heard multiple references to Vick.

It's unavoidable.

But here's the thing; it's not just "apples and oranges," as at least two different radio hosts asked hesitantly today.

Let's see:

• Vick fought and bet on dogs and killed the ones who were too weak to make him further profits.
• Stallworth destroyed a family when he struck Mario Reyes with his car.

(Then again, why should we rely on radio hosts to distinguish the difference between the two situations? And why, then, should we expect the majority of people glued to sports talk radio not to do the same? Anyway...)

Michael Vick will eventually be reinstated to the NFL. Fans will protest, regardless of whether he succeeds in his comeback or not. No matter what he does, the constant reminder will be there via PETA, opposing fans and even his family.

Where, though, does Dante Stallworth's possible reinstatement come into play?

Will fans protest? Will they even care?

I'm guessing not. See, I'm betting 99.9 percent of NFL fans wouldn't know the name Mario Reyes, even now.

At the same time, so many have assigned virtual names Vick's pit bulls. Associative thinking at its best.

Instead of pits with their heads in a bucket, Jack and Jane Smith pictured their poodle, Shitzu or pug being held by kicking back legs while it finished off it's closing moments.

Maybe, looking at it that way, it's easy to see why Stallworth will be forgiven by the football public at a quicker rate. While Jack and Jane are able to relate dogs to their own life, Jack and Jane looking at their own mortality would far too depressing.

Most people feel they are safe. Invincible, even.

That line of thinking keeps them from thinking what happened to Reyes could ever happen to them.

Fido -- and Vick -- will never have that luxury.