Every football fan is wondering weather or not there will be an NFL season next year. The lockout has had a huge affect on fans and players, some of whom are resorting to boxing like Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski or soccer like Bengels wide receiver Chad Johnson. Everybody wants a football season and I thnk this piece on Michael Vick will remind people of the great stories of the NFL.
After just one season at Virginia Tech in 1999, Michael Vick was already beginning to be called the most electrifying player in college football. He was so impressive on the football field that in the 2000 MLB draft, the Colorado Rockies took a chance and chose Vick in the 30th round despite him not having played baseball in college. Vick led the Hokies to an 11-1 record, with their only loss coming against Florida State in the BCS National Championship game at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy, the highest finish for a freshman since 1980 when Herschel Walker of Georgia achieved the same feat. He returned to Virginia Tech for one more season and led his team to another 11-1 record. He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting that year.
In 2001, the Atlanta Falcons, who owned the fifth overall pick in the NFL draft, became the first team in NFL history to trade up for the first pick. They dealt the fifth overall pick, a third round pick in the 2001 draft, and wide receiver Tim Dwight to acquire Vick. Some people wondered if Vick could succeed in the NFL with his mobile, athletic, and unique style of throwing as well as running. In 2001, Vick made his NFL debut against the San Francisco 49ers and he completed his first touchdown pass against the Carolina Panthers on September 23.
The next year, Vick came onto the NFL scene as a major superstar. The Falcons had 6 wins and a tie from week 6 to week 13 of the NFL season. In week 13, Vick set an NFL record for most rushing yard in a single game with 173. The previous mark was 127 yards, set by the Chiacgo Bears' quarterback Bobby Douglass in 1972. After the game, Vick’s coach Dan Reeves said, "I've never seen anyone turn on the jets like that.'' Vick didn’t throw an interception for 25 straight quarters and 177 straight passes that season. The Falcons made the playoffs with a 9-6-1 record. In Vick’s first NFL playoff game, they immediately scored a major upset on January 4, 2003. The Falcons became the first road team in NFL history to defeat the Green Bay Packers in a playoff game at Lambeau Field. After the game, the Packers coach Mike Sherman said, "Michael Vick's a great player, he made some great plays, we couldn't tackle him.'' Their season ended the next week in Philadelphia as the Eagles won 20–6. Vick had a career high in completions, attempts, and passing yards that season.
In 2003, Vick suffered a fractured right fibula and the Falcons missed the playoffs as Vick only played in 5 games. In 2004, the Falcons were the second seed in the NFC playoffs finishing at 11-5. He became the first quarterback to throw for more than 250 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game against the Denver Broncos. Vick’s 902 rushing yards ranked third all-time by an NFL quarterback in one season. Hs 7.5 rushing yards per carry ranked first among all NFL players. Vick took the Falcons to the NFC championship game, but they fell to the Eagles. After the season, Vick signed a 10-year contract worth $130 million with a $37 million signing bonus. This made him the highest paid player in the NFL at the time. Although the 2005 and 2006 seasons were very difficult for the Falcons as they went 8-8 and 7-9 respectively, Vick still put up big numbers. He threw for the most touchdowns in his career with 20 in 2006. Vick also set the record for the most rushing yards in a season with 1,039 and the highest average yards per carry in NFL history with 8.4.
In April of 2007, the sports world was stunned when Vick was reported to have involvement in a dog-fighting scandal. He participated in an illegal interstate dog-fighting ring that had operated for more than five years. One of the members of the group said about Vick, "He's a pit bull fighter. He's one of the people that they call 'the big boys': that's someone who bets a large dollar. I'm talking about large money -- $30,000 to $40,000 -- even higher. He's one of the heavyweights." Aside from dog-fighting, Vick and three others killed the dogs that didn't show enough fighting spirit or that lost matches by shooting, drowning, or hanging them. Prosecutors alleged that on one occasion early 2007, Vick participated in killing eight dogs. In August of 2007, Vick pleaded guilty to a felony charge for his role in the dog-fighting ring. The NFL suspended him indefinitely. At a news conference he made a statement and said, “I offer my deepest apologies to everybody out there in the world who was affected by this whole situation. And if I'm more disappointed with myself than anything it's because of all the young people, young kids that I've let down, who look at Michael Vick as a role model. And to have to go through this and put myself in this situation, you know, I hope that every young kid out there in the world watching this interview right now who's been following the case will use me as an example to using better judgment and making better decisions. So I got a lot of down time, a lot of time to think about my actions and what I've done and how to make Michael Vick a better person.” While in prison, Vick filled for federal bankruptcy protection in July of 2008. He served 21 months in prison and spent two months under home confinement in Hampton, Virginia.
Vick was released by the Falcons and was suspended for two weeks by Roger Goodell. Former Indianapolis Colts head coach, Tony Dungy, began to mentor Vick to get him on the right path. He provided Vick with advice, direction, and support during his rehabilitation process after his release from jail.
On August 14, 2009, Vick signed a two-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. The first year of the deal was worth $1.6 million with the second-year option worth $5.2 million. Andy Reid said, “I'm a believer that as long as people go through the right process, they deserve a second chance.” In week 13 against his former team, the Falcons, Vick threw a touchdown and ran for a touchdown. These were his first scores since December 2006. However, Vick only played sparingly as a backup to Donovan McNabb. He had by far his worst NFL season completing only 46.2 percent of his passes and running for more yards than throwing. On April 5, 2010, Donovan McNabb was traded within the NFC East to the Washington Redskins. Although things were beginning to look up for Vick, the Eagles named Kevin Kolb the starter for the beginning of the season. When Kolb suffered a concussion in the first week of the season, Vick came in and threw for 175 yards and one touchdown, and ran for 103 yards in only one half. It became Vick’s seventh 100-yard rushing game, the most ever by a quarterback. Although Kolb was ready to play by week 3, Andy Reid had no chose but to start Vick because he was playing at such a high level. Vick didn’t disappoint his coach one bit during that week, leading the Eagles to a 28-3 win over the Jaguars. He threw for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns, and ran for 30 yards and another touchdown. Andy Reid said, "He played his heart out today, so it's more about him than me or anybody else. It's a tribute to what he's done and how he's handled things."
Vick was back on top of the NFL and was named the NFC offensive player of the month for September. The highlight of the season, and his return as a star in the NFL, came on Monday Night Football on November 15 against the Redskins and McNabb. Vick passed for 333 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 80 yards and another two touchdowns. The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio asked Vick for his game jersey to display after Vick became the first player to pass for three touchdowns and rush for two touchdowns in the first half of a game. Last Thursday, Vick and the Eagles beat the Texans 34-24 and Vick once again threw for 300 yards with 2 touchdowns, and ran for 48 yards and a touchdown. After the game, Texans coach Gary Kubiak said of Vick, "This young man is playing as good as anybody I've seen play in the NFL and I've been doing it for a while. He's special and we just tried to contain him, but obviously he still had a big night.” While Vick has always been a fantastic runner, he has been showing some incredible accuracy passing this season. His quarterback rating of 100.2 was fourth in the NFL. He completed 233 of 372 passes for a 62.6 completion percentage, above his carrer average of 55.3. Vick threw for 3,018 yards and 21 touchdowns with only 6 interceptions. He ran for 676 yards and 9 touchdowns. Vick accumulated all of these incredible numbers after missing 4 games due to a rib injury. After leading the Eagles to the NFC East divison crown at a 10-6 record, Vick was named the Comeback player of the year.
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