In August 2007, after pleading guilty to federal charges for his role in the Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting operation, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison. His pay was suspended for the upcoming year and he was suspended from the NFL indefinitely. The Falcons also demanded that Vick reimburse them 20 million of his 37 million dollar signing bonus, citing that his illegal activities were a breach of his contract. The case went to arbitration and Vick was ordered to return 19.7 million back to the Falcons. With the loss of his NFL salary and his product endorsement deals, Vick filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and was cut by the Falcons after the team tried unsuccessfully to trade him.
No one wanted him, he had brutally killed innocent dogs and everyone knew it. There wasn't a dog lover in this country who wouldn't have punched this guy in the face if they could, and he had to sit in jail for two years thinking about it.
Fast forward to today. Sure, Vick lost last night and I'm sure he's bummed about it, but he's about to become a free agent and is in line for a huge payday. Any and every team in the NFL who doesn't have a franchise quarterback wants him and he'll be answering a lot of phone calls this offseason. Vick has said that he would like to resign with Philadelphia and that he feels loyalty to the only team who gave him a second shot. But some have speculated that the Eagles' managament may want to see Vick do it again for one more year before they sign him to a huge multi-year deal.
That seems odd to me, but I guess given Vick's injury and criminal history, it is natural to be hesitant to sign the farm over to keep him around. Vick isn't getting any younger, he'll be 31 at the start of next year's NFL season and he could start to decline in skills at some point. But Vick looked so fast this season and it doesn't feel like he'll be losing that step anytime soon. Plus, after missing a few years of NFL play while in jail, Vick has avoided a lot of wear and tear that would normally slow down a player like himself by age 30. If the Eagles really don't offer Vick a long term deal and try to get him to sign a one year deal, he may use that opportunity to rescind his allegiance to the Eagles and jump ship for free agency. I'm sure Vick wants to strike while he can, and who's to say that he will sustain his level of play throughout next year and be as hot a commodity as he is now. Injury could also strike. The fact is, Vick is going to want a big deal now, and he deserves it.
The amazing part of this whole story to me is how far Vick has come in the public eye. In just over a year, he has gone from a monster to one of the greatest comeback stories of our time. What is it about Vick that makes him so forgivable? I think that it's a few things. One, the guys does things out there that no one else can. That makes him special to us. I mean, I doubt we'd care if Rex Grossman had been the one arrested for dogfighting. We'd probably just have discarded him from our minds by now and if anyone ever mentioned his name, we'd say something like, "Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that guy. What an asshole." Then go back to never thinking about him again. The difference with Vick is that there is no one else who can do what he does. The quickness, the runs, the cannon arm, that slingshot delivery that makes us drool. The other thing I think, is, Vick is genuinely a likable guy. When all the dogfighting shit was hitting the fan, I kept getting the overwhelming sense that Vick had gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd. That he wasn't the bad guy, but had simply fallen in with some misguided friends. Whether this is true or not I don't know, it probably isn't, but it doesn't matter. The bottom line is, something about me, and I think about a lot of people out there, wants to forgive Vick.
I mean, I had a hard time with this all myself being a huge dog person. I've had dogs my whole life and adore them. I've also been a fan of Vick ever since he made it into the league after Chris Chandler got injured. When Kevin Kolb, the 2010 starting quarterback for the Eagles and also my fantasy team, got injured this year, I got in touch with my buddy to trade for Vick. I had forgiven the guy by this point and my fantasy title comes far before my moral standpoints. Call me misguided but the guy had served his time, right? When my girlfriend caught wind of my plans she told me i needed to have a conversation with our dog, Ben, before i could do it. She wasn't so quick to forgive as I was... but then again, she wasn't really familiar with Vick's skill set...
Only a guy who can do things like this could play his way back into the NFL, and into our hearts.
Great read Sean. Really reminds me of your story. Used to hang out with some real douche bags, but moved a few rows back and started hanging with nicer peeps... Now instead of hearing about that asshole Sean who hangs out with those 2 other guys in the front row, I hear people say, "Man, that Sean is really cool, lets hang out with him more!"
ReplyDeleteLike I said, great read!!!
well I do consider myself the Michael Vick of Phish tour, so...
ReplyDeleteIdk what happened to my post, it looks like it got deleted BUT ANYWAY:
ReplyDeleteIf the Eagles don't resign him where do you think he'll go or where would you like to see him go?
Off the top of my head, the Vikings seem like they might be the spiciest match. All the weapons they have- if Vick lined up with AP, Rice, and Harvin they would immediately jump back into Super Bowl contention, no?
hmm, never saw ur post before, definitely didn't erase it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as landing spots for Vick... I really think in the end the Eagles will realize th ehype surrounding Vick and will bite the bullet and resign him. I think he has a nice rapport with DeSean and Maclin and will want to build off this year's progress. Plus, Andy Reid is notorious for making QBs look good so there is that added incentive.
If he did jump ship, I could def see the Vikes making a play, the Cardinals are in dire need of a QB as well and have some nice pieces that may attract Vick's attention... Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Breaston and Early Doucet are a nice receiving core. And how about the Redskins? Donovan could lose his job and how ironic would it be if it was to Vick, again!?
Or what about the 9ers? Vick, Gore, Vern and Crabby would make any defense queasy...
ReplyDeleteThe Niners would be fun as would the Cards. I think your right, in the end the Eagles will lock him down for a couple years. Being thrust into the starting job the way he was, I think he deserves a shot at running the team from training camp.
ReplyDeleteI still don't have a proper explanation why they tapered off so much at the end of the year, but I think it has something to do with the disappearance of McCoy from their game plans (i.e. becoming more one dimensional- even with Vick's legs) so defenses were able to focus on pass rushing and eliminating the big play through the air.
Point being, Vick deserves a full off-season with the team- because there's no doubt they had a chance to be a special team, but simply due to a lack of actual on field time together, might've caused them to peak too early.
So give Vick another incentive loaded contract, like a player coming back from serious injury. Cause even if it seemed like the Eagles offensive weapons were learning on the fly, it was unbelievable to watch.