Michael Vick is a little confused. He figured that even though he had been out of football for two years, the Eagles would still start him on Sunday because Donovan McNabb is hurt.
Vick, in an interview with CBS to air Sunday, said he thought he would be a starting quarterback upon his return to the NFL.
“This is not the exact scenario I thought would play out,” Vick told CBS. “I thought I’d be playing with a team and actually starting.”
Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg confirmed Thursday that Vick will play against the Chiefs on Sunday. It is the first game Vick will be eligible for since 2006, before he served a 20-month federal sentence for a dogfighting conviction.
“He’ll play,” Mornhinweg said. “How much? We’ll see as the week goes on. I think he’s in top physical condition. We’ll see how he handles the few things that we have in for him.”
Mikey picked the wrong team if he thought he was going to walk out of prison and be handed a starting quarterback job. Quite frankly, he’s lucky to be on any team and it’s a little surprising (appalling even?) that he didn’t think he would have to work his way back into a starting gig.
Take it slow, Mike. Enjoy the fact that you’re not in prison and let everything else take care of itself.
Goodell and Vick had met Thursday morning for 45 to 50 minutes in New Jersey to discuss when Vick might be reinstated. After that, Goodell said, he consulted with Vick’s mentor, former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, for another 45 minutes.
“Hopefully we can have a success story here, which would be good for society in general,” Goodell said. “He’s realistic about the challenges ahead. And anxious to play football.”
During their meeting Thursday, the topic of Vick’s past experiences and why he got involved in dogfighting came up. One of Vick’s representatives was explaining it, when Vick stepped in and took responsibility. “He was genuinely remorseful,” Goodell said.
Goodell said he did discuss with Vick the report that he was seen drinking an alcoholic beverage in a restaurant at the hotel where he was staying. Goodell said it was not a violation of his probation.
Just because he’ll be allowed to play in Week 3 doesn’t mean that Goodell won’t watch Vick like a hawk. He’ll be on an extremely short leash and he better be on his absolute best behavior.
It’ll be interesting to see how Vick does tonight in the Eagles’ final preseason game. He’s supposed to see extended snaps while Donovan McNabb sits in preparation for the regular season opener.
Michael Vick entered Thursday night’s game against the Jaguars to a rousing ovation and then proceeded to complete 4-of-4 passes for 19 yards and rushed for one yard on one rushing attempt.
“It’s been a long journey for me,” Vick said. “I just want to do it right this time around.”
“It was awesome. When I was running out onto the field I was listening to see what the reaction was going to be,” Vick said. “I was very pleased. I really didn’t expect that reaction, but I was very thankful.”
So much for all those protesters and anti-Vick factions. Some fans even chanted “We want Vick!” after he left the game.
It’s no shock that fans in Philadelphia embraced Vick now that he’s an Eagle. The real test will be when he goes on the road.
As far as his performance went, to say that Vick looked sharp would be a stretch. Outside of a 13-yard completion to Hank Baskett, all of his pass attempts were short and he looked hesitant on the one rush attempt.
But Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg are smart if they’re going to limit Vick to read-and-react-type plays like they did on Thursday night. He never developed into a great pocket passer, so if the Eagles plan on using him in the Wildcat or as a decoy, then they’re adding a pretty good offensive weapon this year. (Especially once Vick shakes off the rust.)
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Frank Santoro said while Vick is “at the pinnacle of his profession,” he has proven unable to manage his finances in the past and ordered him to retain a financial planner as a condition of the plan. The plan was overwhelmingly approved in a ballot of creditors.
Vick, 29, hustled away from the courthouse with his fiancee, Kijafa Frink, to catch a flight back to Philadelphia and make his debut with the Eagles in a preseason game.
“I’m happy it’s over. I can move on with my life,” Vick said.
“I’m excited about the game,” he said. Asked if he was nervous, he said, “Not at all.”
The plan approved by Santoro was supported by all creditors or representatives in court, save for one creditor owed $13,000. It hinges on Vick liquidating an estimated $9 million in assets, including houses, boats and high-end sport utility vehicles. He would not have to pay creditors during the first year with the Eagles.
Vick is “at the pinnacle of his profession?” Uh, okay.
The only reason this deal was approved was because Vick signed a two-year (the second year is a team option) contract with the Eagles. Had he not been signed, I don’t know how Vick would have been approved since he was denied multiple times before today.
From a football standpoint, it’ll be interesting to see how Vick fairs tonight. Even though Andy Reid says that Vick has looked good in practice, he’s been out of the league for two years so it stands to reason that the game will look fast to him tonight. Can he still get out of the pocket? Does he still have the zip on his passes? Can he absorb a hit?
Over on his Yardbarker blog, Donovan McNabb details how and why the Eagles signed Michael Vick.
I wanted Michael to come to Philadelphia and, in any way he can, help bring a Super Bowl championship to the City. There is no doubt he is a uniquely talented player that can add to our offensive weapons. For him personally, I want to see him continue to grow as a person, spend time with his family and re-establish himself as a leader on and off the field. Due to the nature of what happened and the attention it has received, it may not always be easy for him but he seems up for the challenge. Fortunately, with a tremendous individual like Tony Dungy in his corner, he will have the support he needs.
I just caught a bit of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” where they were discussing the Vick signing. One of the guests was Gov. Ed Rendell who said that we, as a society, preach over and over to inmates when they go to prison that if they serve their time, we’ll give them another chance. One of the other guests — I didn’t catch his name (sorry) — said that all this talk of redemption is fine, but this was a football decision.
Well, duh, of course it was. The Eagles signed Vick because they thought he could help their team. Rendell is talking about rehabilitation and redemption as a way to justify the signing to those who would like to see Vick go and crawl under a rock and never play football again. These are two separate questions:
1) Why did the Eagles sign Vick?
2) How do they justify it?
I consider myself a dog lover, so I find Vick’s history of animal abuse to be disgusting. That said, he has served his time and seems intent on proving to everyone that he is sorry for what he did and that he’s a changed man. While the Eagles’ decision to sign him may piss off a few animal lovers in Philadelphia, they’ll get over it if he’s averaging 7.0 yards per carry in the Wildcat formation.
I just wonder what Vick says about dog-fighting behind closed doors, when it’s just him and his buddies. I hope he’s sincere, but there’s only a select few that know for sure.
I’m not an expert on reading body language, but I thought he was honest throughout the segment. I still don’t know if he fully understands the magnitude of what he did (maybe it was his constant smirking throughout the segment), but I do think that he’s regretful about what happened.
Not to make excuses for Vick, but as he says in the video, he was introduced to dog fighting at an early age and therefore grew up thinking it was a sport instead of a sick, twisted hobby. As he got older, should he have gotten away from it knowing it was illegal? Absolutely. But again, he grew up thinking it wasn’t a big deal so the thought to get away from dog fighting never occurred to him.
Besides the dog fighting, Vick’s biggest mistake was lying to everyone after he was caught. He thought that if he lied enough, he could evade the accusations just like he evaded defenders on Sundays. And for that, he paid a significant price.
That said, he still has a long way to go. Now that he’s out of prison, he has to prove to everyone that he can stay out of trouble and not fall back into the pitfalls that cost him the past two years of his life. Until he does that, the general consensus will always be that he’s not remorseful for what he’s done.
Philadelphia held a press conference for their new quarterback on Friday, as Michael Vick addressed the media for the first time since joining the Eagles.
Does anyone else think it’s kind of ironic that the Eagles had an Aquafina bottle in front of Vick at the presser given the incident with him carrying a trick water bottle through security at the Miami Dade Airport back in January of ’07? I’m surprised someone from the Eagles’ PR staff didn’t go, “Whoops! Hey, let me switch that Aquafina bottle out for this cool, refreshing Dasani water instead, Mike.”
We could study Vick’s demeanor in this video for hours and half of us will come to the conclusion that he doesn’t appear to be truly sorry for what he’s done, while the rest of us will say he’s a changed man.
But none of it matters. What matters is what he does going forward, because his actions will speak louder than his words ever will.
He’s going to have to prove to everyone that he can act like a human being when he’s thrust back into the NFL spotlight. What happens when he’s a part of the high-profile society again? How will he act? He’s now making over a million dollars again – how will he spend that money? Will he fall back into the same crowd? Did he truly learn from his past mistakes?
The true test for Michael Vick is forthcoming. This press conference was just the first step.
- The Eagletarian (the PDN’s blog) discusses what kind of impact Vick will have on Donovan McNabb.
Blogs:
- BLEEDING GREEN NATION details who Pro Football Talk made up another story (I say “another” because this certainly isn’t the first time they’ve reported fake news) about how McNabb wasn’t pleased by the signing of Vick, yet as the blog notes, McNabb actually lobbied for the team to sign Vick.
- BLEEDING GREEN NATION also has a live blog dedicated to Vick’s first press conference with the Eagles.
- IGGLES BLOG writes that they’re proud of the Eagles for signing Vick.
- EAGLES PERCH is still in shock over the signing.
To the surprise of many, the Eagles went out on a limb and signed free agent quarterback Michael Vick to a one-year, $1.6 million deal with a $5.2 million team option for 2010. Below are five reasons why this move makes sense for Philadelphia.
1. The Eagles are going for broke this season.
This offseason, Philly traded a first round pick to Buffalo in exchange for Pro Bowl offensive tackle Jason Peters and also signed lineman Stacy Andrews. They also added playmakers Jeremy Maclin and LeSean “Shady” McCoy via the draft, so it’s clear that the Eagles are stocking their roster with as much offensive talent as they can. Vick was once highly regarded as the best athlete in the NFL and at $1.6 million, Philly is willing to take the risk in hopes that they just added even more talent to their brimming roster.
2. The Eagles offer a solid support system.
The Eagles have always been a model organization and they wouldn’t have made a move like this if they hadn’t first consulted Tony Dungy (who is mentoring Vick) and weighed all of their options. Vick leaves a lot to be desired as a human being, but Andy Reid, Joe Banner and Tom Heckert must believe that he can turn around his life and are willing to take him in. Plus, one would assume that Vick will be on his best behavior and Reid isn’t going to put up with an attitude. Another key to this situation is Donovan McNabb, who has the respect of his teammates and will certainly take some of the attention away from Vick’s arrival.
3. Kolb’s knee injury maybe worse than the Eagles are letting on.
While Vick doesn’t pose a threat to McNabb’s starting job, he does put pressure on backup Kevin Kolb, who was carted off the practice field at the beginning of the week after spraining his left knee. While reports state that Kolb should be fine, the signing of Vick may indicate that Philadelphia wants some insurance behind McNabb and Vick, despite his two-year playing absence, was the best QB on the market.
Of course, it’s entirely conceivable that the Eagles were working on a contract with Vick before Kolb’s injury, in which case maybe Philly just isn’t that high on Kolb’s development after two years. It’s a shame to think that a team would give up on a 24-year old former second round pick after just two years (especially a quarterback), but maybe the Eagles just don’t see much of a future in Kolb.
