As I’m watching him completely dissect the Redskins’ defense on Monday night, a thought came to me: Would Michael Vick have become the quarterback he is right now if he hadn’t lost everything three years ago?
Vick still has a long way to go. He currently leads all quarterbacks with a 115.1 rating and he’s yet to throw an interception in 153 pass attempts this season. But none of the four teams he’s beaten (the Lions, Jaguars, Colts and Redskins) own a defense in the top 15 and he missed three and a half games with a rib injury this year.
Four games does not a MVP make.
But I watched Vick run around the Georgia Dome for six years and that Vick was not the same player you see today. The Falcons were lucky if he would go through two of his progressions before taking off and running and even when he did throw, you didn’t know if the pass would wind up in his receiver’s hands or the waiting arms of a defender.
He didn’t have pocket presence, he wasn’t careful with the football and he had little idea what his opponent was trying to do in terms of defending him. He just went out there and played, which was fine most of the time. He led the Falcons to two playoff berths and one NFC Championship Game, but in all that time he never progressed as a passer. Sure, there were signs that he was starting to turn the corner (most notably in 2006, when he was impressive in performances against the Steelers, Bengals and Cowboys), but on a whole he was a glorified running back that just so happened to take the snap from center every play.
But not anymore. He’s poised, he’s confident, and most of all, he’s prepared. He’s told several media members that he never took his off-field responsibilities seriously in Atlanta (which should infuriate the Falcons considering how much money they paid him). He was never the first player in and the last player out. He rarely studied film on his own, went to lengths to work with his receivers outside of practice or met with his coaches to go over game plans in his free time. He simply went through the motions because he knew his God-given athletic ability would usually carry him through.
Then he got hauled off to prison and everything changed. He lost his fame, his fortune and was humbled in the process. He didn’t have 60,000 fans screaming his name or the opportunity to showcase his talent. He had nothing.
I’m a firm believer that people can change, but they have to suffer first. They have to be embarrassed and humbled and then they need to seek help. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea if Vick has changed his act off the field, but it’s obvious he’s a different player on it. I don’t think that happens unless he goes to prison. Even he’s admitted that he did the things he did because he thought, “I’m Mike Vick – what’s the worst that could happen?” But now he’s Michael Vick the ex-convict and someone that has to re-pay his debts (both monetary and to society). He knows that he needs football more than ever and appears to be embracing the game for the first time in his career.
Again, he has a long way to go. The Giants may expose all of his flaws this Sunday and his play could spiral downward from here on out. I actually fully expect the law of averages to eventually catch up with him and for his numbers to drop, but that doesn’t mean he’ll revert back to the player he was in Atlanta. And who knows, maybe he would have figured it out eventually with the Falcons. (It’s not like he didn’t have the talent.)
But I doubt it. I think his time behind bars served him well.
