Vick’s Last Stand

On the morning of June 26, Philadelphia Eagles fans woke up to some very sickening news. Michael Vick, it appeared, had found himself in the middle of a police investigation involving his former friend, and business-partner Quanis Phillips. Phillips had also been a co-defendant in Vick’s dogfighting case. As the details came out of the case, the police eventually cleared Vick of any involvement in this case, but not before he seemed to have misled police over his departure time. This event started a very long waiting game for Michael Vick, and the Philadelphia Eagles. The waiting game ended on Monday when the NFL decided it would not discipline Michael Vick. Vick had talked with NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell throughout the investigation, and was instructed by Goodell to use better judgment in future decisions. Not only did Michael Vick dodge a serious bullet in this decision, but so did the Philadelphia Eagles. If Michael Vick were suspended for a few games early in the season, the Eagles’s backup would be Mike Kafka, the Eagles 4th round pick in last April’s NFL Draft. It is safe to say that Kafka would be very ill-suited to steer the Philadelphia Eagles to victory had Kolb gone down, and Vick been suspended.

This year was supposed to be a big year for Vick. Last year, he wasn’t much of a factor in the Eagles offense, but ended the season on a good note, throwing a touchdown pass in the Eagles’s playoff loss last season. He seemed to be becoming more comfortable with the speed of the NFL, and the Eagles’s system, and needed a good off-season to become a serious weapon in this offense. If Vick had been suspended, not only would it have killed the Eagles’s reputation in the press, but also it would have killed them as a franchise. Here is a player that hadn’t played football for 2 years, came back and wasn’t really the weapon that he used to be, but still the Eagles picked up his option to pay him 5.2 million dollars this year, hoping that with another year in the system he could become a serious weapon. If Vick had been suspended even for a few weeks during the preseason, his 2010 season would be an absolute washout. He would once again come into a new system late in the preseason, and this year the Eagles can’t afford to slow down the learning curve in camp because they will be putting a slightly different offense than the one Donovan McNabb commanded in 2009. The opportunity for Michael Vick to become a relevant name again in the NFL is available this offseason. Whether or not Kolb succeeds at the helm of the Eagles this year, Vick will absolutely get more chances to showcase his talents then he did last year, and if he is able to impress another NFL team, he may be able to parlay this season into a new deal after the season (This all hinges on whether or not there is a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in place for the 2011 season).

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If Vick was suspended or doesn’t impress this year, this could be one of the last seasons that we see Michael Vick as a true weapon in the NFL. If this season does not pan out, I’m assuming he will receive a lower tier contract with a bad NFL team (I’m picking the Bills or Jags), and will either revive his career there, or fade away with thoughts of what could have been. This has become the sad reality for a player who was once regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. Vick helped break the mold that thought that great quarterbacks were only pocket passers. In his prime, Vick could terrorize defenses with not only his arm, but also his legs. Vick rushed for over 750 yards 3 times in his 6 years with the Falcons, including a 1,000-yard season 2006 his last season with the Atlanta Falcons. Vick had never been the perfect quarterback, but he had play well enough to justify the Falcons to sign him to a huge contract extension in December 2004. That Michael Vick seems gone, but not forgotten. The man that was once a youtube video waiting to happen has been slowed into your average NFL player. Some say he was not being given the opportunity in Philadelphia to show what he has left in the tank, while others say there is nothing left to show. That question will surely be answered within the next 2 years, but it may have been answered much more quickly if commissioner Goodell thought Vick’s actions earned another suspension. Vick luckily will not be suspended for any period of time because the shooting that occurred at his birthday party, which would have surely ended his career in the NFL, but if Vick is not able to shake the cobwebs out of his game this season, his career may not last that much longer.

By: Louis Greco
Pro Football Fans Philadelphia Eagles Correspondent