The National Football League lost a talented player this year. Michael Vick is the man behind name that has taken the sports news world by storm, but not in the same way he did back in 2001.
Now Vick’s road to freedom will give him bars to sit behind, to think about all that he has lost along the way.
Those who have followed Vick’s career know that his history is the stuff that dreams are made of. Vick grew up in an underprivileged setting and moved forward to capture his dreams. From the age of three, his father saw greatness in him, nicknaming him ‘The Bullet’ for his speed. As he grew older, the nickname ‘Ookie’ stuck with him. Through humble beginnings, he played for the Boys and Girls Club and got noticed by coaches when he threw three touchdown passes in a single game at the age of seven.
Through everything that he endured, he still moved up to the ranks of the NFL. His history is outstanding in all that he earned during his football career. Even before high school, Vick showed promise in three sports: baseball, basketball, and football. Because he was a disciplinary problem during adolescence, his mother got him involved in after school activities. As Vick grew older, high school was just the beginning of his amazing career. As a matter of fact, football is the only thing mentioned about Michael Vick's high school years, which show some of his most memorable written history.
Vick was a three year starter at Warwick High under the guidance of Coach Tommy Reamon. He was listed as the nationwide number 5 quarterback prospect by both Super Prep and PrepStar. The National Recruiting Advisor gave him post-season A-A honors. There he was ranked Number 5 for a pass/run quarterback. He had many other honors as well, including being selected as the number 3 prospect
The National Football League lost a talented player this year. Michael Vick is the man that has taken the sports world by storm. Just not in the same way he did back in 2001.
His history is outstanding. Now Vick’s road to freedom will give him bars to sit behind. To think about all that he has lost along the way.
To those who have followed Vick’s career, you know that his history is the stuff that dreams are made of. And through everything that he endured, he still moved up to the ranks of the NFL. Vick grew up in an underprivileged setting and moved forward to capture his dreams. From the age of three, his father saw greatness in him, nicknaming him ‘The Bullet’ for his speed. Vick was a disciplinary problem during adolescence as well. Early, Vick's mother got him involved in after school activities. Vick showed promise in three sports: baseball, basketball, and football. As he grew older, the nickname‘Ookie’ stuck with him. Through humble beginnings, Vick played for the Boys and Girls Club and got noticed by coaches when he threw three touchdown passes in a single game at the age of seven. As Vick grew older, high school was just the beginning of his amazing career.
As a matter of fact, football is the only thing mentioned about Michael Vick's high school years, which show some of his most memorable written history. Vick was a three year starter at Warwick High under the guidance of Coach Tommy Reamon. He was listed as the nationwide number 5 quarterback prospect by both Super Prep and PrepStar. The National Recruiting Advisor gave him post-season A-A honors. There he also was ranked Number 5 for a pass/run quarterback. To top that, he was also ranked as in Virginia by the Roanoke Times. After an
outstanding high school career, he attended Virginia Tech until he was a sophomore, then proceeded to the NFL.
At Virginia Tech, Vick was a redshirt freshman. Just as in high school, he began to shine on the football field, even being featured on the cover of an ESPN "The Magazine". He lead the NCAA in Passing Efficiency, hitting the third highest all-time mark and was awarded an ESPY Award for being the nation’s top college player. Numerous other awards led him to the NFL Draft as a first overall pick.
His real troubles began when he was drafted. Starting in 2001, his criminal history became almost as big as his professional career. Starting the ‘Bad Newz Kennels’ was his biggest mistake. Perhaps the name should have been a clue as to where this business was going to go.
There are also a few other crimes that have gone unspoken. Before the news broke of his practices of gambling, housing, training, and eventually destroying dogs, Michael Vick had other potentially damaging problems.
In 2004, there were two men arrested for distributing marijuana with Michael Vick’s truck. The incident allowed Dan Reeve to lecture him about being a reflection of the team. It was also reported the same year that a watch had been taken from Alvin Spencer during a security check at the Hartsfield
Sentencing for some of the charges is to be held on December 10th, for everyone keeping close tabs on this "dog day" story.
As if things could not get worse, Mr. Vick is also being sued by three banks for monies owed on outstanding loans, and the Falcons are asking for their $22 million back.
One last drop in the bucket for Vick: he is being sued again, this time by an inmate in South Carolina for a dog that was used for breading, but never returned. To top it off, in September of 2007, during the investigation of Roy ‘Bud’ Melton, police found evidence linked to dogs which belonged to Vick when he owned the Bad Newz Kennels. For those who do not know who Roy 'Bud" Melton is, he ran a dog fighting ring in North Carolina and has been associated with Michael Vick and the dogs Vick owned. So as you see, things could get much worse for Mr. Vick, depending on the outcome of the investigation into Roy Melton’s death in April of this year.
Michael Vick has put his house up for sale to pay back some of his debts. It is too bad that his debt to humanity is non-transferable.
Wow, and you thought you had dog day afternoons…
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