The Side Line

The saga of Michael Vick took its latest, greatest turn when he was conditionally reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on July 28 and allowed to join the Philadelphia Eagles just two weeks later.

Vick’s story has transformed from one of anger and blame into one of forgiveness and second chances. The guy made a terrible decision, one that involved consciously sentencing innocent animals to death. He got caught up in something and instead of re-evaluating his decision, tried to keep it quiet until it was too late.

Honestly, who hasn’t had something like this happen to them? Certainly not on the scale of Vick, but we all make bad choices that affect creatures besides ourselves. And who wouldn’t want a second chance to make the right choices?

Speaking of right choices, the Atlanta Falcons made perhaps the smartest move as far as Vick is concerned when they simply released him, creating a clean break between the troubled star and the team that he electrified since they drafted him No. 1 overall in 2001. With an established rising star quarterback in Matt Ryan, the Falcons consider Vick a distant memory as they make another playoff push this season.

What we need to do now is treat Vick as if he was just drafted. Imagine him as a fifth-round curiosity pick, a guy with a ton of talent but some “character issues” that will make him an interesting backup to Donovan McNabb. And just watch him work. With any luck, he’ll show us flashes of his past life, the on-field Vick who shredded defenses with a cannon arm and Barry Sanders-like cuts to avoid defenders in the tightest spaces.

I wish Vick the best of luck with his new life and his rebuilt career. But on Sunday, Dec. 6, when the Eagles visit the Georgia Dome, I can only hope for the worst for him.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 4 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry