Vick’s ride from coddled superstar to team leader

Michael Vick is proving to be a good decision for the Philadelphia Eagles.  With Vick’s pro bowl performances over the last two weeks, fans are jumping on the Eagles’ bandwagon, fantasy league owners are regretting not drafting him and sports pundits are noting that Vick is not only back, but also better.  I am thinking about Michael Vick’s journey from public housing in Newport News, VA passing the campus of Virginia Tech; through the 2001 NFL Draft where he was the first overall pick, traveling to the Atlanta Falcons, speeding with million dollar endorsements and a lavish lifestyle, then crashing and landing in United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, a federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. 

After two years away from the NFL, Vick began his second tour of professional football in 2009 with the Philadelphia Eagles.  The key he was handed was not to a shiny new starting quarterback position.  It was just to a roster spot – a modest opportunity to get him from point A to point B.  A year later, Vick has displayed that he is very appreciative for his “hooptie.”  He put everything that he had into it and shined it up, so when Andy Reid called him to be the starting quarterback, he was ready.  He showed that he is still an elite quarterback, displayed a passing skill set that many did not know existed and drove his team to victory.  What makes Vick so much better than he was before?

Expectations.

Vick was blessed and cursed with exceptional speed.  Like many talented young athletes, he was spoiled.  His community praised him and teachers let him slide.  People gravitated to him because of an ability that came natural to him.  Football was not work for him, it was a fun game that he had been playing since he was 3.  No one told him anything differently and did not demand more for him.  This proved to be to his detriment.  While he was great, we now see that he still had not reached his potential.  How much better could he have been if his parents, teachers, advisors, mentors and attorneys had demanded more from him?

Admittedly, Vick did not give his all when he was in Atlanta.  He would arrive at practice late and leave early.  He did not condition or read his playbook.  Why?  He was Michael Vick and he had excelled without doing any of those things.  In the post game press conference, after the Eagles beat Jacksonville 28-3 yesterday, Vick was asked about his passing game being better than it was before.  In answering, he explained that in Atlanta the offense was about his running game.  Passing was not expected of him.

Vick’s journey is not only a warning for young athletes.  It is a lesson for parents and adults in authority over children.  How many other Michael Vicks are growing up being pampered because of their athletic abilities?  Instead of being challenged to do better, they are coddled and complacent.  Adults have to be leaders and set high expectations.  Children will meet them.

The Eagles organization made their expectations crystal clear.  Vick was to compete, earn a spot on the roster and not be an embarrassment to the team.  As his mentor, Tony Dungy, was straightforward about his expectations of Vick respecting his profession and being a responsible citizen.  Vick is meeting the expectations and setting higher ones.   

Quick notes from the NFL in Week 3

-       The Cowboys and the Vikings got their first win of the season.  The Vikings victory was not impressive.  Favre is still throwing interceptions, but they played the Detroit Lions who have only won 3 games since December 2007.  Luckily, Adrian Peterson rushed for 160 yard.   

-       Kansas City beat San Francisco 31 - 10 and remains undefeated.  However 2 of their first 3 opponents have not won a game.

-       Atlanta gave the defending champs, New Orleans Saints their first loss of the season in overtime.  The final score was 27 – 24.

-       Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers are still winless.

-       Chicago Bears play Green Bay Packers at home tonight on MNF.  The winner will be the division leader in the NFC North.  Both teams are undefeated, but I don’t feel like Chicago had any real competition in the first two weeks and they barely beat Detroit.  I think Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and defensive back Charles Woodson will be too much for Chicago.

Around college campuses

-       Alabama capitalized on Ryan Mallets interceptions in the fourth quarter and survived an upset.  Alabama  24 – Arkansas 20

-       The leaders in the Big Ten pounded on non-conference opponents.  Things will start to get tough this weekend when conference action begins.

-       Boise State eventually pulled out a win over Oregon State 37 -24.

-       Texas is completely embarrassed by its loss to UCLA.  The Bruins killed them 34 -12.

-       Notre Dame loss its third consecutive game.

-       This week get ready for these conference battles: Alabama #1 against Florida #7 at home in the SEC and Wisconsin #9 at Michigan State #21 in the Big Ten. (USA Today Poll)

Ciao! 

Heels & Helmets

Vick is Back!

Week 2 in the NFL gives teams a second chance to impress fans.  Win, and fans believe they were just rusty last week.  Lose, and fans begin questioning when they are going to win.  Before I move into the highlights of the second week, I have to go back to Week 1 and Calvin Johnson’s touchdown. 

Last week, I shared the rule on a player going to the ground with a catch and noted that according to this rule, Johnson’s touchdown was incomplete.  After a reader blasted me for not being the critical thinker he has come to know through my blog, I had to revisit the play and the rule.  I will not say how many times I looked at the replay, but let’s just say if I were given a dollar for each time I reviewed it, we would all be getting Louboutins, heading to Nice and cruising the Mediterranean, ON ME!   

Anyway, after reviewing the play, the catch was a touchdown.  Again, the rule is:

If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball after he touches the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control, the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

I want to point out this part of the rule, “If he loses control of the ball.” Calvin Johnson never lost control of the ball.  He caught the ball with two hands and moved it to one hand, but he still had control of the ball.  (Think of it as a one-hand catch.)  The ball was not rolling around in his hand.  He had a tight grip on the ball and maintained control when his body hit the ground.  As a result, it was a touchdown.

Now on to NFL Week 2.  Some teams had a better second day at school.  Others you can expect are going to start using the old “the dog ate my homework” excuse.  

Becoming a star pupil  - Michael Vick, started as a NFL Quarterback for the first time since December 2006 when he was an Atlanta Falcon.  (He missed the entire 2007 and 2008 seasons because he was incarcerated for his involvement with dog fighting.)  Building on a solid performance last week of over 65% passing completions and 103 rushing yards against Green Bay, the former pro bowler displayed that he has shaken off the dust.  With 284 passing yards, 37 rushing yards, deep passes and quick moves to avoid the defense, he led the Eagles to their first victory of the season in a win over the Detroit Lions.  While Eagles Head Coach Andy Reid says that there is not a controversy over the quarterback position, I expect that Eagles fan will start one if Kevin Kolb struggles next week.  A little secret: the Eagles offensive linemen are quietly hoping for Vick to start as well.  For 11 years they have protected a quarterback who is mobile.  They are not accustomed to holding off the defense for a quarterback to take an entire class period to throw the ball.  Vick fits Philadelphia’s O-line perfectly.

Not meeting expectations – The Cowboys and the Vikings were predicted by many to compete for the Super Bowl.  Now both teams are still hoping to get their first win.  The problem for the Vikings is that Brett Favre was not in training camp and they are in need of wide receivers.  The Cowboys on the other hand, have all of the pieces, but they are not prepared.  Both of their losses were due to tons of mistakes.  Since 1990, only 22 teams that started off 0 – 2 made it to the playoffs.  The New York Giants won the Super Bowl in 2008 after beginning the season 0-2, so there is hope for these teams.  I think Minnesota will see their first win at home against the Lions next week.  Things are looking gloom for the Cowboys.  They play an undefeated Houston team on the road next week and are off the following week.  I see the Cowboys not getting their first win until October.

Sibling rivalry – “Manning Bowl II” was no contest, AT ALL.  Big brother, Peyton, showed little brother, Eli, how to lead an offense and dominate.  Unfortunately, for the younger Manning, his big bro was totally focused on avenging a disappointing loss to Houston that opened the season.  The Giants could not do anything to stop the Colts offense.  It was truly over when the Giants were still scoreless in the 3^rd quarter and the Colts kept Peyton in to continue beating up on his kid brother’s team.  The Colts win it easily, 38 – 14 and Peyton remains undefeated against his brother.

Name off of the chalkboard - The Jets stopped talking and just did their work.  The offense was… an offense.  The line blocked, Mark Sanchez threw the ball, Dustin Keller and Braylon Edwards caught the ball and LaDainian Tomlinson ran the ball.  See how productive a unit can be when everyone just does there job?  Their defense limited Tom Brady to just 2 touchdowns.  One of those was an awesome catch by Randy Moss, but it was not enough.  Jets win it 28 – 14 at home.

On the college gridiron, another team from the state of Michigan entered the top 25 after beating Notre Dame.  Michigan State is now 3-0 and #25 and #23 on the AP and USA Today Polls respectively.  In the USA Today Poll, they are right behind Michigan #22.  This adds more fuel to the intra-state and conference rivalry.  Their meeting on October 9 at the Big House, well BIGGER House, will be a battle!   This week’s game to watch is Alabama #1 against Arkansas #12.  This will be a test for both teams.  Arkansas looked great in a victory on the road against Georgia, but their defense will have to slow down Heisman winner, Mark Ingram.  Alabama has dominated in their first three games, but this will be their first game on the road against a ranked opponent.

MNF – Tonight the reigning Super Bowl Champs, New Orleans Saints, will play the San Francisco 49ers.  Last week the 49ers gave up 31 points to the Seattle Seahawks.  Surely their defense will not be able to hold off Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush.  Who Dat Nation will see their team remain undefeated.

Ciao! 

Heels & Helmets

“The Answer” for T.O.

Terrell Owens (T.O.) is a free agent still looking for a job in the NFL.  The 6-Time Pro Bowler known for his “excessive celebrations” is watching everyone else start training camp while he tries to get a NFL contract.  One of his most memorable celebrations happened during a Monday Night Football game when he was with the San Francisco 49ers.  After a 61-yard touchdown pass, he pointed to his wristband with the words, “The Answer” inscribed on it.  He did it because, in his own words, “I am the answer.”  Seven years later and after stops with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, T.O. is trying to get “an answer” to join someone’s locker room.

I have “the answer” for T.O.

T.O. is without a job because of his unrealistic view of his value, not his skill set.  Despite what people say about his last season with the Bills, he still had over 800 receiving yards, which could help several teams.  However, this does not put him in the category of the top 10 receivers who acquired over 1150 yards last season.  Hines Ward and Randy Moss both have just two years less experience than Owens and they earned 1167 and 1264 yards respectively.  They are “the answers.”

Owens and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, are trying to negotiate a deal as if T.O. is “the answer” that a team can count on to put up 1300 yards plus in one season.  To get T.O. on a team, they will have to lower their salary demands and expectations that he be the #1 receiver.  Teams are not going to pay $5 million for a 36 year-old veteran to come off the bench and jeopardize the game with a 15-yard penalty for “excessive celebration.”  This is not “the answer.”

Secondly, T.O. has to understand his role as a veteran.  Teams pay veterans not just for what they do on the field, but the leadership that they provide in the locker room.  T.O. has a reputation for being disruptive in the locker room and blasting teammates to the media.  He called Jeff Garcia a homosexual, implied that Donovan McNabb was lazy, and said that Tony Romo was distracted by his girlfriend.  This would be tolerated if he was going to bring in 1400 receiving yards, but owners do not want to deal with a cancerous player in the locker room for half of that production.  That’s not “the answer” to building camaraderie on the team. 

T.O. will get a job because he is still a decent receiver.  He works hard and keeps himself in great shape.  Mike Brown, the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals has left the door open for him to join his good friend, Chad Ochocino, in “The Nasty Nati.”  If he does not reach an agreement with the Bengals, we will see T.O. sign with a contract after training camp with a team who is desperate to fill in the gap for an injured player or rookie who needs more time to develop.   Either way, it will not be on his terms.

T.O. is no longer “the answer.”  He is an option.

Ciao!

Heels &  Helmets