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E-mail Anonymous Mike at zonitics4-at-yahoo.com

By Anonymous Mike, pseudonymously.

 
The Vick Schtick

Nothing like kicking a man while he is down but...

I have to admit to enjoying some karmic justice, or whatever you want to call it, regarding the feeding frenzy surrounding Michael Vick.

Because to me his whole career was one big hype machine.

Look at Vick's stats; his career high in passer rating was 81.9% and that was 5 years ago. His career completion percentage is 53.8%. Career high in touchdowns was last year with 20, well 22 if you include his rushing touchdowns. Decent but not great.

Intangibles that help his team win? He has had 3 singular games or "winning moments." The 2000 Sugar Bowl when he emerged on the national stage by making the Florida State defense look like they were playing on ice, when he beat Green Bay in Lambeau during the the wild card game his second year, and when he took his team to the NFC championship game 3 seasons ago. That's it.. a few playoff appearances after 6 years in the league.

If Atlanta could have done it all over again, would they have made the trade with San Diego that got them the Vick pick when it cost them Ladanian Tomlinson?

What he has done is create a human highlight reel, the "Michael Vick" experience. He translated fancy play, if not legendary football performance, into a massive $100 million+ contract and gobs of endorsement dollars. He rode the wave of success based on his marketability and hype , not his achievements. That's not a bad thing and I harbored no grudges against Vick about it, football is an entertainment business and good for him for cashing in on what he sells. Alot of people made money off him, glad some stuck to him.

However those who think his treatment over the past 6 weeks has been unfair, keep in mind that his career lived by the.... well you know the rest, especially how career will die by the same means as well.
posted by Anonymous Mike at 3:21 PM