Michael Vick: The Path to Greatness & the Long Road to Redemption | A Football Life

[Music] you're gonna be a football player when you grow up today is the best day of your life [Music] when you make a mistake you have to live with the consequences i think he'll be remembered as the person who was involved in dog fighting that's that's never gonna be forgotten some people are never gonna truly trust you some people are never gonna truly allow you to let go of your past i mean i was living the time of my life 23 years old 35 plus million dollars like i mean what are you to do i'm pretty sure i was in that situation y'all probably wouldn't do what i did i understand the situation that y'all i understand how hard it is to come back from a you know from from a felony i was in that cell right in the front without a struggle man you'll never make change my life changed for the better if it's a blessing that you made it yeah it gives us at least hope saying that somebody else can have a second chance to make it like one of his runs michael vick's path to redemption is at times winding and seems endless the michael vick experience was a dance between trouble and triumph on and off the field i'm sure when he was a kid tag he was never in it was like having barry sanders back there as a quarterback the most dynamic athletic quarterback that there ever was i'm gonna give him all this he was the most thrilling player of a generation who became the most reviled this guy had everything and he risked it all and ended up losing it all because he wanted to have dogs fight against each other what planet are we on a man who seemed to have everything had to start from nothing once again so i grew up right up in here it's my house right here on the corner you know growing up we always had no more than most but it still wasn't enough i've seen a lot of a lot of things that i wasn't supposed to see i've seen you know dead cab drivers i've seen you know crack being slung i've seen you know shootouts not the easiest city to live in newport news is a tough town you know affectionately referred to as bad news from as from those of us that are from there his dad he didn't pay any attention to the kids you know i did everything my dad liked to run the streets you know my dad liked to do his thing my dad really went down the wrong path growing up with a dad that was on drugs that was abusive to his mother it's some things that he probably wanted from that relationship but just couldn't get it's like is this the role that i take in life this is the world that i want to take in life fearing her son would follow in his father's footsteps brenda vicks signed michael up at the local boys and girls club i was a cheerleader on the cheerleading squad and they was like y'all need to come around here there's this guy he's like throwing this ball everywhere and he's just playing so good we just ran around the corner and i was like who is it who is it i was like oh that's just my brother i know him he does this all the time this is nothing new he wanted to get out what i offered him was an away a direction football was vick's doorway out tommy riemann held the key as a prominent coach in bad news he'd seen the area produce future professional athletes in aaron brooks and allen iverson alan iverson put on a show you play hard all night we shut them down but michael vick is the finest athlete i've ever seen good job probably ninth grade the first time i heard about mike he's a local legend he had college letters coming from everywhere syracuse was a big one the quarterback was donovan mcnabb and he just loved mcnabb it really kind of got down to us in syracuse he went there donovan mcnabb showed him around they hit it off virginia tech i had never seen him on tv never seen him in a bowl game i felt like what donovan had built at syracuse was what donovan had built i was saying to myself this is an opportunity for me to leave a legacy my first college football game i just remember being so nervous the first play for michael vick through a passion to the flat it looked bad my coach called a quarterback draw he told me he was going to give me a play just to settle me down here's vic taking the snap scrambling running with the football crosses the 50 turning on the jets look at that speed he's racing all the way into the end zone touchdown i couldn't catch him from that point on it was over over there's just not that many that can play quarterback the way he could play quarterback [Applause] it just looked like something out of a video game out there freestyling just doing crazy things this guy is a big-time player [Applause] he was just so much faster than anybody else on that field vic finished third in the heisman voting as a redshirt freshman and took his team to the national championship game starting out the game it's 28 7. right now it is all florida state there was only one thing we could do and that was fight back and we had mike so you don't need much more than that [Applause] [Music] as good as a team as florida state was mike was still that much faster than everyone [Applause] i'm like we really got a chance to win the national championship before i know chris we could drop the bomb on us and peter work and did something special it was over a great show didn't they sure did he changed our program he changed the university the whole country was talking about michael vick the next day vic led the hokies to another 11-1 season his sophomore year the nfl was next when it was time to declare for the draft i didn't want to go and i came back home to think the decision over with my family and uh talk it over my mom i just looked at the surroundings and everything that was around me and i looked at where we was living and it was a no-brainer this is something i've been thinking about going on my entire career and um the opportunity was presented for me so i had to take full advantage after his sophomore season michael vick declared for the 2001 nfl draft the san diego chargers held the first overall pick but with teams clambering to land vic that changed just hours before the draft san diego was willing to trade you just don't see quarterbacks that have that combination you know of speed quickness ability to throw the football so we wanted to make sure that we could have that first pick and get the player that we wanted the falcons traded a first second and third round pick along with wide receiver tim dwight to move up to number one with the first selection in the 2001 nfl draft the atlanta falcons select michael vick quarterback virginia tech dream come true i was really itching to see him because during that first game we had a tv timeout it's a close game and he reaches in his helmet and he pulls out a thing of chapstick and he just kind of hits his lips real cool real confident and everybody's just kind of standing in the huddle like and looking around like did y'all see this cat that drive he drops back cuts through the line to the right side 25 yard run now you know what all the excitement is about this guy can make something out of nothing i was like yeah can't wait to see some more of this guy the wait wasn't long vic was named the starter in his second season let's go baby now or never got to realize that right now is now enough let's go [Music] i'd gone through that type of ability with john elway going no no yes yes yes everybody talks about him running the ball all the time where he can throw that ball too it was just a flick of the wrist he's using the football as as darts just going long for jefferson you have just seen jordan of the nfl that's what you call it hell that's what we got him from we played minnesota in minnesota one of the things that tried to get through to mike was if they play man coverage across the board when you don't see anybody open they're not covering you vic ran through the vikings man coverage for 173 yards a single game rushing record for quarterbacks what a superstar somebody pick up that jock at the 30 and give it back to a member of the vikings he made so many unbelievable plays in that game that was just incredible overtime tied at 24 in the metro dome where the chant is defense i just told myself the line of scrimmage if they play man it's going to open up a lane down the middle [Applause] big play action being chase coming near side keeping the football go my fix this is over it's a over throw by the incomparable mike vick [Music] why would a run oh man still running in the clubhouse it's probably the only game i didn't check anybody's hand after the game because mike runs into the tunnel and we just run in the tunnel with him the game's over it's overtime bye-bye an eight-game unbeaten streak put atlanta into the playoffs where they faced the packers who had never lost a home postseason game in their 83-year history well there's a runner and a passer and he's in one body for atlanta his name is michael vick he told us to know about their history and we came in [Applause] get the ball first i'm hitting a bang bam bam bam how do you stop them here comes vic rolling to the near side in trouble and that it's away from one he's still on his feet now he cuts it to the right side he's cut it to the middle he's got the first down how did he do that [Music] still to this day sometimes i have dreams i thought i had enough to like you know kind of yank the back of his head to pull him towards me out of bounds roger miller has has control of it he has everything just makes it spreads out his face mask gets his helmet back on right and then goes back the other way vic throwing finding this is an amazing game by the atlanta falcons tonight [Music] they talk about the great upsets this is pretty stunning you made history today and you did it 22 years old i stopped and think about that how many people make history 23 years old [Music] i just left there thinking i mean this could be the dawn of one of the great quarterbacks we will ever see what is the michael vick experience when you see me running around on the field and dodger defenders spinning you're hurtling over gas flipping in the air that's the experience welcome to the michael vick experience put your hands and feet in the harness enjoy the ride [Applause] that's not in the playbook but it should be by 2004 at age 24 michael vick was the nfl's main attraction he was rewarded with a record 130 million dollar contract just saw number seven jerseys everywhere he was like a rock star you know if i was going to hang out downtown i would sit in my car and wait for mike to get there so i can go in with him we'd go to different events and then you have a police escort he been from little newport news and we get to go through red lights you know it only had to stop at red lights we had an air tran deal we was flying for free just attending this event and this event and meeting different stars we have rap songs about them and music videos a lot of quarterbacks aren't relatable to black people oh they grew up with a silver spoon in their mouth and mike was just this raw kid out the projects the young people who might have looked up to joe montana and might have looked up to dan marino now this was somebody who spoke their language who looked like they did who played the way they wished they could play he had the headband on the braids as a young pop warner guy you know i tried to imitate him every time i got a chance to on the field uh wearing the long towel wearing a visor i wanted to be like michael vick hey my wife wanna take a picture with you after the game by the bus okay i'll meet you over there in three years under new head coach jim mora vic dazzle becoming the first quarterback to rush for over a thousand yards in a season you get a lot faster in real life i would always tell mike go do what you do best i didn't want him to feel like just because he was a quarterback that he had to force something on a daily basis you'd see him do something where you just go wow the spin was a great addition it worked out sometimes things just click seven is worth every time it was a great time almost being like a superhero you know in the town that needed the superhero all i wanted to do was bring that city a championship one way or another his opportunity came in 2004 against his former idol donovan mcnabb and the philadelphia eagles when i say kill you say vic kill kill kill the gains that he had made throughout his career but in particular that year when he'd take off and run it was ridiculous i felt like if you shut down michael then everything else would be vic okay back he is stumbling and he's sick toughest games i played was against philadelphia they did a good job in keeping me bottled up throws intercepted dawkins at the 30. it's a poor decision by michael to throw this ball they put the ball in mike vick's hands and force them to do something they're not really comfortable doing and that's dropping back and throwing the ball it was his final playoff game as a falcon the lines between his professional and personal life began to blur i think at the time one of the things that concerned the falcons is that he was basically living two lives he was going home to virginia all the time he had a couple days off or a long weekend he was going to virginia i just came back because you know i was still stuck in the realm of you know being with my friends hanging out with the guys everything that i thought i was doing right was i was doing wrong and i probably should have spent more time in atlanta probably i should have spent more time in the film room hands down yeah i'd probably have me a piece of hardware by now michael had a group of guys that he grew up with and they consistently stayed around them we had a great bond on the field we had a great bond in the locker room but we weren't going to dinners and eating out as teammates i mean those things just weren't happening he'd be the last one in and the first one out not really a perfectionist you know i just get the job done when you're young and playing in the national football league and you're the face of a franchise face of the league there's a lot of maturing that has to go on for you i just couldn't wait for that maturation process to happen for michael the league will find michael vick 2500 for each middle finger showing to the georgia dome crowd sunday things are still going to happen uh situations are still going to come up but it's all about how you get yourself away from it and you know how you persevere through those situations going through security at miami's international airport the water bottle that vic was holding contained a substance in a hidden compartment that had quote a pungent aroma closely associated with marijuana i have a developing story to tell our viewers about right now i was actually on the golf course in atlanta yeah oh my gosh look at that thing like the animal good job mike my best friend called me and told me i knew it was over you know the things that i was trying to have for so many years or thought i could get away with was now coming to light how could a football star making literally millions of dollars allegedly get involved in something like this allegations of hanging shooting body slamming even electrocuting dogs to death as part of a multi-state underground dog fighting operation is a record-breaking nfl superstar a former number one draft pick losing 120 million dollar contract over dog fights i was surprised because i'd never seen i'd never seen a violent or angry or mean side of him i was stunned because mike loved dogs you know we used to have saturdays where you could bring your kids or you know whatever and mike would bring dogs with him to practice would you at least like to proclaim your innocence like i said i want to talk about the situation right now and when the investigation is over then i'll be more than glad to answer any questions you have from michael vick pled guilty to federal dog-fighting charges 66 dogs were removed from vic's property bad news kennels the reports show some animals were found buried dead on that property [Music] i personally think that he's a sociopath the collective picture was a very bad one there were tremendous concerns on my part about the severity of the crime the effect on the animals as well as the attitude of the individuals involved in this operation bad news kendall's just started us wanting to breed pit bulls with the patches and the ones that you know looked pretty and was show dogs and we was going to sell them and it just went from one aspect to another it was kind of scary back there everything was all black that was our cover-up we had a place where we trained the dogs we had you know 50 dogs on like chains it was the area where we had all the medicines and things that we used then you go upstairs and that's where they used to tangle where i grew up at dog fighting i didn't know that it was legal and i didn't know if it was illegal i knew several people several friends that if they had a pit bull you knew at some point in time they was going to fight it against somebody else who had a pit bull that's just the way it was the first time i saw a dog fight i was like seven years old and those bushes right there see them big trees leaning over like that that's where everything used to happen and that's why i seen my first dog fight i know about the area in which michael grew up we work in those neighborhoods it's a very sad situation when children grow up not thinking of dogs as friends but as just something on a chain in the backyard it's like a junked bicycle dogs are often just commodities michael vick was a person who had an effect on the lives of many many young people he cast a very very wide shadow and that's why he had to be accountable for the effect he had on other people vic was sentenced to 23 months in prison and ordered to pay just under a million dollars in restitution for the care of the dogs first i want to apologize for all the things that that i've done and that i have allowed to happen so i will redeem myself i have to thank you i kept saying i might let's just run like let's just escape we can lead the country we don't ever have to come back let's just go he was like no i got to go do my time and get this over with he was getting out the car and i just was holding on i didn't want him to go i kept saying please just don't go just don't leave us like what am i going to do by myself with two kids and he said you'll be fine you're gonna be fine the uncontainable number seven became inmate number 33765183 it was heartbreaking for me we came in together and i'm thinking you know at some point in time we're gonna lead this franchise the city to a super bowl birth possibly a championship the michael vick experience it's over with it's been a long time yeah a long time coming yeah coming back in here just feels smaller all i could think about damn i just let so many people down so many people believe in me i just feel like i couldn't get no lower than this michael vicks spent two months in northern neck regional jail and another 16 in leavenworth federal prison i went to leavenworth prison and we spent about two hours together just talking about his goals and his aspirations what he wouldn't do with his life coming back i thought he was serious about becoming a role model and as he says part of the solution to the problem i just never forget that day just knowing that i had some support you know i got somebody who's gonna be there for me he's gonna mention me he's gonna help me in all facets of my life and um help me become a better person the person that i want to become i didn't think he was getting back into the league he doesn't pay attention to the media i do so you know i'm hearing all these things and i'm like and i don't want to be like a debbie downer but i'm like okay like we need to think about life after football now he called me he's like hey i'm coming to philly tomorrow it was important that he and i talk he made a mistake and and do you understand that which he did completely understood it are you willing to write the wrong the best you possibly can and he was willing to do that so he was given a second chance [Music] i never thought i would go to philadelphia that just happened out of nowhere that was the biggest blessing in disguise made a horrible mistake and now i want to be part of the solution and not the problem when it happened i'm saying are you kidding me and the people of philadelphia went nuts i won't be supporting the eagles sold my tickets for the season i understand that vic is a great football player but it insulted the fans it's the vilest thing i can imagine it's despicable i didn't expect the public reaction to be great you know that was the the hole i dug for myself and you know i had to crawl up out of it i mean it was a mess we understood there was no saying well we don't get it no we got it we know what he did i felt like if you took a survey it'd probably be a 50 50. the 50 that was were against it were going to be loud and then there were going to be 50 of people that sat there and go hey listen you know the kid deserves a second chance and let's see what he does with it this is not a slam dunk he's going to have to be absolutely committed to be proactive if we don't have an extremely proactive player here off the field then this is a terrible decision i got a call one day from president obama his primary reason for calling was um in a way applauding us for giving michael vick a second chance he knew so many prisoners and kids that just had gotten into trouble that never got a second chance a week after mike signed we went to a steakhouse in philadelphia we went in people stood up and gave him a standing ovation i was like oh my gosh i can't believe this you know when you watch the media the media gives you different perceptions and that's not always true one media member sought out to find if perception had become reality i was working for nfl network and they asked me to go back and do a sit down with mike probably the first time we'd really been face to face since everything went down as we talked just kind of the cameras and the lights just kind of faded away and it just became a conversation between two guys and known each other for a while why didn't you just come clean i was just living my life my whole life was alive jim what could i have done i look back and i say how could i help them more there's nothing you can do jim best thing for me that ever happened to me in my life was me getting shipped off to kansas man because other than that i was i wasn't going to change you've been watching film at home now yeah i watched you know we get we used to get the dvds but you can ever watch those dvds in atlanta these pile up my car jim check in one of those cases for a million dollars you'd have never seen it i'd still be sending it to this day but not anymore huh anymore he's paid as large a price as anyone could ever pay for what he did and and he'd probably be the first one to tell you that he deserved to pay that price but he's earned my trust he was older and wiser he sat in a jail cell i mean think of that all the hours there's a lot of dead time right there somewhere you talk to yourself you go i've destroyed a career but if i get a second chance i'm going to devour this thing with donovan mcnabb entrenched as the starter philadelphia tried to find unique ways to use vic when michael vick steps on the field it gets people's attention we moved them all over we widened them out at wide receiver michael vick tried to not onto the field we put him in half back i'm not even sure i'd call creative i'm not sure how good all the stuff worked [Applause] vic returned to atlanta a much different man than the one who left now a gimmick player seeing only a handful of snaps per game i cried on the way to the stadium i used to own it and i was the guy now i'm i'm at the back of the bus i'm the third team quarterback i let the city down i let myself down let my family down all i wanted to do was just make it right vic he is in for the touchdown vic firing to the near side to select he's in return to atlanta for michael vick it's a great win i just appreciate all the support appreciate the opportunity and uh it couldn't happen at a better time philadelphia traded mcnabb before the 2010 season and elevated vic to the backup behind kevin cobb harbor he is running he is running he fumbles the ball as he's hit and they say it knocks out about and kevin cobb slowed to get up when kevin went down i was just saying to myself kevin get out i didn't think i was ready but i thought wrong looks like michael vick from the atlanta falcons back in hole 506. that sure does in vintage fig fashion he ran for 103 yards and earned the starting spot for the season at age 30 he produced a career-high 30 touchdowns how is he something oh is he something he has zero distractions zero expectations so you got this purity of michael vick a mature guy that had something to prove i'm about to make it happen somebody gonna make it happen for that short period of time he reestablished himself as a best player most dangerous player in the national football league [Music] absolutely amazing where he was in philadelphia mentally everybody relax have some fun it's an honor and privilege to play this game if he'd had that in atlanta you'd have been talking about one of the best quarterbacks to ever play trailing by 21 with the division lead on the line philadelphia got its own michael vick experience floats it complete good running with the football and selling at the 20 at the 15 10 touchdown the quarterback draw we've got a one touchdown game he looks he fires complete it is to macklin and macklin runs it for the touchdown we're tied this is the type of game where legends are made that's dodge the punt jackson takes it at the 35. oh yeah midfield [Music] those are the memories that i always have i was a part of such great moments in nfl nobody could ever take it away from me we were watching tv and breaking news came across the screen atlanta quarterback busted i was already involved in pitbull rescue i had been doing it for over a decade the first thing i said was we got to get one of those dogs there was well over 50 dogs the judge had actually ordered that they'd be euthanized [Music] all of except for one or two were able to be homed [Music] he was the biggest like sweetest teddy bear he was just afraid is what he was go get it go get it go get it good boy so many of them became such incredible inspirational animals later in life there was a number of them that became therapy dogs helped everything from people with ptsd to the elderly to young at risk youth spreading so much love and so much joy [Music] i love you the vic dogs are an excellent example of second chances michael vick made the most of his opportunity in philadelphia he spent five seasons with the eagles being named the nfl's 2010 comeback player of the year his career is nearing an end after being a backup the last two seasons throws it long down the field there's a man open on the run at the 30. here comes michael sweden to the 20. pittsburgh steelers touchdown we got michael vicks we got michael i think when you're your you know 13th 14th year you start to understand that you know there's more to life than football i'm trying to figure out you know what i want to do after football but i i can step on the field like this and i can just grab one of these three four kids i can just i can just make them better it ain't no question if you want to you can he sees that adversity as an opportunity for ministry an opportunity for him to tell a story a lot of boys that would not know who i was would not listen to what i had to say would watch him and look up to him and do what he said because he's michael vick he's their hero he's somebody they can relate to and he's been through where they're living vic worked as an advocate for the humane society and took anti-dog fighting legislation to capitol hill please join me today and help us reach out to these kids before they go down the wrong path thank you the road to redemption for me is just to continue doing what i've set out to do you know post incarceration and that's to be an instrument to change the more people i can come in contact with the more people i can influence the more people i can help i think his attempt was to redeem his career as a football player he obviously had to say things that he regretted doing this if any child heard a convicted dog fighter say that he was sorry for what he did and advised them never to do that it's a good thing but his motives i doubt what michael did kind of represents the right way we should do this somebody's got to give a man a chance if they do a good job and they do the right things we've got to say you know what we can forgive a mistake i think you could draw the conclusion that michael vick after serving his time is an inspiration for other people that getting back on the right track can lead to a productive life vic's former property has been given a rebirth the good news rehab center is home for abused and neglected dogs vic himself has added a new member to his family my kids are animal lovers they love dogs lola you want to show you want to show off paul good girl i made a responsibility for them and for myself to to bring that into the household [Music] you gonna hang it up you think i don't know pop well think about hanging it up yeah man i mean it's been a long time that's a lot of football i did way more than i thought i was gonna do that for sure [Music] vic has embraced the second chance he received and now he's giving one out himself at the end of the day my dad is my dad we all have flaws i feel like we all go through tough times in our life i give my dad a third chance if it came down to it bob you took me fishing first he was the first one first time you threw your ride out you quarter fish we ain't catching the nose for the rest of the night i hope to be remembered as a guy who went through some difficulties but understood what it took to get back on top i have to continue to do my work and continue to help make change on your face i think he's a lot more appreciative now he enjoys football he enjoys his family you know he's just he enjoys life right now he had a second chance who doesn't enjoy a second chance in life he's making the best out of it [Music]

Channel: NFL Films

Views: 1,315,344

Keywords: NFL, Football, NFL Films, American Football

Id: C8JoGmVznvQ

Length: 42min 25sec (2545 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 11 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/truthesda]

This is such a fucking emotionally turbulent day and you're gonna pop this on us OP?

There's a time and place bruh!!!

[u/QuillsAllOver]

Glad he reformed and got a second chance. Still not trusting him with my dog.

[u/silly_walks_]

Big Ben probably raped at least two women, avoided all accountability, lost zero dollars or games, and will go into the hall of fame.

Michael Vick did something horrible, lost millions of dollars, his freedom, took responsibility for his actions, and based on all observable data, has worked hard to redeem himself. He has been in zero trouble since being arrested.

Michael Vick is a good example of what the criminal justice system should be, although I admit that some people will disagree.

[u/methandmemes]

I don’t think you can believe in criminal justice reform and also not be willing to at least give Vick a second chance.

What Michael Vick did was awful. No shit Sherlock.

However the man went to prison, paid his debt to society, and hasn’t been in the news for anything bad since while also actively trying to right his wrongs (I.e donations and work with animal shelters).

If you also consider how he grew up in a rough neighborhood (Newport News VA. They build hundred million dollar military crafts right next to some of the worse poverty in the country) you can understand that he was brought up in a situation where animals might not be able to be looked at as pets, strictly financially speaking.

I don’t think I will ever be a fan of Michael Vick per se, as fun as he was to watch play. However I do believe that he deserved a second chance and he’s done good with it so far. So I’m at least personally not militantly opposed to him as a human as he is today having made the attempts to right his wrongs

[u/sully3333]

PROFESSOR OAK: THERE'S A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING

[u/ProphetNimd]

I don't think I'll ever not feel some type of way about Michael Vick but by all accounts he's done the right thing since being released from prison, at least publicly that we know of. He's years removed from football at this point and he still does work with the Humane Society. That's a lot longer a period than if he was just trying to play damage control. Who knows what's in his heart but I'm more willing to give him the benefit of the doubt than I used to be.

[u/18Chan]

Reading some of the shit he’s done to Innocent dogs I couldn’t give a fuck about this piece of shit and his “redemption”. Fuck him

[u/DriftCS]

Fuck Michael Vick

[u/PillarofAutumn117]

April fools come early this year?