23 months down, The rest of your life ahead

Free at last, free at last. Michael Dwayne Vick is now free from prison. His 23 month sentence ends today. The man has paid his debt to society and there is nothing you nor I can do about it. So for those that feel his punishment was not long enough, I say to you what my mother told me as a young child, "tough titties".

I heard many people say they were going to move to another country once President Obama was elected, and I'm almost positive that 90 percent of those people are still here. Those who can't stand Michael Vick etc, blah blah blah, will still be football fans and still watch his games as well.

Moving on, with all that said. What is next for Mike Vick? He owes a lot of people money. He hasn't played the game he loves in over two years, that very game which brought him fame and millions of dollars. I'd be safe to assume he'd love to play some football again and pay back those debtors he owes. The NFL is his best bet, duh. There is one person standing in his way, Roger "Strict Ship" Goodell(gulp). Goodell is a fair man, for as tough as some of his penalties have been, looking back on it he has been correct every single time. Goodell will have a tremendous amount of pressure from those for and against Vick's reinstatement to the NFL. Goodell will make the right decision as he always does. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Vick is reinstated by the middle of next week.

The next hurdle for Vick is convincing a team to give him a workout and sign him to a contract. The team that decides to take that chance will face the PR pressure from those for and against Vick playing football again.

Once he is signed to a team which I have full confidence he will be, he has to prove to them that he can still play quarterback. People doubted Vick's quarterbacking skills while he was a starting quarterback in the NFL. Now that he has sat out two years and the Wildcat formation has come to fame it seems as if the only positions people think he can play is wildcat quarterback, running back, or wide receiver. I find it funny and typical of mainstream mostly white media to say Vick will not be a good quarterback anymore. I live for the day we see the next Doug Williams, but this is about Michael Vick and not what people think black quarterbacks can and cannot do.

The battle for Vick is uphill. Scratch it's more mountainesque, not so much Everest more like Rainer. Nevertheless, after dealing with different offensive coordinators, head coaches, and receivers allergic to the ball, Vick will succeed in the NFL. Will he be a pro bowl star, lead a team to Super bowl, or a 1st ballot Hall of Famer? I don't know.

I do know that Michael Vick is only 29 years old. He hasn't played football in two years which means, he is rusty, but once the rust is gone he will be fresher than any other quarterback right now. I also know that there will be 32 starting quarterbacks on opening day, and not all of those quarterbacks will be better than Michael Vick. And thanks to all those sentence filled detentions in high school, I know that patience is a virtue and the mountain of success that Michael Vick will eventually climb back too will take time.


That's all I got,



Ricky Writer


PS - for now, check out this great piece via NFL network