Vick as a College Coach Makes Sense

I read earlier in the week that some smaller schools were looking at Mike Vick as a candidate at head coach for them. I didn't know he was actively looking and interviewing for a job, but I like it. Let’s discuss.

I have been a lifelong Mike Vick fan. From his time at Virginia Tech to his stops in the NFL, most memorably with the Falcons, I always enjoyed watching him play football. He reminded me so much of Randall Cunningham, who I also was a big fan of. But, he had a better arm and was so much faster than Cunningham ever was when he was in the NFL. Mike Vick didn't disappoint either. He was as good as advertised. He went to the title game with VT, and almost single handedly won it for them. He was the first pick and was awesome from the start. He made the Falcons fun to watch. He made them a playoff team. When he came back from his suspension, he was a star again with the Eagles. That Monday night game, you know what I'm talking about, was a sight to behold. He then ventured off to the Jets to be a backup and finished up his career as a backup once again with the Steelers. There is the prison sentence for his involvement in a dog fighting ring that slowed his career down significantly. What Vick did was wrong, but for him to be locked up was wild. There are things going on with current players that are much, much worse and they barely even get suspended from playing any games. They get to live their lives freely after doing some heinous things. Vick went to jail. He was a prisoner. He served time. He is well past the point of being a "bad guy" anymore. He did what he did, was punished for it and he came back to play at the highest level, and play very well. Now, he is going to be the head coach at Norfolk State.

I don't know much about Norfolk State. I know the university is in Virginia, Vick's home state. I know they're a lower level division 1-AA school. They haven't made a ton of noise lately, but I feel like that's going to change here very soon. I knew of Jackson State prior to Deion Sanders taking the job there. My knowledge of Jackson State while Deion was there and now is much greater because I wanted to know about where he was coaching. I get very similar vibes with Vick at Norfolk State. Kids with parents around my age or even a little younger are going to want their kids to play for Mike Vick. I would absolutely love for my kid to be recruited by him. I'd love to meet him as the parent. I think it would be a true highlight. Just based off that one fact, Norfolk State is going to improve. The school will put money behind him to help with the NIL collective. Vick is going to get kids in the door on name recognition alone. He and his staff will have to develop that talent. and I'm sure they'll be able to do that with no problem at all. Vick knows this game. He has learned from some of the game's smartest pro coaches. He was an electric athlete, and sometimes that works when transitioning to coaching. I have full faith that Vick will do just fine.

Hearing this news today made me so very happy for him. I want more guys like Vick coaching college football. These are the dudes I watched and I want to see them succeed and thrive. I will be more focused on Norfolk State moving forward from here on out. I love this hire and I cannot wait to see what Vick does now that he's a head coach. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches 30 for 30's "Vick"

One of the few things I think ESPN still does well is their "30 For 30" docs. Be it television movies or podcasts, this is a property they still seem to nail. I think it is because they aren't being star gazers, or trying not to hurt anyone's feelings. The "30 For 30" series is about as raw as they get on ESPN, and I feel like that is why it is still solid. And their most recent one on Mike Vick's story is a good representation of why this still works.

I am an unabashed Vick fan. I loved him in college, he made me root for the Falcons when he was first in the league, and while I adore dogs, and am a dog owner myself, I was one of the people who thought that his punishment was way, way out of line. This "30 For 30" covers all of that. The movie is right around four hours long, it was broken into two separate two hour parts, and I feel that every minute is totally worth your time. I also feel like this is a movie that will have a wide appeal. You don't have to be a sports fan to find something that will leave you asking questions or shaking your head at this movie. I would even venture to say that people who don't like Vick, who think his crime was heinous, would find something they like about this movie.

As for the movie, like I said, it covers his life leading up to today. There were things that I never really knew about Vick either until I saw this movie. I knew he grew up in poverty, and that he lived in the projects, but I didn't realize the type of sports talent that his hometown, Newport News, Virginia, produced so many great athletes. You could just name Vick and Allen Iverson, and that would be more than enough. This seemed like a place where you had no other options besides playing sports, and Vick was a super athlete. I knew he was a coveted recruit, but I also didn't know that he was going to go to either Syracuse or Virginia Tech. I didn't realize Syracuse was very close to getting him, and that was due to Donovan McNabb, who played a very big part in Vick's life. To see his journey in college, he was so god damn electric, to the number one overall pick in the draft was great as well. It brought me back to that time in my life when I was obsessed with where players I liked were going to be playing professionally.

When Vick made it to Atlanta, and got his 100 million dollar plus contract, this is when it seemed to kind of go sideways for him. He said in interviews that he was never going to turn any friends or family away, but when he got that money, it became clear to him that not everyone had good intentions, but he still kept them on his personal payroll. This is where the whole dogfighting thing comes into play. Now, I want to say before I go on, I love dogs. I have a dog. I can never, ever see me putting hands on him for anything. I am a clichéd dog lover. And what Vick did, with his involvement, he never personally fought the dogs, is very, very wrong. I needed to say that. But, to see that his involvement was minimal, that he was never charged with fighting, that he seemingly only provided the house and the area for these dogs to fight, it is insane the way he was treated by the majority of the world. He was looked at like a real criminal. He did something wrong, but he was not a murderer, a robber, an abuser, a steroid user. He didn't do anything close to what a ton of modern NFL players do, and constantly get away with now, yet he had to serve real time for some dog fighting. That drove me nuts. There was even parts in the movie where idiots like Tucker Carlson and Rob Thomas, the lead singer of Matchbox 20, said he deserved to be executed. That is a humongous overreaction, and I wonder if these people would have said the same thing if the person involved in this were Peyton Manning. Hell, Ben Roesthisberger has been accused of rape twice, and the people of Pittsburgh love him. Manning had a report come out that he was harassing female trainers in college, and that was swept under the rug. But Mike Vick is a part of some dog fighting, and he goes to prison for almost two years? Don't tell me this wasn't racially driven. It was one hundred percent that, and because he was a multi millionaire. Also, the people of PETA can sit on it. They are so holier than thou, and I am sick and tired of all their "missions" that they claim to be passionate about. I cannot stand PETA. But, to see Vick come out on the other side, make it back to the NFL, pay off his debts, get two more big time contracts, be a premiere player and help to stop dog fighting and help all animals was a great pleasure. He truly did turn his life around, and what he did was pennies compared to what the NFL lets guys get away with now.

Also, Roger Goodell is still a monster, and every time he was on screen, I felt like giving him the finger.

This "30 For 30" was great though because the story is a positive one. It has a message. It shows someone overcoming tough situations and being the better for it. I really enjoyed this movie and it made me like Mike Vick more than I already do. I highly recommend this movie. It is wonderful.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.