ATLANTA — Once upon a time, Michael Vick was a household name for all pro football fans. He electrified the field with his athleticism, aweing fans, ultimately leading to his No. 7 Atlanta Falcons jersey being the top seller on the market.
Unfortunately, Michael Vick went from idolized to infamous for his guilty plea and imprisonment on federal charges in the investigation of the Bad Newz Kennels dog fighting.
After spending 21 months in prison, Vick received a second chance from the NFL and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. Vick made the most of this opportunity and peaked in 2010 when he earned the AP NFL Comeback Player of the Year award along with a trip to the Pro Bowl.
Currently, Vick is a free agent after spending the 2014 season a member of the New York Jets.
Yesterday, Vick changed his Twitter profile picture featuring him in an Atlanta Falcons uniform. This caused a tiny stir among Falcons fans as they speculated as to whether or not Vick was considering a return to the Atlanta.
According to sources, no reports of communication between Vick and the Falcons have surfaced. Although, it seems unlikely the Falcons would want to start the Dan Quinn era by signing their star quarterback from eight years ago.
Now, the conversations among Falcons fans consist of whether they would mind Vick retiring as an Atlanta Falcon.
Drafted as the first overall pick in 2001, Vick spent six years with Falcons. He became the starter in 2002 and led the Falcons to the playoffs where they handed Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers their first ever home playoff loss.
During his six-year tenure with in Atlanta, Vick passed for 11,505 yards and 71 touchdowns and rushed for 3859 yards and 21 touchdowns. Staying with the running game, Vick led the NFL in yards per rush attempt four times as Falcons quarterback (2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006).
One could argue that Vick made Falcons football popular in Atlanta for the first time since the 1998 season when the Falcons made a Super Bowl appearance.
It’s true that Vick never led the Falcons to back-to-back winning seasons like current quarterback Matt Ryan. However Vick represented the Falcons in the pro-bowl has many times as Ryan has (three) and holds one more playoff victory than Ryan (two). Of course that is subject to change as Matt Ryan isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
As of today, Vick hasn’t shared anything about a desire to play in Atlanta again nor retiring, but the debate on if he should is interesting.
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