|
The High Court |
|
Deep Thinkers Only... |
|
The Big Gavel-Just Earn It |
|
July 7, 2005
Money, we have been told, can’t buy happiness. Or love. Nor proper respect, at least as Michael Vick tells it. Yes, gentlemen, have your handkerchiefs handy. Ladies, have your tissues at the ready. Because I am about to spin you the terribly sad tale of a young man with the world at his feet…who couldn’t get the respect he deserved. Waaaahhhhh!!!!
Since Michael Vick burst on the national scene at Virginia Tech, I, like most every other football fan, have been mesmerized by his unmatched athleticism. There is seemingly no physical task that he cannot pull off. Blazing speed. Jaw-dropping agility and balance. And a cannon for an arm. One simple flick of the left wrist, and Michael Vick can send the football spiraling 70 yards down field. And last December, his owner Arthur Blank gave him a ten-year extension (a Blank check, as it were) for $130 million. Now as Terrell Owens would surely tell you, that ain’t all guaranteed. Except in Vick’s case much of it is. He has reportedly already received $30 million dollars in signing bonuses. You would think Vick would be ecstatic. But alas, no. As he told Sports Illustrated’s Michael Silver, Vick believes he is not receiving the respect he deserves as a quarterback because there are critics suggesting he is not an accurate pocket passer. “I hear people saying, ‘Mike Vick can’t throw from the pocket,’ and I’m like, What are y’all looking at?” Well, Mike, maybe this…
In the 2004 season (15 starts for Vick), Mr. Vick completed only 56.4% of his 321 attempts. That was good for 27th out of 33 passers in the league with enough attempts to qualify. Not very good, eh? Vick’s yard per pass attempt was a pedestrian 7.21, good for 16th best in the NFL, and his passer rating of 78.1 tied for 20th in the league, with the immortal Tim Rattay. It is worth noting that Tennessee back-up Billy Volek, while only having 36 more attempts, threw four more touchdown passes than Vick (18 to 14). Volek also bettered Vick by nearly five points in completion percentage (at 61.1) and by nine points in passer rating (87.1). Brian Griese, a league retread, threw six more TD passes than Vick in only 15 more attempts and topped his passer rating by nearly 20 points (97.5). It is quite possible, Mike, that your critics have a point.
I am willing to cut Vick some slack in a few areas. Certainly he was hampered by a poor receiving corps, as free agent signing Peerless Price has been very close to a complete bust. Tight end Alge Crumpler is emerging as one of the game’s finest at his position, and Warrick Dunn is a great weapon out of the backfield. But having receivers incapable of getting separation down the field undoubtedly hurt Vick’s completion numbers as well as his yards per attempt. Also, Jim Mora Jr.’s West Coast Offense was a new playbook for Vick, and its intermediate passing game can be difficult to master. So there. We made your excuses for you. And they are valid, to a point. But the fact of the matter is, you are not a polished pocket passer. Criticism? Perhaps it is. But according to the numbers, it is also fact.
Part of Vick’s problem is his amazing talent. The man was 23rd in the NFL in rushing last year with 902 yards in only 120 attempts. That was good for a league best 7.5 yards per carry. He simply has an ability to make plays and win games in ways other quarterbacks could never hope to. But until he becomes a better pocket passer (and I am certain he will), he and the Falcons are quite beatable. In last season’s NFC championship game, the Eagles tweaked their blitzing scheme to concentrate on containing Vick and thereby asking him to beat them from the pocket. He could not. Vick finished the day 11-24 passing, for only 136 yards. The Eagles brilliant scheme also took his legs out of the equation, as he had only four carries for 26 yards. He was rendered a non-factor, and the Falcons fell flat.
To Vick’s credit, he says that his “critics” just keep him motivated. And good for him. I don’t feel like those so-called critics are picking on him (like they might, say, Joey Harrington), but if he can use perceived slights to keep himself working toward being a better quarterback, then so be it. There is little doubt Michael Vick is sensitive to the suggestion that he is merely a good athlete masquerading as a quarterback. How many great African-American talents were dissuaded from playing quarterback over time? Too many to count. Vick need not worry in this case, however. Those that have come before him (Doug Williams and Warren Moon, to name two) as well as his contemporaries (Culpepper, Leftwich McNabb, McNair) have gone a long way toward making sure that black quarterbacks are just quarterbacks.
The quarterback Michael Vick reminds me most of is a another man who wore #7. John Elway came into the NFL with a cannon arm and as an amazing athlete. He struggled to be an accurate and efficient passer, and he had difficulties figuring out when to stay in the pocket and when to use his marvelous running ability to escape. But he got things all figured out in due time. Quarterback is a remarkably difficult position to master. When Michael Vick finally conquers the position, he, like Elway before him, will have the opportunity to leave an indelible mark on the game. Elway is considered by many to be the greatest quarterback of all time. In ten years, he may have to share that distinction with Mr. Vick.
In the meantime though, Mike, you are guilty of the kind of selfish, spoiled whining that Jeremy Roenick would be proud of. Grow up. You have more money than you will ever need, you play the game you have always loved, and you have as much ability as any man to ever slip on a NFL uniform. Your sentence? Simple. You want respect. Just earn it.
Court is adjourned. |
|
Tell ‘em Kurt...I AM a quarterback… (NFL.com) |