Michael Vick: Back from the Dead

Vicks Early Years

The story of Michael Dwayne Vick is a rollercoaster. It is full of trials, failures, and triumph. He was born on June 26th, 1980 in Newport News, Virginia ("Michael Vick Biography."). He learned to play football at an early age and grew to love it. His first shining moments were at Homer L. Ferguson High School (Wikipedia). When Vick became a sophomore, he transferred to Warwick High School where he wowed college scouts (Wikipedia). When it came time to choose which college to attend, Vick had two places in mind: Syracuse University and Virginia Tech University. He ended up choosing Virginia Tech and went on to have a great college career (Wikipedia). He was so good in college that he was chosen 1st overall in the 2001 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons (Wikipedia).

Atlanta Falcons
After being selected 1st overall, Vick became one of the most exciting and fun players to watch play the game. His great athletic ability gave him great speed and agility that no one had seen before. A great example of his athleticism is a game against the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs in 2002. The game went to overtime and a vintage Michael Vick play was born. Vick ran for 46 yards past almost all of the Vikings defenders and split two of them right before running into the end zone to end the game (Olsen). He went to 3 Pro Bowls during his time in Atlanta, and in 2003, he even won the best NFL player ESPY award (Wikipedia). Vick and running back Warrick Dunn became the first running back and quarterback combination to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (Wikipedia). He had great success in Atlanta, playing six

seasons there until it all turned around.

Vicks Low Point

While in Atlanta, Vick was in a group called Bad Newz Kennels, a dog fighting group that he helped fund. Vick became a licensed dog breeder. The group housed and trained over 50 pit bulls to fight each other ("Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick."). Vick grew up in the projects in Newport Virginia. He saw many bad things happen, and got involved in some of those things. One of those things was dog fighting. The dogs they bred were tested, and if they did not perform up to par, they were executed. A lot of illegal gambling went on during this time in his life also ("Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick."). When Vicks activities hit the news, people were shocked. It opened the eyes of the whole nation to dog fighting. The federal government brought charges to the case, which is very unusual for them to do because they do not usually get involved in dog fighting cases. Vick got 23 months in prison,

was fined $5,000, had to pay $928,073 and had to take a drug/alcohol treatment program ("Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick."). To say the least, this was Vicks low point of his life. He was going to miss two seasons of the league he had dominated for six seasons. On top of that, he went bankrupt due to the massive amount of money he had to pay ("Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick.").

Society. He goes around to different troubled locations telling his story and what people can do not to get involved in bad organizations like the one he was in ("Michael Vick and The HSUS Call on Feds to Crack Down on Animal Fighting Spectators : The Humane Society of the United States.").

children in the right direction.

His first year in Philly

His first year in Philadelphia in 2009 didnt go that smoothly. Much controversy arose from the public. Many people did not want him to play ever again due to his past actions, and others thought he had earned his way back to playing. He sat behind the starting quarterback, Donovan Mcnabb, and got limited playing time. He was not as successful as the old Vick, and it looked like he had lost his athleticism while being in jail (Munson).

Vicks Comeback
As of now, Vick has made a complete comeback. His work in the community and new attitude and behavior have impressed the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell enough for him to reinstate Vick back into the NFL. Not only has Vick been reinstated, he has been signed by an NFL team, the Philadelphia Eagles. He isnt just a backup quarterback either, he is now their franchise quarterback, the face of the team, and is building a winning tradition in Philadelphia. He is also working with the community in Philadelphia steering

Vicks Redemption
Since being indicted, Vick has really tried to make up for his past actions. He has worked with organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Virginia Peninsula talking to children about his story and what he has done. He tries to get them to understand that the road he went down is not the one they should go down (McGlone). Vick realizes what he has done in the past is wrong, and he is focused on making the future generations not get involved in the things he did. Vick has also worked with the Humane

Becoming the Franchise Quarterback

In 2010, things changed. The starting quarterback was going to be Kevin Kolb going into the season, but after he got a concussion during the first game, Vick got his chance to finally start and he took full advantage (Munson). He went on to have a magical season, shocking the whole football world with his speed and athleticism. It appeared

as if the old Vick was back, but this was a new Vick. This Vick was not involved in anything illegal, he wasnt in the dog fighting organization anymore, and he was overall a better person and player. He is still working in the community with no obligation to do so. Vick is no longer the face of dog fighting, he is the face of the Eagles, and the community of Philadelphia.

Sources used in

this genre

"Animal Fighting Case Study: Michael Vick." Animal Legal Defense Fund. Animal Legal Defense Fund, Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://aldf.org/article.php?id=928>. McGlone, Tim. "Michael Vick Now Working for Peninsula Boys & Girls Clubs." PilotOnline.com. The Virginian-Pilot, 1 July 2009. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://hamptonroads.com/2009/06/michael-vick-now-working-peninsula-boysgirls-clubs>. "Michael Vick and The HSUS Call on Feds to Crack Down on Animal Fighting Spectators : The Humane Society of the United States." The Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society of the United States, 19 July 2011. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2011/07/michael_vick_fight ing_spectator_bill_071911.html> "Michael Vick Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://www.biography.com/people/michael-vick-241100>. "Michael Vick." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Vick>. Munson, Lester, and The Associated Press. "With Eagles, Vick Gets Second Chance." ESPN.com. ESPN, 15 Aug. 2009. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. <http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4398956> Olsen, Doug. "Michael Vick: 5 Most Insane Runs of His Career." Bleacher Report. 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/941662-5-most-insane-runs-of-michael-vickscareer>. Annotation I used some evidence from the first source in this genre. A lot of the evidence from this source was about the details of Vicks arrest. For example, I wrote about how the name of the group Vick was funding was called Bad Newz Kennels. I used this evidence to write about Vicks arrest and the details of it. I used evidence from the second source to write about one of the groups Vick worked with. The group was the Peninsula Boys & Girls Club. I used it to show that he was trying to redeem himself for his past actions and that he was changing. The evidence from the third source is about Vicks work with the Humane Society of America. I used the evidence from this source to show that Vick changed as a person, and that he wanted to stop animal abuse. I only used a little bit of evidence from the fourth source. The evidence I got from that source was Vicks date of birth and where he grew up. I used this for the introduction of my article and to start it off.

I used a lot of evidence from the fifth source. This source had a lot of information on Michael Vick like the college he went to, statistics, his time on the Falcons, and on the Eagles. I wanted to make my article the story of Vicks life and a lot of this information was very useful. I used some evidence from the sixth source. A lot of the evidence I got from here was about Vicks time in Atlanta. I used this evidence to tell about his time in Atlanta. I only used a little bit of evidence from the last source. I needed an example of Vicks athleticism and the evidence from this source gave a great example of that.