ESPN said they were going to do a magazine on Michael Vick and they weren’t playing around, they were serious. We all know that It’s all about the money for ESPN the Magazine. They figured Vick could sell magazines so this month they produeced a long multi-article close up of Michael Vick.
It starts off with an article focusing on the fact that most people either love Vick or hate him. “There is No Middle Ground” is the name of the article by David Fleming. He writes about Vick taking the cover photo for the magazine.
Next up Fleming does a piece, Welcome To The QB Revolution, about Vick history as a quarterback and his effect and influence on how the position is played . He follows Vick’s career from playing on the street of Newport News, Virginia to high school stardom and then to Virginia Tech where he led them to the National Championship game.
The next article is about the throw on Monday Night Football to a streaking DeSean Jackson. Vick threw the ball about 60-yards and hit Jackson in full-stride as the entire nation watched. I know you can see that play in your mind right now as you read this.
They continue the “Welcome to the Quarterback Revolution” theme and lay out all of Vick’s stats, from his quarterback statistics to how many of his jerseys were sold last season. They show us how Vick registers as a Fantasy quarterback and on the 2012 Madden video game. They show how he rates when it comes to internet searches by NFL fans. Finally they show how his salary rates against the other quarterbacks in the league.
The next journey concerning Vick is going back to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. His fiancee, Kijafa Frink, moved closer to Leavenworth to be closer to her man. They walk us through the nearly two years he spent behind bars.
Next up Ashley Fox, who used to write for the Philly.com but is now with ESPN, writes an article, “A Player’s Coach”, about Andy Reid and his relationship with Vick. They examine why the Birds made the move to bring him here and they open up the story of Reid and his sons’ troubles with the law.
I learned that Reid talked to his son, Britt, and asked what he thought about the idea of them bringing Vick to town.
Next up is a look, “The Vick Effect”, at how the rise and fall of Vick effecting teams around the NFL as well as quarterbacks throughout the league.
They follow that piece up with article, “Zero Sum Game”, about his financial troubles. That’s followed by an article, Spheres of Influence”, about the people who support him and the people he supports.
These articles are followed with a piece about dogfighting, “The Dog In The Room” and how some people will never forgive him for what he did. They dig it all up and go back through it.
From dogfighting they go to racial aspects of Vick’s public life and career as an NFL quarterback. The article is titled, “What If Michael Vick Was White?”, and it proceeds to answer that question.
The next articles about Vick is titled, “A Walk In The Park”, and it gets into the racial breakdown of dogfighting and some of the differences in attitudes toward dogfighting as a sport. ESPN follows that with a series of polls about Vick, which is titled, “Vick Confidential”,
I’ve never seen one magazine dedicate an issue to one player the ESPN did Vick in this case.
I’m sure VinnetheHater and Jakedog won’t like this one bit. You know, Vick not being a good QB and all (according to Paulman’s “sources”)
well- i dont love or hate him. I stick to talking about his game. Wont wear his jersey but felt he should be alllowed to play again (although i never thought he would play here-nor wanted him too).
I wish we knew less about these athletes.
I payed $200 at the last second for a ticket to that Monday Night game at FEDEX field….little did I know I was going to be witnessing history live and in person. The single greatest performance by a QB ever. It was just an amazing thing to watch.
GAME OF THE CENTURY!!
I liked it a lot. Now I certainly didn’t enjoy it as much as Songs or Real, who I’m sure had to spend a little private time with a bottle of Jergens after watching the vid,but it was good nonetheless.
Here was my favourite part…when talking about the Washington game….
“I just wanted to go out and show that I deserved what he deserved…”
“I was 20 for 28, threw for 300 yards, which is rare…(what? 300 yrds is rare?) I threw for 4 touchdowns, which is rare….and had 2 rushing touchdowns, which is rare…..”
and the best…
“I think all the passes that hit the ground were drops, so I could have easily been 28 for 28”
Hello WRs, meet bus…..though there was a little grin there, so it must have been all tongue-in-cheek right? I mean no one has ever seen Vick coming off the field doing the whole “me me me” fist on the chest thing have they?
Wasn’t that soundclip great? Especially when he said that he couldn’t have had such a game without his O-line. And how he mentioned the work of the WRs. Equally nice was the way he gave props to the coaches for calling a good game.
Dude is the ultimate ‘me’ machine….Really, what other QB in the league would have spoken like that?
Vinniethedickturd — must you continue? You hate Vick. We get it. He’s going to be the QB of your supposed favorite team for years to come, so either learn to accept him, or find another team. Hopefully the latter.
Birdo…are you kidding me? SIngle greatest performance ever? You clearly haven’t seen very many football games. It was a great performance to be sure, but greatest ever? You’re off your rocker.
Vinnie….anytime you’re ready to come on board we’ll accept you.
If there’s any concilation, your boy Kolb also have an article soon to be released with “Wild Boar” Magazine.
He’ll be going into the intricate nuances of wrestling swine in an attempt to lobby swine wrestling for the up and coming olympics.
A matter of fact….In that particular sport I personally think he’ll do fine.
My apologies, best single QB performance on Monday Night Football is what I meant to say.
And yes, even of all time, it deserves to be up there in terms of single game performances by a QB.
The year before (on Monday night football) Brees went18-23 for 374 and 5 tds against the Pats…how soon we forget…..
just saying…..
Listen, perhaps its my Canadian sensibilities. I thought the game was great. Fun to watch…I just hated the post game (not as much as I hated the post game celebration after the Giants). This interview just adds to it.
Where I’m from, when you drop a game like that, you stay humble. Its a cultural thing I suppose. I think some of you hear the “me me me” business and are all, “he’s the man!” Not me.
Where I come from guys that roll out the I I I I fist pumping business that Vick is famous for are what we call, “pompous assholes”.
Its certainly difficult for me to root for a guy like that…especially since I constantly tell my own kids (and the kids I coach) that they are to never, ever behave/talk like that.
And songs….just to let you know…you haven’t heard much from me in terms of Kolb lately. I was not impressed with the whole public, “I deserve a chance to start” business. Should have kept that behind closed doors.
That being said, I still think it would have been better if he was here for this season. You know I have 0 faith in the chest pumper…..but VY????? So bad…..
from the exerpts, the article is just more pandering to the mobb, divisive, and not a good idea for Vick to be talking about himself in the ultimate team game, I see a bad moon arising
Racial aspects of dog fighting ???????
It is/was a southern country thing
Hell there is even a country song ( Buck Owens even sang it on Hee Haw )
“I Wouldn’t Take Her To a Dog Fight Even If She Had a Chance To Win “
They are riding the Mike Vick train pretty hard over at ESPN right now… Hope he’s not letting that hype distract him….
He’s need to work to put the dog fighting and prison and old Mike Vick part of his life behind him.. no more interviews about the past..
REPORT IS OUT THAT THE EAGLES ARE IN PRELIMINARY DISCUSSIONS WITH LB LOFA TATUPU… LOOKS LIKE HE MAY BE SIGNED BY THE EAGLES SOON…
ESPN, is nothing but a bunch of sack slurpers! Now that Favre is retired, & Tiger is no longer relevant, they need to latch on to their next lightning rod! ESPN is the worst! Report the sports & highlights, & stop with the clever wanna be funny crap on TV & your stupid waste of $$$ of a magazine!
ESPN, nobody wants to watch, Bowling, poker tournaments, female sports, Nascar & all of the other garbage that you put on your stations. Theirs Baseball every night. Show games other than the freaking Yankmees or Sawks. You suck, go away. Thank God for, CSN, NFL Network & MLB Network.
It was the single greatest QB play game ever. The HOF did come and collect the guy’s jersey.