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  MICHAEL VICK

  FINALLY FREE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

  MICHAEL VICK

  FINALLY FREE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

  by

  Michael Vick with

  Brett Honeycutt and

  Stephen Copeland

  Copyright © 2012 by Michael Vick

  Published by Worthy Publishing, a division of Worthy Media, Inc., 134 Franklin Road, Suite 200, Brentwood, Tennessee 37027.

  Published in association with The Core Media Group, Inc., P.O. Box 2037, Indian Trail, North Carolina 28079.

  HELPING PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF GOD

  eBook available at www.worthypublishing.com

  Audio distributed through Oasis Audio; visit www.oasisaudio.com

  * * *

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2011935243

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  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this book are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

  Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

  For foreign and subsidiary rights, contact Riggins International Rights Services, Inc.; www.rigginsrights.com

  ISBN: 978-1-617950-69-8 (hardcover w/ jacket)

  Cover and Interior Design: Renata Bolden

  Cover Photo: Jeff Livengood

  Additional Images: Greg Arnold and Aaron May

  Printed in the United States of America

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  For my grandmother, Caletha Vick, who passed away on May 2, 2008.

  When I was a young boy, she instilled in me wisdom and understanding. She was the rock in my life and taught me what the truly important things are.

  It hurt me that I didn’t have the chance to spend time with her and talk with her before I got out of prison. It was my hope to be out before she died, but that didn’t happen.

  She will always be a part of me, because with her is where the dream began. It was her encouragement, love, and support that pushed me to dream.

  She’s the reason I’m living my dream.

  I could never thank her enough. I will always love and miss her deeply.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  By Tony Dungy

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction

  Part I: The Rise

  Chapter One In the Beginning

  Chapter Two Seven’s Heaven

  Chapter Three Blacksburg’s a Blast

  Chapter Four Favorite Falcon

  Part II: The Fall

  Chapter Five Warning Signs

  Chapter Six Dog Days

  Chapter Seven Family Matters

  Chapter Eight The Prison Experience

  Chapter Nine Mad Money

  Part III: The Redemption

  Chapter Ten Coming Home

  Chapter Eleven Starting Over

  Chapter Twelve A Crucial Offseason

  Chapter Thirteen MV 2.0: The 2010-11 Season

  Chapter Fourteen Moving Forward

  Postscript

  Career Playing Record

  List of Illustrations

  Foreword

  The first time I saw Michael Vick play football was in January of 2000 in the Sugar Bowl. He was a freshman quarterback at Virginia Tech and his team was playing Florida State for the national championship. I was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the time. Our Bucs teams were known for their defense (in fact, we would play in the NFC Championship game later that month and hold one of the greatest offenses of all time, the 1999 St. Louis Rams, to eleven points).

  I had seen Florida State’s defenses quite a bit over the years. We had drafted four defenders from Florida State in the previous five years, including future Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks. But that year Florida State had what I considered the best, and fastest, college defense I had ever seen.

  However, Michael Vick put on a show that night in the Sugar Bowl and vaulted into the national spotlight. He was unquestionably the best player on the field. Florida State’s vaunted defense could not contain him as he threw, ran, and led his team back from a 21-point deficit to take the lead. Virginia Tech would eventually lose that game 46-29, but Michael had concluded the most dominant year any freshman quarterback had ever had.

  That performance, more than anything else, convinced the Atlanta Falcons to select Michael with the first pick in the 2001 NFL draft. Once with the Falcons, Michael continued to electrify fans with highlight-reel plays and, in his second year, led them to the brink of a Super Bowl. By that time, I was head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and in my twenty-third year of coaching in the NFL. I had never seen a weapon like Vick at the quarterback position. He had one of the strongest arms to ever play the game, and on most days he was the fastest player on the field. His potential seemed unlimited; he had become an icon to the young sports fans of the new millennium—a flashy superhero to the so-called Generation X.

  By the end of the 2004 season, Michael seemed to have the world at his feet. He was young, talented, and one of the most popular players in the most popular sport in America. But there were things going on in Michael’s private life that sports fans didn’t know about. At the height of his popularity, Michael’s career was about to come to a screeching halt.

  Michael and I first met in August of 2005 in Tokyo, Japan. The Colts were playing the Falcons, and we did some joint press conferences to promote the game. It allowed me the opportunity to tell him how much I enjoyed watching him play. Spending some time with him, I discovered he loved fishing as much as I did, and we talked about getting an outing together back in the US. We tried, but were never successful in setting up a date that worked for both of us.

  That has been one of my biggest regrets, because the next time we actually talked face-to-face was June of 2009, in the visitors’ quarters at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas, after Mike had been convicted on charges of running a dogfighting operation.

  We spent about three hours talking at the prison that day, and we covered a lot of subjects. We talked a little about playing football and about the NFL. We talked about growing up, families, friends, and children. We talked about decision making, role modeling, and responsibility. But, more than anything else, we talked about the Lord—about what role God had played in Michael’s life, and what God might have in store for him in the future.

  Michael shared with me how he had drifted away from the Christian faith in which his grandmother had raised him. I gave him a little advice that my dad had passed on to me years ago: “When you have a problem, don’t dwell on where you are but spend your energy thinking about how you’re going to make the situation better.”

  That day I asked Michael what he wanted to do moving forward. He said he wanted to make sure his children grew up with their dad around, leading them in the right direction. He wanted the young people who had cheered for him to know that, although he had made some mistakes, he wasn’t a bad person. And thirdly, he wanted to come back to the NFL and be a better quarterback than he was when he left.

  We agreed it wouldn’t be easy, given the public opinion that was so against him at the time. I had gotten letters and phone calls vilifying me for even going to see him, so I couldn’t imagine what he would face once he got out. He was going to have to do it with actions, not words. With God’s help, I believed he cou
ld do the first two, but even I didn’t have faith he could accomplish the last. Michael promised me he would achieve all three.

  Since that day we have stayed in touch. We call and text each other quite regularly, and Michael has kept his promise to me. He has been there for his family, and I know he’s going to be the husband and father that they need. He’s been active in the community—especially with young people, encouraging them to make good life choices and urging them to think about their futures. And yes, with the help of Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles, he has become a better quarterback than ever. In the fan voting for the 2011 Pro Bowl, Michael was the second-leading vote-getter, just behind Tom Brady and topping Peyton Manning—something I would have thought impossible that day at Leavenworth.

  Finally Free tells an amazing story. It’s not all pretty, but it’s real. If you’re like me—if you’ve ever done something in your life you wish you could take back—it will encourage you to learn that we serve a God of second chances and live in a country of second chances.

  The story is not complete, by any means, but this book will let you know why I’m so proud of Michael Vick and honored to call him a friend—because he has made the later chapters of his life better than the earlier ones.

  And isn’t that what life is all about?

  —Tony Dungy

  Acknowledgments

  I would like to give a special thanks to Tony Dungy, Roger Goodell, Jeffrey Lurie, and Andy Reid for believing in me and giving me a second chance.

  Also, I want to thank my agent, Joel Segal; my publicist, Chris Shigas; and Rick French, for all of their hard work and for helping me get my career back on track.

  There are so many people who have had a great impact on my life. To Pastor Kelley, thank you for your prayers and discipleship. To Coach Reamon, thank you for teaching me. To Coach Beamer, thank you for leading me. To Mr. Blank, thank you for first giving me an opportunity and then for your forgiveness. To Danny, thank you for all of your hard work, guidance, and counsel. And to Woody, thank you for your continued support and for always having my back.

  Brett and Steve, I can’t thank you enough for assisting me in putting my story and feelings on paper. And thanks to The Core Media Group for giving me the opportunity to share my story and provide hope and inspiration for others.

  But most importantly I would like to thank my family, friends, everyone who visited me in Kansas, and my current and former teammates for being there for me at a time in my life when I needed them most. Thank you.

  Lastly, I want to acknowledge the love and grace of God; without Him, I would not have a story to share.

  Introduction

  When the idea for this book was first conceived, Michael Vick was a backup quarterback. He wanted to tell his story so that other people, particularly youth, could learn from his mistakes.

  He wanted to express yet again his sincere apologies for getting involved in a barbaric dogfighting operation that landed him in jail for eighteen months, plus two months of home confinement and three years of probation after that.

  He wanted to share some of what life was like behind bars and how his relationship with God was rekindled during those dreary days of incarceration.

  He wanted to talk about the absolute joy of getting a second chance to play in the National Football League, even if he was mostly watching from the sidelines.

  There was no indication then that Vick, a former three-time Pro Bowler with the Atlanta Falcons, would do anything other than run a few plays out of the Wildcat formation for the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2010 season, just as he had done in ’09.

  But then there was a telephone conversation—Vick with his former high school coach, Tommy Reamon, on the eve of the Eagles’ season-opening game against the Green Bay Packers. Reamon says he told Vick the game would change his life. Vick didn’t quite know what to make of such a bold statement.

  But Reamon was right. Eagles’ starter Kevin Kolb was injured in the first half, and Vick entered the game and played extremely well in the second half. From that point on—even when he was out with a rib injury for three games—Vick became firmly established as the Eagles’ starting quarterback.

  He played with a maturity and a precision in the passing game that he’d never displayed in Atlanta. Yet he still possessed those magic legs with the nifty moves that had made him such a threat to run with the Falcons.

  As the 2010 season went along, Vick’s resurgence quickly became the story of the season in the NFL. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was interviewed at length by virtually every major sports television network.

  He was back—all the way back, better than ever.

  He turned in a performance for the ages against the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football, accounting for six touchdowns—four passing and two running. He led the league in passing for weeks and eventually became the leading NFC vote-getter in fan balloting for the Pro Bowl and the second-leading vote-getter in the NFL.

  Imagine that: just a few months earlier, the same person who was voted the most disliked athlete in America was now receiving more Pro Bowl votes from fans than nearly any other player. Obviously forgiveness, redemption, and second chances remain cornerstones of our society.

  The man who suspended him from the NFL, league commissioner Roger Goodell, was quoted late in the season as saying he was proud of Vick and cited as exemplary the way Vick was trying to be a model for others on and off the field, which included regularly giving talks denouncing dogfighting on behalf of the Humane Society of the United States.

  Then, in early December, the same US District Court judge who had sentenced Vick to prison, the Honorable Henry E. Hudson, praised Vick’s progress in an interview with the Washington Post. “He’s an example of how the system can work,” said Hudson. “He’s having a terrific season. I’m very happy for him. I wish him the best of success.”

  What Goodell and Judge Hudson did, in effect, was put the matter back in our hands. We were each left to determine what we were going to do with the Vick issue. Would we forgive?

  This, then, is a story as much about the rest of us as it is about Michael Vick. It will chronicle perhaps the most remarkable personal and professional turnaround in pro sports history.

  Part I:

  The Rise

  Chapter One

  In the Beginning

  “The beginning of my love for football goes back to when I was seven years old.”

  Hokies.

  Falcons.

  Eagles.

  I’ve always been a bird.

  I went from the ground—a foundation of faith and family that positioned me for success … to the air—a dangerous and selfish rise that took me higher and higher in flight … to a crash—a wounding yet deserved fall that took me lower and lower … to the cage—a humbling and desolate state that helped me return to the ground, rediscover my foundation, long for redemption, and ignite a strong desire to change.

  To change and rise again …

  After everything I have been through in my life and football career, it was surreal to be back in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl in January 2011.

  I sat in the middle of the bus that was transporting the NFC team from our hotel to the practice field, surrounded by three star players from my former team, the Atlanta Falcons. Wide receiver Roddy White was to my back right, quarterback Matt Ryan was directly across the aisle from me, and running back Michael Turner sat directly in front of me. We talked some, but mostly Matt and Roddy kidded Michael Turner about his eating.

  It was so ironic that we were sitting together. I spent six years with the Falcons, making the Pro Bowl on three occasions, and even though my time with them didn’t end anything like I or anyone else expected, I still have a fondness in my heart for that organization. I forever will.

  Once the bus arrived, I was amazed at the scene that was in front of me. Fans packed the path to the practice field. I saw reporters, cameras, and banne
rs welcoming everyone to the 2011 Pro Bowl—the all-star game that follows each NFL season. It’s one of the greatest honors in the league to be selected for the game, especially since your peers and fans both get to vote.

  The sun was shining bright that day. It was beautiful. Everyone I looked at had a smile on his or her face, especially the children. They wanted to get helmets and other items signed. I tried to sign as many autographs as possible, but the security officers assigned to us kept ushering me toward the field.

  It was a long but incredible walk. I felt such a sense of accomplishment as I looked at all the great players around me. I felt a sense of belonging. It was so rewarding to feel like I was back on the right track.

  I kept having flashbacks, though.

  I thought about my two long years away from football, when I didn’t know if I would ever make it back to the Pro Bowl.

  I thought about how hard I worked to get there again and the incredible opportunity the Philadelphia Eagles gave me with a second chance to play in the NFL.

  And I thought about my childhood years, when I first dreamed of playing in the NFL. Back then, in the beginning, being in a place like Hawaii was beyond my wildest imagination.

  I grew up in the Ridley Circle housing project—unit 667—in the crime-infested East End of Newport News, Virginia. Back then, I was known as “Ookie,” a nickname that was given to me by my Aunt Tina shortly after I was born, on June 26, 1980.

  The environment I grew up in played a tremendous part in my youth. There were consequences—both good and bad—that I had to deal with.

  Newport News is sometimes referred to as “NewportNam”—a word twist on “Vietnam.” The inference is that Newport News is a jungle-like war zone with pitfalls and traps at every turn. You just never knew when a peaceful situation would turn into a violent, volatile situation.