“Hang onto the world as it spins around. Just don't let the spin get you down. Things are moving fast. Hold on tight and you will last.”
Lyric from: Someday We'll All Be Free from the album Extension of a Man
Written By: Edward Howard and Donny Hathaway
Performed by: Donny Hathaway
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| Photo of Michael Vick, Courtesy of Hunter Martin/Getty Images |
The Eagles squandered four trips to the red zone, only managing to come away with a couple of field goals instead of touchdowns.
Michael Vick was sacked 7 times, on pace to take that punishment a total of 46 times this season.
Last week Andy Reid said that he was “going to evaluate all of his starters” after his team lost to Vick’s old team, the Atlanta Falcons 30-17, leading to days of speculation that Vick would lose his starting job in favor of rookie, Nick Foles. If Reid’s remarks were meant to serve as a threat they turned up empty as he eventually declared that benching Vick was not an option he was considering.
He reiterated that declaration after last night’s whipping at the hands of the Saints.
“Michael Vick will be the quarterback,” Reid told reporters.
Who can blame him for not blaming Vick?
The offensive line is an embarrassment and, the team is suddenly without guys who can make plays on offense although DeSean Jackson did score on a dazzling 77-yard TD reception last night. And their defense is a far cry from the menacing ball hawks that the late Jim Johnson once directed, this despite two high profile free agency additions to their secondary a couple of years ago in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha.
But, it’s hard not to expect more from Vick. More anger, more irritation, more yelling, more calling out of teammates for not executing, being accountable or living up to his expectations.
As I watched number 7 calmly head to the Eagles sideline last night, however, as one inexplicable miscue after another cost his team sustained drives, momentum and points, I had a thought.
I wondered if Vick might no longer be capable of those kinds of self-important outbursts.
We all know the story. The Falcons rewarded Vick with a $130 million dollar contract after he rewarded them with a thrilling resurgence while rewarding detractors and fans alike with a newfound confidence in the advantages of a run first, athletic QB.
What we remember next is a rapid fall from grace though it may have been more of a cascading tumble. Vick was suspected of dog fighting, got caught with some weed in a secret compartment of a water bottle at the airport and then got indicted for operating a dog fighting ring.
He lost everything-his freedom and his millions.
After two years in prison, and then an unbelievable job replacing Donovan McNabb, the Eagles rewarded Vick with a $100 million contract after he rewarded them with a thrilling resurgence while rewarding detractors and fans alike with a newfound confidence in his ability as a pocket passer.
No doubt that Vick is now a man with an insightful understanding of reinvention and a profound appreciation of redemption.
And the path to that type of enlightenment is often paved with humility.
My guess is that a prison stint has a way about teaching life’s hard lessons in the most painful of ways. A loss of status, respect and prestige can be a debilitating beginning to a regretful, bitter end.
Those who survive that plight are usually driven to do so by a strong desire to restore their good names but often experience an intense, grounding adjustment in their opinion of themselves.
That said, these days Vick’s annoyance and fury are most certainly tempered with a heavy indebtedness and a keen awareness of his being smack dab in the middle of a second chance.
This is about more than a criminal playing the part of a rehabilitated, model citizen. This is likely about a man with a brand spanking new perspective.
“I love each and every guy in that locker room, and if I could make every play right I would,” Vick said last night.
He offered that quote apologetically after learning that his brother, Marcus Vick, had criticized the Eagles O-line and demanded that the elder Vick be traded in a rant on Twitter during the game.
Vick's words there reek of the gratefulness and indulgent patience of a wounded soul now resurrected.
But alas, something must be done about the Eagles and whether sooner or later, a change at QB may be the easiest to implement.
Vick has intimated that he will support whatever decision has to be made.
And with that, he will have killed two birds with one stone.
Having made history as the first QB to not live up to two, $100 million dollar contracts, he will cement Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s place in history as the league's first to have awarded a $100 million contract to two different quarterbacks without a Super Bowl win to show for it.
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