30 for 30: What we learned from Vick (Part 1)

ESPN’s latest 30 for 30, Vick, documents the life and career of NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Part 1 of the documentary follows his upbringing until his 2006 arrest.

Michael Vick was one of the most, if not the most, electrifying players during his era while playing quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. The Michael Vick Experience was a sight to be seen every Sunday he stepped on the field and he became Atlanta’s second coming of the Human Highlight Reel.

Directed by Stanley Nelson, Vick is an introspective look at the rise, fall and rise again of a quarterback who became as controversial as he was electrifying. The documentary has commentary from Vick, his family, friends, coaches, writers, and other personalities.

Nelson opens up the documentary by explaining why he wants to tell us Vick’s story, why now is the perfect time to look back and reflect on the quarterback’s legacy, and how it also intertwines with race in America. Right after the opening credits, Vick narrates on the emotional toll it took on him and his family when he turned himself in for prison.

Growing up in Newport News, Virginia

Michael Vick grew up in Newport News, Virginia, which is three hours away from Washington D.C., near the Virginia Peninsula. Nicknamed “Bad News,” Newport News is an area where a lot of people do not make it out from. The city got its nickname because “there ain’t noting but bad news in Bad News”. Bruce Smith, Lawrence Taylor, Allen Iverson and Chris Hanburger are some of the few sports Hall of Famers to make it out of the area who went on to have successful careers.

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Vick’s parents were young. His mother Brenda Vick was 17 and his father Michael Boodie, nicknamed “Bullet,” was an all-state track athlete and defensive back. Vick would say his father had all the talent in the world but lacked direction.

Like a lot of communities in America at the time, crack destroyed Newport News and the residents there gave it other nicknames such as “The Bottom” and “Newport Nam” because of how dire the area was. Where Vick grew up in Ridley Circle, an impoverished neighborhood that was hit the hardest.

In the spring of 1991, Vick began playing rec league football at the age of 10 and that’s when everyone began to recognize his talent. The community ordained him as being  “The Next Iverson of the Pennisula,” which was a huge honor to be bestowed upon. Vick and Iverson had known each other since childhood and their moms were friends.

High school phenom

By the time he reached high school in the fall of 1996, Vick started to create some buzz outside of the state of Virginia. The left-handed QB had a rocket-arm and was often the fastest player on the field. Colleges across the country began recruiting him and he received letter after letter from some of the nation’s biggest programs including UNC, Clemson, Syracuse, VA Tech, UCLA, and USC.

His high school coach Tommy Reamon Sr. stated that if a school would even suggest making Vick switch positions that he would tell them to leave his office. This was during a time when black quarterbacks often had to end up switching positions because they were often seen as inferior to white ones.

Vick narrowed it down to Virginia Tech and Syracuse, but before committing to which school he was going to play for, he spent the weekend at Syracuse with their star quarterback Donovan McNabb. Unfortunately for Syracuse, Vick chose Va Tech.

Ookie the Hokie

Vick’s childhood nickname was “Ookie” and he gave head coach Frank Beamer the okay and was enrolled at Virginia Tech on June 30, 1998. Vick’s high school head coach Tommy Reamon Sr. encouraged Michael to choose Va Tech because it was close to home and the guidance that coach Beamer could give him.

Beamer promised to redshirt Vick his freshman year so he could learn the offense, study game film and develop and refine his skills as a quarterback. Vick was reflective about his freshman year at Va Tech and said that he never wanted to leave Newport News yet it felt like he was forced to go to college.

By the end of his redshirt freshman season in 1999, Michael Vick had become a household name. He led Va Tech to their most successful season, 11-0 and their first national championship game. He also finished third place in Heisman voting which matched a record set by Herschel Walker at that time.

Unfortunately, the Hokies would go on to lose the championship game at the Sugar Bowl to Florida State in January of 2000, but Michael Vick put his team on his back. His lateral quickness and mobility made him too difficult for defenders to tackle and caused two Florida State defenders (Roland Seymour and Tommy Polley) to tear their ACLs.

In the Sugar Bowl, Vick singlehandedly accounted for 323 yards of the 503 yards of total offense that the Hokies gained. After the game, head coach Bobby Bowden commented that in 10 years every college campus will have their version of Vick playing quarterback. Legendary commentator Lee Corso said that Vick was the greatest freshman he had ever seen on the field.

Welcome to Atlanta

At the end of the 2000 season, Vick called Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb for advice on leaving for the NFL. Vick decided to hold a press conference at a place that was close to him and brought everything full circle at the Boys and Girls Club in his hometown.

At the press conference, Vick announced that he was forgoing the rest of his eligibility to enter the NFL draft. During the press conference, his coach Beamer was visibly upset, which was also commented on by Vick’s aunt Tina.

Since he was such a gifted athlete, Michael Vick did not train before the scouting combine. During his workout, he threw a pass with so much velocity that it knocked the bone out of one of his receiver’s fingers. Allen Iverson commented on how the NFL was going to see the football version of him once Vick made it into the league.

On April 20, 2001, the day before the draft, the San Diego Chargers traded the top pick of the draft to the Atlanta Falcons, which allowed the Falcons to select Vick on draft day. Historically, looking back with the events that transpired in Vick’s career, the Chargers won that trade because they ended up selecting LaDainian Tomlinson and Drew Brees, but the Chargers failed to win anything with them (Also, they’re not even in San Diego anymore).

Vick does a fantastic job of examining the significance of Michael Vick going number one in his draft class, the first black quarterback to ever do so in a city like Atlanta. A city that has a rich and controversial history when it comes to black people in America and sports, during a time when the city’s Hip-Hop scene is on the rise nationally.

When the Brooklyn Dodgers came to town with Jackie Robinson, the stadium in Atlanta would fill up because the black population of Georgia wanted to see him play. Black Atlanta rallied with Muhammad Ali when he was able to box again and when Hank Aaron played for the Atlanta Braves, they rallied with him as well. Once Vick stepped on the field in the Georgia Dome, he made it the most diverse place in the city.

Atlanta Falcon’s head coach Dan Reeves made sure to guide Vick in the right direction. Reeves would make sure that Vick would study his playbook and quiz him on game film that Vick had to take home and watch. Off the field, Reeves advised Vick to stay alert of the people around him and who he calls his friends.

With the success that Vick had obtained, he would pay for everything for his friends and family. The NFL labeled Vick’s entourage his “posse” and Reeves wanted to make sure that Vick had the right people around him.

The Falcons quarterback said that if he was eating steak then he wanted everyone around him to be eating steak too. His financial adviser would later state that this gravy train has biscuit wheels and once those checks stop coming then Vick won’t be left with much.

The start of the ending

Vick purchased some property on Moonlight Road in Surry, VA, which was his place to go and relax and get away from everything. There he would shoot guns, ride ATVs but it soon became a hangout spot for his entourage. His wife Kijafa would describe it like a frat house where a bunch of strangers, dogs, and drugs would come in and go out. She knew that there were rotten apples that would spoil the whole bunch.

During his 2006 season, Vick self-admittedly was in a dark place and he struggled on and off the field. On the field, he set the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback on his way to becoming the first one with over 1,000 yards on the ground, but the Falcons failed to make the playoffs by finishing with a record of 7-9.

He tied his career-high with 13 interceptions and the Falcons had the worst-ranked passing game in the NFL. On top of that, he was fined $10,000 for flipping off a fan. His new coaching staff did not hold him accountable for the playbook or studying. His coaching staff acted more like fans than coaches.

Off the field, Vick was getting warning calls telling him that whatever is going on in Surry needed to stop. State troopers would put surveillance on the home, but Vick was admittedly naive to take heed to the warnings. He was also caught at the airport carrying a water bottle with a compartment for his marijuana.

Vick speaks the final words of part 1 of the documentary when he says that this was “the start of the ending.”

What did you think of Vick (Part 1)? You can tune in to part 2 of Vick on Feb. 6, 2020, at 9:00 PM Eastern on ESPN.