Michael Vick

Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He has previously played for the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.

Vick played college football at Virginia Tech, where as a freshman he placed third in the Heisman Trophy balloting. He left after his sophomore year to enter the NFL and was drafted first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2001 NFL Draft, the first African-American quarterback ever taken in that position. In six seasons with the Falcons, he gained wide popularity for his performance on the field, and led the Falcons to the playoffs twice. During his tenure with Atlanta, Vick was selected to three Pro Bowls.

In April 2007, Vick was implicated in an illegal interstate dog fighting ring that had operated for five years. A federal judge noted that he had promoted, funded, and facilitated a dog fighting ring on his property, and had engaged in hanging and drowning dogs who did not perform well. He also had failed to cooperate fully with police. In August 2007, Vick pleaded guilty to federal felony charges and served 21 months in prison, followed by two months in home confinement. Hurt financially by the loss of his NFL salary and product endorsement deals, combined with previous financial mismanagement, Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2008. Falcons owner Arthur Blank did not want Vick on his team, so the team released Vick after failing to trade him. He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and was reinstated in Week 3 of the 2009 season.

In 2010, Vick became the Eagles' starting quarterback and led them to the 2011 NFL Playoffs as NFC East Champions. Despite starting only 11 games and only playing in 12 games, Vick set career highs in passing yards, passing percentage, QB rating, passing touchdowns, and rushing touchdowns. He was named the 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and was selected to his fourth Pro Bowl. Vick ranks first among quarterbacks in career rushing yards. He married Kijafa Frink on June 30, 2012 at The Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, Florida.

The section "Biography" of this page contains content from the copyrighted Wikipedia article "Michael Vick"; that content is used under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.