Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Generally speaking we are front runners when it comes to just about everything.
There’s no doubt in my mind that we don’t appreciate continued excellence nearly as much as stories in which people rise, fall and then rise again. I present as a perfect example one Michael Vick. Despite some questionable actions while a college player at Virginia Tech, he was the #1 overall draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2001 and quickly became a star. It wasn’t that Vick was such a great quarterback but rather his dazzling style of play that made him stand out and before long he was earning millions in endorsements from Nike, EA Sports and Coca Cola. His Falcons #7 jersey was among the top selling in all of sports and it seemed like the sky was the limit. From time to time there were black marks on his resume but he managed to survive most of them until he was implicated in an illegal dog fighting operation in 2007. Vick would later plead guilty, spend nearly two years in prison and eventually file for bankruptcy as his career and life reached rock bottom. It appeared his playing days were over until the summer of 2009 when the Eagles signed him to a one year contract.

At that time most Eagles fans were against the move and the team spent a considerable amount of time trying to convince fans that Vick was no longer the poster child for bad behavior and he deserved a second chance. It did not sit well with many who thought he would be nothing more than a distraction and would cast a negative image on the team. Another part of that was many probably didn’t feel he had any good football left and after all they were pretty content with Donovan McNabb as their quarterback.

Well you probably know what’s happened in just over a year. McNabb has been traded to Washington and Vick has become a star again who’s greatest performance came just last night in a rout of McNabb’s new team…the Redskins. In that game Vick threw for 4 touchdowns, ran for two more and simply looked like a serious candidate for the league’s MVP award. Today he is being celebrated in Philadelphia, fans are sporting his #7 jersey again and there are no protests about animal cruelty. In other words because he is playing well then most are willing to forget the bad. Bottom line….we are front-runners.