by Michael Vick
My partnership with the Humane Society means so much to me. It all started when Wayne Pacelle, who heads that organization, came to see me in prison and let me know he believed in me. Since then, I’ve spoken at more than thirty Humane Society events around the country. The first one was in Atlanta. I’ll never forget how nervous I was that day, but it went well.
It’s an honor to be one of their representatives. I appreciate the opportunity to speak against dogfighting and to hopefully change people’s perception about pit bulls. Some people think they are the worst dogs in the world, when they actually are among the smartest and friendliest breeds.
I’m happy to say that dogfighting is on the decline. Not as many dogs are fighting and getting hurt. I never heard anyone talk about the evils of dogfighting growing up. I take this platform very seriously, and I want to shed a new light that dogfighting is harmful, inhumane, and unethical.
I really wanted to see some results from all the talks I had been giving to kids about the dangers of dogfighting, so I asked Chris Shigas, my public relations counsel, what I could do. I wanted to do more than just give my testimony, because I’m only one person and I can only talk to so many people. I wanted to be more of an advocate.
After talking to Chris, we took the idea to Wayne Pacelle, the president of the Humane Society of the United States. Wayne saw a great opportunity for me to come to Capitol Hill and draw attention to some of the inadequate animal welfare laws.
It was July 2011, and I remember walking with Wayne and Chris through the halls of Congress where there was this gorgeous, ornate architecture. I thought, This is the real deal. This wasn’t some football field anymore. I wanted to make a real difference, and here we were.
Wayne and I gave our support for legislation that would make it a misdemeanor for anyone attending a dogfight or a cockfight. Now it is against the law to conduct one, but not against the law to attend one. And we also gave our support for legislation that would make it a felony to take a child to a dogfight or a cockfight. As I said earlier, I was eight years old when I saw my first dogfight. Back then, police would come to the dogfights and break them up, but no one would be arrested.
That day in DC was more than Wayne and me voicing support on Capitol Hill for legislation. Our time was spent in private meetings with congressional staff, the black caucus, and other lawmakers. We also held a press conference to raise awareness for the bills. And during the press conference, the Humane Society showed a video of children at a cockfight. The video disgusted me, and I thought, This has to stop.
I wanted to make real, tangible, and positive changes on behalf of animal welfare. The trip to Congress is another step toward fulfilling my promise to help more animals than I hurt.
Afterward, I did several big interviews with NPR (National Public Radio) and Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren to let everyone know what we had been lobbying for. I’m just grateful that the Humane Society reached out to me, so that I could learn about animal welfare causes and be put in a position to help.
Between the 2010 and 2011 seasons, I had two different speaking engagements that were particularly meaningful to me.
First, I returned to prison—this time to talk to inmates with Coach Dungy, fulfilling a promise I had made to him earlier. Peter King covered it for Sports Illustrated.
It was such a pleasure to be in Coach Dungy’s presence. I could listen to him talk all day. Every guy in that prison would have come out and spoken to him if they could. They were all in the windows to see him.
Speaking to those inmates was very hard for me to do. I was nervous—wondering what I was going to say, how I would deliver. Peter King was a little nervous too; I could see he was uncomfortable. I tried to help him relax, which in turn helped me. We got through it. He realized everyone was cool.
I decided to just speak from the heart. I spoke about some of my experiences and tried to encourage the guys. I just wanted to give them some insight. I spoke to two different groups, and I had a Q&A time with open dialogue. We laughed and joked and had a great time. I was glad to have done it and plan to do it again in the future.
The other opportunity was a bit more unique. I was chosen by the students from the Camelot schools—an alternative high school program in Philadelphia that serves at-risk youth—to be their commencement speaker. My speech to the approximately 450 graduates included these words:
As you have chosen me, I want you to know that I’ve chosen you. I have chosen you to succeed. That’s because I believe in you. You have proven your ability to overcome adversity, do the right thing, and finish school. You all are on my team. Take the lessons that you have learned, and apply them to your everyday life.
I was so blessed to announce that I would be funding $5,000 college scholarships for two of the students. It is a small way for me to provide hope and encouragement for others who are making the most of their second chance.
I’ve made it a priority in my life to dream again, and there’s a Scripture passage that was shared with me recently that I find particularly encouraging. It’s Isaiah 43:18–19:
Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
That’s my life right there. It’s like a promise from God as I look ahead and move forward. It exemplifies His heart for redemption.
All good quarterbacks must have good vision—an ability to see what defenses are doing ahead of time and discern what plays will work. They need to know just how far to throw a pass so it will land directly in a receiver’s hands. Vision for life is important too, and that’s something I have more of now than ever before.
My vision is to carry out God’s plan and not do anything to interfere with what He has in store for me. I do that by being the best family man I can be, by not making irrational decisions, and by not surrounding myself with people who are bad influences. On and off the field, it’s all about staying the course. All the accolades are great, and all the things I’ve accomplished are good, but it’s leaving a legacy that matters.
Obviously, inevitably, people are going to say, “Mike Vick was this; he did this; he did that.” But remember me for what I accomplished after I matured—after the prison sentence.
I want to be remembered as a guy who never gave up, whether with my family, out on the football field, in a prison cell, or playing one-on-one basketball with someone in the neighborhood. To sum it all up, I would say one word: resilient. I stand firm in God, push through, and never give up—even in my darkest moments.
My job, my career, is simply what I do, not who I am. With this perspective—knowing my identity is in God and not in those things—I can move forward with confidence. In that confidence, I have set some goals for myself.
My goal in the NFL is simple: I want to win a Super Bowl.
What a moment it would be if one day I’m able to stand with my teammates and hold the Vince Lombardi Trophy that the NFL awards each year to its championship team. Every quarterback wants to lift up that trophy and say, “I led my team to a Super Bowl and won it.” If I can accomplish that, it would be a storybook ending for me.
At the conclusion of my career, I want to take some time off and then eventually get into high school coaching to help as many kids as I can to get into college and teach them to dream big. I guess you could say I want to follow in Coach Tommy Reamon’s footsteps, to pass along to others the many things he taught me.
I only want to coach high school. I won’t coach college or the pros because those levels are just too time-consuming with recruiting and all the preparation that’s necessary. I still want to have time with my family when I coach, and since I am already sacrificing family time, I don’t want to do it again later in life.
Another thing I want to do, because I have the land, is to start a wildlife conservation center.
I’d also like to have one or two animal shelters and open up two or three veterinary hospitals around the world. I think this would be a unique way for me to continue giving back. It can’t fix what I’ve done, but it would provide a better future for animals.
Friends, fans, and fellow players have helped me to stay positive.
It meant a lot during the 2010 season to receive texts saying “Congratulations!” Teammates stood by me, and so did many players from other teams—guys like Peyton Manning. I am also thankful that support came from key people in my rehabilitation process—people who easily could have been very skeptical because of all that I did in the past. Words of support from the judge who sentenced me, the NFL commissioner who suspended me, and the Atlanta Falcons organization that I let down so severely were an incredible encouragement.
My comeback is far from over. I don’t know if it will ever be fully complete, but I feel good that progress is being made. One of the ways I’m able to gauge how I’m doing is the feedback I get from the people who know me the best and have known me the longest—guys like Coach Reamon, Pastor Domeka Kelley, and James “Poo” Johnson from the Newport News Boys & Girls Club. Each of them has meant so much to me, both before and after my prison sentence. They encourage me almost daily, and I want to share with you some of their perspectives.
Coach Reamon says: “A tremendous maturity has happened in Michael. The football part doesn’t surprise me at all, but his communication is also so solid for important things in his life and proving something, not just to himself but to others.”
Pastor Kelley says he sees a noticeable difference in my countenance: “Michael has a smile that captivates the world. But now it’s like he has a glow to go along with that smile. He has grown tremendously in his relationship with the Lord; he has found his purpose. He is a wonderful football player, but he knows he has a higher calling than that.”
And here are a few words from Mr. Johnson: “One of the things I was so proud of was that Michael never got cold toward people. He has handled what has been said about him well. He manned up to it and didn’t try to blame anyone else. He just stepped up and put the blame where it is supposed to be.”
I greatly appreciate those words coming from men I admire so much. I know that it is God who has given me the grace to extend to others.
It’s good to know that people from back home like Coach Reamon, Pastor Kelley, and Mr. Johnson have my back. They follow and support virtually everything I do.
Mr. Johnson says he plays football vicariously through me and that he still views me as one of his kids in the Boys & Girls Club. “It’s like every time you run the ball, I run the ball,” he told me. “When you take a hit, I take a hit.”
There are many areas I still need to improve in, both on and off the field. Mr. Johnson agrees with Coach Reid that, for my own safety, I need to become better at sliding at the end of a run rather than acting like a running back and subjecting myself to some rather crushing hits from defenders. Mr. Johnson even has an expert who he says can teach me: his longtime friend and baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who was an exceptional slider as well as a feared home-run hitter. Maybe one of the reasons I’m not a good slider is because, whether it’s running with the football or giving a speech for the Humane Society or to a graduating class, I try to approach everything head-on.
Though there are times to approach life head-on, there are other times we need to let God do His thing.
Philadelphia took a chance on me. Many people, like Andy Reid, Tony Dungy, and Roger Goodell, took a chance on me. Through it all—my rise, fall, and ongoing redemption—I had support. I had support from my family, friends, and fans. They didn’t have to support me, but they did. People didn’t have to write me letters, but they did.
My story is not finished. I have more to do. I have something that I want to give back to everyone that supported me. Here it is: I am committed, focused, and determined to win a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. This is my promise. It is my drive. I will work like a champion to get there. I want to do it for my family, friends, mentors, coaches, teammates, and fans. I want to do it for Philly.
Not long before this book went to press, I went out to plant sunflower seeds with my son Mitez. I thought about what I would like to do with the sunflowers if they rose out of the ground: I told Mitez we’d take them and place them on my grandmother Caletha’s grave. She’s the one who taught me how to walk with confidence.
I wish she was still here to help me, because I know the eyes of the world are constantly on me, watching to see how—and if—I will grow. Watching to see if I will rise or fall. To the watching world, I’ll say the same thing that I’d say to my grandmother if she were still with us: I’ve only just begun.
Postscript
Second chances are not any easier than the first; this is why we must learn from our failures and avoid repeating our mistakes. Based on my trials and successes, I have learned so much that is helping me now. I only wish I could have learned these things earlier.
I would like to share some principles that have helped me make the most of my second chance. I call them “seven keys to a better life.” These principles are featured throughout this book, and it is my hope that they will be of some help to you too.
1. Develop a relationship with God and put Him first in your life.
2. Honor and respect your family by making them a priority above other things and other relationships.
3. Build a positive and strong support network of peers by choosing your friends wisely.
4. Tell the truth in all situations. Lying will always backfire.
5. Be mentored. We can learn so much from people wiser than ourselves. Then become a mentor, paying it forward to others.
6. Give hope and be an encouragement to others.
7. Pursue excellence in all you do through full commitment, sacrifice, and service.
Career Playing Record
(through the 2010 breakout season)
Player Profile
Full Name: Michael Dwayne Vick
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 215 pounds
Birthplace: Newport News, Va.
Birthdate: June 26, 1980
Parents: Brenda Vick and Michael Boddie
Siblings: Sisters - Christina & Courtney / Brother - Marcus
Wife: Kijafa Frink
Children: Son - Mitez / Daughters - Jada, London
High School: Ferguson and Warwick, Newport News, Va.
College: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
First Team: Boys & Girls Club Spartans, Newport News, Va.
Greatest Influence: Grandmother - Caletha Vick
Favorite Childhood Athletes: Steve Young, Jerry Rice
Hobbies: Fishing, golf
Career Highlights
November 5, 1994 Second start as freshman for Ferguson vs. Gloucester, threw for 433 yards and 3 touchdowns
September 4, 1999 Debut for Virginia Tech vs. James Madison
January 4, 2000 Threw for 225 yards and rushed for 97 vs. Florida State in the 2000 Sugar Bowl
September 30, 2000 Rushed for 210 yards vs. Boston College
April 21, 2001 Drafted No. 1 overall by the Atlanta Falcons
September 9, 2001 Debut for Atlanta vs. San Francisco
September 23, 2001 Rushed for first career touchdown vs. Carolina
November 11, 2001 First NFL start and passing touchdown vs. Dallas
December 12, 2002 Threw for career-high 337 yards
January 4, 2003 First playoff victory vs. Green Bay (Wild Card) ending Green Bay’s undefeated playoff record at Lambeau Field
February 2, 2003 First Pro Bowl
October 31, 2004 Became the first quarterback to throw for more than 250 yards and rush for more than 100 yards in the same game vs. Denver
December 24, 2005 Became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season with an 18-yard run vs. Carolina
September 27
, 2009 Debut for Philadelphia vs. Kansas City
December 6, 2009 Scored first passing and rushing touchdowns in return to the NFL for Philadelphia vs. Atlanta
November 15, 2010 Threw for 333 yards and 4 touchdowns, and rushed for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns vs. Washington on Monday Night Football (game jersey enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame)
January 30, 2011 First Pro Bowl start
Career Teams
Ferguson High School: 1994 - 1995
Warwick High School: 1996 - 1997
Virginia Tech: 1998 (Redshirted) - 2000
Atlanta Falcons: 2001 - 2006
Philadelphia Eagles: 2009 -
Career Statistical Profile
Season-by-Season Breakdown
Game-by-Game Breakdown: High School
Ferguson High
Warwick High
Note: Also had 73-yard and 35-yard punt returns for TDs that are not listed in his TD totals.
High School Career Summary
Record as a starter: 19-14
Honors
1996 All-Peninsula District 1st team defense (DB)
1997 Preseason All-America by:
SuperPrep
PrepStar
1997 All-Peninsula District 1st team offense & defense (athlete & DB)
1997 All-America by:
SuperPrep
PrepStar
National Recruiting Advisor
Game-by-Game Breakdown: College
Virginia Tech
*NCAA Passer Rating
