He was arrested for allowing underage girls to drink at a party.
In May 2004, he was convicted on three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
He was arrested for marijuana possession and reckless driving in July of that year.
Yes, Marcus Vick, the brother of Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick, is already making a bad name for himself, and he isn’t even 22 years old.
He was finally dismissed from the Virginia Tech football team for stomping on Louisville defensive lineman Elvis Dumervil’s calf in the Gator Bowl as well as driving with a suspended license.
Two days after being kicked off the team, he allegedly brandished a gun at three teenagers in a McDonald’s parking lot. Vick claims he was holding a black cell phone, and the teenagers were trying to blackmail him for money. OK, I’ll give him that one.
But why does this guy deserve a chance in the NFL? He coasted through college (as many professional athletes do at Div. I schools, but that’s a different story) and was given chance after chance to prove he could play like his brother, who was electrifying for the Hokies when he had the football in his hands.
Sure there have been a lot of players who have gone into the league with troubled pasts. Lawrence Phillips, Sebastian Janikowski, Maurice Clarett and pretty much anyone on the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys all come to mind. But when your brother changed the way people watch football, you’re held to some pretty high expectations.
Last Friday, he sat down and calmly answered every question thrown his way. Vick saw each question about his past as a chance to “tell them the truth and be positive about it.”
He also buried the hatchet with Dumervil, who responded by saying he has “a lot of respect” for Vick and “it’s time to move on.”
After all, the best way for Marcus Vick to grow into a headstrong NFL caliber quarterback would be for him to realize the upcoming draft will be his last second chance at football.
He took another step in the right direction by saying he “just wants a team to give (him) a shot . . . it doesn’t matter the round or the money” during the Friday press meetings.
Many NFL scouts, former teammates and coaches feel that Vick surpasses his brother in field smarts, patience and overall passing skills. He was clocked at 4.42 in the 40, and according to the Hokie coaching staff; he is coachable and a hard worker. Now does that sound like a guy who sells pot and waves guns at teenagers?
With all the intangibles, Vick deserves a shot in the NFL. He knows what will happen if he has another run-in with the law. My guess would be that he goes to a team that won’t put up with off-the-field conflicts.
Of course I could be wrong and Marcus Vick could take a dive down to a spot on the NFL’s All-Criminal Team with Michael Irvin, Bill Romanowski and others, but if I was picking for an NFL team, the potential reward would greatly outweigh the risk.
McCormick is a freshman print journalism major and a copy editor of The Spectator.
