Getty Michael Vick played in Philadelphia from 2009 until 2013 and completed a well-documented rehabilitation program.
Michael Vick only spent five seasons in Philadelphia but that was long enough to make the franchise his own. The second-best dual-threat quarterback in NFL history — we see you Randall Cunningham — took to the airwaves on Friday to voice his support for “my Eagles” and declare them better than the Dallas Cowboys. Vick believes they will win the NFC East and Carson Wentz will “step up.”
Vick was a guest on FOX Sports’ “Undisputed” show with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe where he predicted the Eagles would win the NFC East. His main argument was that Dallas’ defense just wasn’t good enough despite all their weapons on offense. He’s banking on the Cowboys’ track record of playing down to expectations while crediting a stout Philly defense.
“My Eagles are definitely going to make a push,” Vick said. “If the Eagles get Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson back, then there just as good as the Dallas Cowboys and they might be a little better than the Dallas Cowboys because defensively they have Darius Slay and they still have Fletcher Cox, two guys that can change the dynamic of the game, any game.”
Vick went on to praise Carson Wentz and give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt for “riding the wave” after beating the San Francisco 49ers last week. Philly has won the division in two of the last three years, including raising the Lombardi Trophy in 2018.
“Dak [Prescott] is playing some of his best football, but on the defensive side, it’s going to be a struggle every week,” Vick said. “I think, until somebody steps up and says I’m tired of going through what we been through, and says I’m going to be the guy and takes the onus and makes this defense better in some way shape or form … until that happens I can’t see Dallas winning the NFC East. I see Carson Wentz steppng up and playing a lot better. I see the Philadelphia Eagles riding the wave they’ve been on since last week, maybe pulling out a few games.”
For the record, Jeffery and Jackson are out for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh as the first-place Eagles look to make it two wins in a row.
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Vick Loved His Time in Philadelphia
The Eagles were the only team to take a chance on Vick after his almost two-year exile from football due to atrocious crimes related to dogfighting. The former quarterback signed with the Eagles in 2009 and usurped the starting job from Kevin Kolb in 2010 after Donovan McNabb was jettisoned to Washington.
Then-coach Andy Reid had a vision of a high-octane offense before Patrick Mahomes was a thing. It worked. Vick threw for 3,018 yards and 21 touchdowns that year while running for 676 yards and nine scores. He won NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors and made the Pro Bowl, narrowly missing the league’s MVP award.
“Andy Reid is a man who will go down in history, in my book, as one of the greatest coaches of all time and one of the greatest men I’ve ever met,” Vick said in 2013, via ESPN.
Chip Kelly Ruined the Philly Experiment
Then, former Eagles coach Chip Kelly ruined everything when he broke up the band. Vick left for the Jets and eventually finished his career with the Steelers, while Kelly flat-out cut Jackson and traded star running back LeSean McCoy for a bag of doughnuts (read: Kiko Alonso).
Michael Vick remembers crying because he was so frustrated with Chip Kelly during the Eagles QB battle (via @SimmsAndLefkoe)
Vick and Jackson lamented what could have been during a “traumatizing” interview in 2019. Those Eagles probably could have won a championship.
“You have a coach that comes in and brings his own stigma, or culture — philosophy, whatever you want to call it,” Jackson said, via Bleeding Green Nation, “and he was one of them coaches where he didn’t believe in players. Like, it was his system. In the NFL it’s players that win championships.”
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