The Philadelphia Eagles’ offense is one of the more fortunate units when it comes to a lockout. While they do have a lot of young players, they’ve at least played together quite a bit and won’t have to be installing an entirely new system this offseason as they prepare for 2011. Teams with brand new head coaches and coordinators will probably get smacked a lot harder than teams that have some continuity.
Of course, I’m not remotely referring to the Eagles defense. A lockout would be a problem for the team’s defense for sure.
But even the most locked-in offenses still need to work to stay in rhythm, and Michael Vick says he plans to make that happen regardless of the labor situation.
“Wherever we agree to be collectively. It may be Florida, it may be Hawaii. We’ll get our work in,” Vick said at the Maxwell Awards. “Being on the same page, timing, which is very important. I think everybody has to be on one accord, all thinking the same. Practice and film study are important, but just familiarizing ourselves with each other, that’s going to be big for us.”
Vick currently is signed as the franchise player, but it’s relatively safe to say that the Eagles would like to lock him up long term when a CBA gets done.
“We haven’t talked about long-term negotiations or my future. We just talked about what can get done this year,” Vick said. “I think that anything else that happens is solely on me. I think I dictate the situation based on my play and performance and my actions on and off the field. So that ball is in my court, I think. The most important part is going out and playing good football and trying to bring something to the city that we’ve been looking for for a long time.”
If nothing else, Vick is doing a great job of saying the right things in the media. If he can protect his legs and body better over the course of a season and duplicate the hot stretch he had in 2010, he’ll most certainly get paid.
The people he owes money too are surely rooting for him.
Vick was also asked about the whole Oprah incident. And while I didn’t really find anything wrong with his explanation, I’m not sure if he’s aware that this is her last season.
“I just thought the timing wasn’t right, based on everything that was going on with the contract, the CBA and certain things that I didn’t want to touch on at the time,” he said. “I felt like I needed to do more in order to be on the show to talk about the past and to talk about the present and how prosperous things are and how bad they were and how we can move forward. I think when I do go on, it’s going to be outstanding.”
Might want to hurry, or he’ll end up settling for Wendy Williams.
After having paid his debt to society, it seems that Vick is trying to repay a debt to the NFL. Good for him!
uh, drummer, how he trying to repay a debt to NFL? He’s just saying the right things to keep his cleaner rep clean. He’s screwed if he doesn’t say and do the right things at the very least until his debt is cleared. Don’t try to glorify the man, he’s just following directions/common sense for the first time in a while, nothing else.
@Shiller….. i’m pretty much sure you said all the right things during your job interview to get your position……. What the man has been through is just a remarkable story……. we all say things to get us in a better position in life….. It’s America……… If Don King can wave a flag with two different countries and still get paid for doing nothing………. And yell out publicly “Only in America”!!!! It’s not glorifying the man…. It’s called paying homage!!!
Everything Vick has done was focused on a singular goal – a big money contract. Follow Vick the player if you can stomach it, but the “redemption” narrative was constructed by the NFL Public Relations machine. The nature of Vick’s crimes, as evidenced by mass graves of dogs on his property, were far too disturbing and ongoing to believe he’s suddenly a new man and regrets anything more than the consequences of getting caught. If so much money were not at stake, Vick’s words might mean something.
Jroc, I hear ya. Well put. I’m not trying to disparage what he’s done since getting out of jail by any means either. Vick is just another guy, trying to do the right things for his life and career. And in the meantime, due to his ridiculous athletic gifts, we might and are hoping to get some serious benefits out of the guy on the football field. That’s all there is to it in my view.