Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has had enough of what he feels to be redundant criticisms and comments concerning his performance last year. Vick expressed his frustration in an interview this past Friday.
“I really don’t think I need to discuss what type of game I’m going to play.” Vick said after practice. “It’s going to be what it’s going to be. It seems like the questions are becoming repetitive and I’m tired of answering it because the only thing we can do is wait and see if I’m going to play a more disciplined game.” “There’s not too much more to say or to talk about.”
Throughout his career Vick has always been criticized for subjecting himself to more contact because of his unwillingness at time to let go of the football. With three missed games due to injury (and early exits from two others), critics have surmised that the quarterback’s plethora of injuries last season were caused in large part by his tendency to hold on to the football too long. The former Falcon disagrees, stating that his style of play had nothing to do with his bumps and bruises.
“The goal is to protect myself. I put my faith in God to keep me on the field with my team and with the guys and that’s about it. There’s no reason to keep digging and to (be) talking about it and saying ‘change your style, are you holding the ball too long?’ I’m over that. That’s not the reason and I think sometimes people make assumptions not really knowing what needs to be done,” Vick said. “I think the correction to all of this is simple, protect yourself as best as I can, put my faith in the lord and myself and keep pushing.”
In addition to defending his playing style, Vick also voiced his frustration with being asked the same questions repeatedly. “…at some point I start to feel like it’s personal like shots are being directed towards me for holding the ball too long, certain things, when that’s not the case,” he said.
As a Michael Vick fan since his collegiate days at Virginia Tech, I’m on the fence with this topic.
Yes, his style of play forces him to take more hits than a more conventional quarterback, but injuries will always be a part of the game. Although a healthy Vick is obviously better than a battered and bruised one, changing his style of play would take away from his dynamic as a player. The Pro-Bowler’s ability to keep opposing defenses on their toes, both literally and figuratively, with his ability to run the ball makes him that much harder to stop. With that being said, however, the veteran must make the necessary adjustments physically to keep himself healthy if he continues to play the game his way.
Vick may very well be frustrated with all the questions and concerns about his performance last season, but the best rebuttal for criticism is success. Instead of jawing at the media for asking the same questions, Vick needs to focus on preparing himself physically and mentally for the upcoming season. Here’s some advice on how to silence the critics Mr. Vick; WIN.
Too f^#@ing bad!!! Get used to it, because if he doesn’t change the way he plays, run out of bounds, take less hits, give up less TO’s, or learn how to better read the opponent, he will be murdered with criticism every week, whether he likes it, or not. We all want a SB winning QB, not a glorified ESPN highlight reel & mythical superhero product, of the Madden games. STFU, with your whining, arrogant, self entitled attitude, & making smart @$$ comments, that if somebody else does’t play your professional sport, they don’t know what the hell is going on & don’t have the right to ask you about the changes you are going to make. What does he expect, he is going to come here, play good for a half a year, then when he gets a fat check again, he can revert back to the brain damaged QB, that he has always been, & NOT get criticized. YEAH, OK! That ain’t going to fly in Philly, my man! Don’t tell everyone what they want to here, with your BS! Put up, or STFU, or you’re gone with your coach, after the year!!!!
Something this nitwit fails to realize, is without him being healthy, is very detrimental to the team, & puts a kibosh, on any hopes of us winning the SB. So all of the questions he is receiving, are all valid concerns & questions. He takes waaay too many hits, refuses to slide, tries to get the extra yard, when he should go out of bounds, makes too many bad decisions with the ball, & turns the ball over alarmingly. Deal with the truth, & prove the naysayers wrong.
LMAO….I hear you homie
Somebody please wake me up. I had this terrible dream that the Eagles signed Michael Vick as our FUTURE and starting quarterback. God it seemed so real. Oh wait, it is real? Oh great!!!!! We are so screwed with this guy. You all wait and see! TOTALLY should have stayed with McNabb and RAN the ball and played D! Reid will never do that with 7 either…
So you would rather a washed up Mcnabb to a healthy and focused Vick right now? Good thing your not our gm. Totally!!
It is a old question…its an old issue…its obvious to everyone he needs to stay healthy…asking him over and over if he plans to is media dumbness again.
He needs to step up and just take care of the ball more…lean on the rungame and just go down and or gear down towards the sidelines.I dont want hime to go after a big run when its there but be a q first. He tried to make up for the defensive struggles last year.Just play solid q and this team is a division winner.Start there.
I think Mike..or as you called him a nitwit realizes that bro.Im sure the coaches have told him that…kinda unrealistic to think he still thinks hes not the answer. he did say that.
I think he plans to prove everyone wrong.So why dont we all let it go and when he isnt living up to it then have at it. Seems over the top.
Maybe some of the fans are getting tired of his reckless play..
Thats obvious….shouldnt we let him prove us wrong? Seems like a tired conversation. He needs to stay healthy and stay away from turnovers.ok Captain Obvious.
He’s answered the question one hundred times.Im ok with his answers.The only reason you would continue to ask the same question is if you think the answer will change. I can’t buy into the whole…hes an idiot and will never learn thing,or hes a moron and doesnt know better,he wont listen to his coaching.We dont know that..its more analyzing his mental that is over the top and cant be judged until its gametime.
Tired subject.
can’t blame vick for getting pissed, don’t you think he hears it all the time from his coaches, now to hear constantly from the media, jock sniffin’wanna bees
like Gargano, he know he has to do it, let’s just see if he can doi it, find something else to talk abouut please
just read your post Erock, ditto
Gargano called him a baby and a martyr? Come on man…he told him flat out..unless you have played the game then you cant relate to holding the ball…tucking it.i dont argue that.
How come noones asking Babin if he’ll make a play in the rungame this year?
This is a great example of how Philly fans want their cake and they want to eat it too.
Vick made it clear that the criticism, the constant hate, bother him. So he’s basically saying that he wishes people would just support him or at least stop the negativity.
But Dcar and co. want Vick to play well, AND they want to shower players with negativity when they so please. So while supporting Vick and rooting him in spite of his issues and shortcomings would HELP the team, some hater fans just don’t care about that. They want Vick to adjust to THEM.
Hey, I too have the same doubts about his play, but this just goes to show ho the philly fans and media can harm our teams.
Again I understand Mike’s frustration…this line of questioning only fuels ratings for sports talk radio , sells newspapers , or for hits on a blog for advertising dollars…( oh and Vinnie’s posts..what up Vin )…I’m sick of it too…the subject has been discussed over and over…
schiller, what kind of mamby pamby psych babble you spoutin’, vick doesn’t give a rats behind about these things, he’s just tired of the same damn question, as he said himself, we will see, if he does it great, hes the next hero, if not well we will reanalyze and maybe ship him out of here, it ain’t all that complicated, leave psychology out of it
jake – how ignorant can you possilby be? “leave psychology out of it”. HA – every human interaction ever is inhearnately connected to psychology. You can’t separate psychology from people. That’s literally impossible.
Clearly you are bothered by or just don’t understand psychology, but you can’t “leave it out” here because it’s 100% relevant and intertwined with the issue.
I have no horse in this race, but I think that it is funny that, in the same interview, he said that it bothered him and that he is thick skinned.
Bugsy – yeah, I think that too. HENCE – it’s effecting him psychologically. Jakedog – can you get that?
Week 1 vs. Cleveland 20-25 315 2 t.d’s…W..zero turnovers…one sack(coverage)
I know that they want this to play into the normal narrative that Philly fans are too tough on their sport stars…go ahead and cue the Mike Schmidt stories….but chances are that in most other NFL cities, if they had a starting QB who has failed to make it through the last 2 seasons without missing at least 25% of the games, I believe there would be interest also.
That being said, as a professional athelete…a veteran professional athlete, he should be used to getting the same question over, and over, and over again. I agree that it get’s tiresome and borders on ridiculous how often these guys are asked the same questions, but that comes with the territory and the millions of $$..
Overall, no big deal. Mike is right, we will have to wait and see how he translates his comments to his play on the field, but it also is easy to understand that the success of the Birds this year rests in his ability to stay on the field.
I figured out a way for him to learn to slide. Purchase a slip and slide and practice all summer. Its a fun activity and little to no risk involved. Ill call it now..he slides in the first few games…hopefully he debutes it at home to a standing O!!
Ill post the day of this sliding….AS IVE STATED IN PREVIOUS POSTS!!!!So everyone knows that i’ve stated this before!!!
Can someone tell me how many QBs actually started every game last year? I thought I heard the number around 7. I know from Rothlesberger to Romo to Vick to Rogers that most QBs never start every game. Maybe Im wrong but I think starting every game at QB isnt the norm. Look it up. So is this just a Vick issue? Or maybe AR needs a better backup issue? Another thing is WTF has Rivers, Romo and that Matty Ice and his 0 points in the playoffs ever won? Theres alot of QBs that should be blasted. Another question how many 4th quarter leads did the Eagles defense giveup again was it 4 or 5. Im just asking. I mean I understand Vick needs to take care of the ball better but damn if that defense didnt blow many leads he had. Lets be fair.
Dont Rothlisberger, Cutler, Romo usually miss multiple games every year? Just asking. Or is it just Vick?
QB’S who started all 16 Games in 2011
Tom Brady, Matt Stafford, Andrew Dalton, Cam Newton, Drew Brees,
Matt Ryan,Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanches, Josh Freeman, Phil Rivers and Tony Romo I believe were the only QB’s to Start all 16 Games in 2011
Which is 12 out of the 32 Teams.. (38%)
The host of that show brought the whole thing about all by himself, and this is not coming from Vick’s biggest fan. He asked a tired, been asked a million times question (he is an awful interviewer, only behind Cataldi who is a Howard Stern wanna-be), and then didn’t even understand what Vick said in reply. Vick did not say the host needed to be an NFL player to understand the situation. He simply stated that “YOU”, meaning anybody who plays in the NFL, has to go out and play the game. Injuries will happen, but you hope for the best. Then the host got all bent out of shape and did the typical Philly radio character assassination routine, calling Vick a crybaby and a martyr, after Vick was off the line. At that point the whole station picked it up and ran with it, pathetically I might add, making a mountain out of a molehill. The key point to remember is that these guys are not journalists, regardless of how they cloak themselves. The are talking heads who need to generate ratings. Had the host simply been bright enough to understand what Vick had said, this never becomes an issue at all, but righteous indignation sells. Unfortunately the facts become irrelevant.
ATTENTION ATTENTION, I’M LOOKING FOR JON HART! HIS MAN-CRUSH BRON BRON FAILED YET AGAIN LAST NIGHT AND I WANT TO RUB IT IN HIS FACE! Y’ALL LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU SEE JON HART! TELL HIM BoB IS LOOKIN FOR HIM!
Excellent post joe, schiller back to the shrinks couch
I caught that Bugsy, and was may favourite part of the interview…..but frankly, I thought this was one of his better interviews.
Only 11 “I”s, 2 “myself”s, one “my”, one each of a “you”, “your, “yourself” (that were all actually references to himself, as in, “protect yourself as best as I can” was really supposed to be “protect myself…..”)
That’s 17 references to himself in only 12 sentences. Or 1.4x per sentence. This is above his career average 1.3/sentence. Way to go Mike!
Or should I say Narcissus.
Rodgers also started all his games but didn;t play week 16 because it was meaningless. Hasselback, FItzpatrick, and Smith also started all their games I believe. That’s 16 who played all 16.
Sexy Rexy, Gabbert, Ponder, Tavaris, Ponder, Moore, Palmer also all played all the games they were asked and didn’t miss any to injury (though they did miss some because they stink) Rothless missed only 1.
So now we’re over 2/3 of the nfl QBs last year who did not miss games because of injury.
That being said daggolden, the implication (arguement) you’re making….”its ok that Vick gets hurt because other QBs get hurt” is flawed (at best) in the first place.
and btw……those QBs you mention (Romo, Rivers, Ryan) do get sqewered…….constantly. Romo is hammered as a choke artist, there was just a front page ESPN article about how Ryan has to win or its time to move on, and Rivers has the “can’t get it done” label along with his head coach.
Sick of criticism?
Simple solution: Perform.
I think you guys are all missing the point – he wants to perfrom, he wants to win, he just can;t until Spetember…. so it is probably getting a bit tedious to continue to repeatedly have to repeat one self over and over and over when you can;t change what happened and you don;t get a chance to do anything about it..
I do not follow NASCAR at all – but anyone read the interview where the reporter asked Bush a question – to which he replied with something like’ it keeps me from kicking your ass! – question has been asked and answered and we will know nothing till Sept 2012 – can;t wait!
I thought Hasselback at Titans missed a game or 2 when Rookie QB Jake Locker took his spot and held his own.. Rogers did not play all 16 Games sinec the Coaches decided to rest him in Week #16 when QB T Flynn played in a meaningless Game.. Alex Smith Did play all 16 Games
When you really think about it, the Only QB’s who really missed some Time were the Eagles Vick, and former Eagles Kolb & McNabb… So much for Coach AR MM genius of developing QB’s who can’t stay on the field for an entire Season and learn how to do the #1 thing when playing QB in the NFL and that is to protect yourself from needless hits…
Schill, why are you such a idiot!? Who is showering him with negativity? I stated all fact, & was just stating the obvious. I want him to do good & win, but I’m getting sick tired, of his WHOA IS ME BS, & martyr attitude, that he is starting to display. Why don’t you go stick yourself, back in Reids @$$, & don’t come out until he tickles your feet, you @$$clown. I couldn’t care less, if he getting sick of the criticism! If he doesn’t like it, too bad, learn to live with it. It comes with the territory, of being an overpaid, polarizing, public figure, especially when you are an NFL QB! BOO F^#@ING HOO!!! Deal with it, or go find a real job, like the rest of the real world, or just suck it up, & just thank the God, that your scumbag @$$ has been blessed enough, to be given the second chance, that the rest of the real world wouldn’t be given, if they weren’t a gifted athlete. It’s called humility, humbleness, understanding & patience. All four of which, it seems, he is lacking!
Dcar, the funny thing is, I think you and I pretty much have the same opinion of vick the football player. But we differ in how we as fans should treat players. I’m convinced that if we did support our players more, we’d get better play from them.
Did Vinnie say “sexy Rexy”? WTF?
DAMN, VINNIE! I didn’t know you rolled like that! Sexy Rexy…. O_o
BWAHAHAHA!!!