Doomsday101
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The arrival of pitchers and catchers is about possibility. The start of two-a-days is about expectation.
That’s a generalization, and because it is, you can shoot any number of holes in it. But it will remain true. In baseball, you never know what kind of season a player is going to have. In football, you know what kind of season to expect.
And of all the players over whom expectation hangs like humidity on a Houston afternoon in August, perhaps none bears as heavy a weight as Michael Vick. He is 25 years old and entering his fifth NFL season. He has more athletic ability than any person at his position has ever had — maybe more than anyone at any position.
It’s time for him to harness it.
Vick hasn’t been a failure by any but the most unforgiving of criteria. He’s been to the playoffs in each of his two full years as quarterback — 2002 and 2004. He’s led off a thousand highlight reels, and he’s given Falcons fans a reason to buy season tickets.
He’s a good guy who doesn’t show off after great plays, doesn’t assault cameramen, doesn’t whine about how he’s perceived, doesn’t complain about being underpaid, doesn’t try to renegotiate his contract every 10 minutes, and never compares himself to supernatural beings.
Put that together with his incredible athletic skills, and you have a person who is great for his sport. And if you asked me if I’d want Michael Vick to be the quarterback of my team, I’d say yes.
But a couple of weeks ago in Sports Illustrated, Vick said he is a quarterback in the NFL, not just a great athlete who can count to hut-two. And while it’s true he plays that position, he has yet to master it.
As a running back, he’s superb, gaining more than 900 yards last year and leading his team to an 11-5 record. But at the skill at which NFL quarterbacks are expected to excel — passing — he is barely competent. In the playoffs, that lack of an ability to do the thing a quarterback has to do — move the ball down the field through the air — cost the Falcons dearly when they were crushed in the second round by the Eagles.
Philly decided that Vick wasn’t going to run that day, and they held him to 28 yards, four fewer than his counterpart, Donovan McNabb, collected. When Vick tried to pass, he was terrible — 11-for-24 for a paltry 136 yards. The best running quarterback ever took four sacks for -34 yards.
It wasn’t just a bad day at the office. For all his talent, Vick last year completed just 56 percent of his passes, threw for only 14 touchdowns and was sacked 46 times. He was 30th in the league in passing yards per game, 27th in completion percentage, 28th in touchdowns through the air and 20th in quarterback rating. He was, however, first in sacks-per-game and second in total sacks.
These are not the stats of an All-Pro. If any other quarterback had those numbers, I wouldn’t be writing about him because he wouldn’t be playing, or, if he were, it would be for a team so bad it wouldn’t be worth discussing. So it’s a tribute to Vick’s athletic ability that despite his abysmal passing statistics, he took his team to such an impressive record.
But the ultimate goal in the NFL, as in any sport, isn’t just to have a good regular season or even to win a division or a conference. It’s to win a championship. So far, Vick hasn’t done that, and, as we saw last year against Philly, if he doesn’t improve in the primary skill a quarterback must have — passing the football — he isn’t going to do it. He isn’t even going to get to the Super Bowl and have the chance.
The Eagles did to him what all good football teams do when presented with an extraordinary threat. They took away what he does best and forced him to do what he does worst. The strategy worked perfectly. The Falcons never had a chance.
You can lay some of the blame on Vick’s receivers. Other than tight end Algie Crumpler, he doesn’t have a lot to throw to. Peerless Price has been a priceless disappointment. Nobody else has been accused of having Pro Bowl talent.
But a receiver’s stats depend on having somebody who can get him the ball. Great quarterbacks make good receivers out of average talents. They make great receivers out of superior talents, because they get them the ball in places where they can do the most damage.
Great quarterbacks hit receivers coming off their breaks. They look off defensive backs, find their second and third reads, know where every receiver is at all times. Put Tom Brady, a man who has never been accused of being the world’s greatest athlete, among such signal callers. Put Payton Manning there, too. And Troy Aikman and Dan Marino and Joe Namath.
Having athletic talent doesn’t hurt. Mix that in with quarterback skills and you have Joe Montana, Steve Young, Roger Staubach, John Elway, Otto Graham, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb and a host of others.
primary weapon.
He has to complete 60 percent of his passes. That’s a starting point for the best these days. He has to throw for 20 TDs, not a huge number, but enough to make his passing dangerous. He has to throw for at least 3,000 yards, again, a modest number. He can’t take another 46 sacks.
That’s what you should expect of Michael Vick. If he puts up those kinds of numbers, the rest will take care of itself and his running will be a weapon, not something that can sometimes be a liability.
He is expected to grow in his job. He is expected to take it to the next level. He is expected to carry the Falcons to the Super Bowl.
He’s proved his athletic skills. This year, he has to prove his quarterback skills.
Mike Celizic writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.
That’s a generalization, and because it is, you can shoot any number of holes in it. But it will remain true. In baseball, you never know what kind of season a player is going to have. In football, you know what kind of season to expect.
And of all the players over whom expectation hangs like humidity on a Houston afternoon in August, perhaps none bears as heavy a weight as Michael Vick. He is 25 years old and entering his fifth NFL season. He has more athletic ability than any person at his position has ever had — maybe more than anyone at any position.
It’s time for him to harness it.
Vick hasn’t been a failure by any but the most unforgiving of criteria. He’s been to the playoffs in each of his two full years as quarterback — 2002 and 2004. He’s led off a thousand highlight reels, and he’s given Falcons fans a reason to buy season tickets.
He’s a good guy who doesn’t show off after great plays, doesn’t assault cameramen, doesn’t whine about how he’s perceived, doesn’t complain about being underpaid, doesn’t try to renegotiate his contract every 10 minutes, and never compares himself to supernatural beings.
Put that together with his incredible athletic skills, and you have a person who is great for his sport. And if you asked me if I’d want Michael Vick to be the quarterback of my team, I’d say yes.
But a couple of weeks ago in Sports Illustrated, Vick said he is a quarterback in the NFL, not just a great athlete who can count to hut-two. And while it’s true he plays that position, he has yet to master it.
As a running back, he’s superb, gaining more than 900 yards last year and leading his team to an 11-5 record. But at the skill at which NFL quarterbacks are expected to excel — passing — he is barely competent. In the playoffs, that lack of an ability to do the thing a quarterback has to do — move the ball down the field through the air — cost the Falcons dearly when they were crushed in the second round by the Eagles.
Philly decided that Vick wasn’t going to run that day, and they held him to 28 yards, four fewer than his counterpart, Donovan McNabb, collected. When Vick tried to pass, he was terrible — 11-for-24 for a paltry 136 yards. The best running quarterback ever took four sacks for -34 yards.
It wasn’t just a bad day at the office. For all his talent, Vick last year completed just 56 percent of his passes, threw for only 14 touchdowns and was sacked 46 times. He was 30th in the league in passing yards per game, 27th in completion percentage, 28th in touchdowns through the air and 20th in quarterback rating. He was, however, first in sacks-per-game and second in total sacks.
These are not the stats of an All-Pro. If any other quarterback had those numbers, I wouldn’t be writing about him because he wouldn’t be playing, or, if he were, it would be for a team so bad it wouldn’t be worth discussing. So it’s a tribute to Vick’s athletic ability that despite his abysmal passing statistics, he took his team to such an impressive record.
But the ultimate goal in the NFL, as in any sport, isn’t just to have a good regular season or even to win a division or a conference. It’s to win a championship. So far, Vick hasn’t done that, and, as we saw last year against Philly, if he doesn’t improve in the primary skill a quarterback must have — passing the football — he isn’t going to do it. He isn’t even going to get to the Super Bowl and have the chance.
The Eagles did to him what all good football teams do when presented with an extraordinary threat. They took away what he does best and forced him to do what he does worst. The strategy worked perfectly. The Falcons never had a chance.
You can lay some of the blame on Vick’s receivers. Other than tight end Algie Crumpler, he doesn’t have a lot to throw to. Peerless Price has been a priceless disappointment. Nobody else has been accused of having Pro Bowl talent.
But a receiver’s stats depend on having somebody who can get him the ball. Great quarterbacks make good receivers out of average talents. They make great receivers out of superior talents, because they get them the ball in places where they can do the most damage.
Great quarterbacks hit receivers coming off their breaks. They look off defensive backs, find their second and third reads, know where every receiver is at all times. Put Tom Brady, a man who has never been accused of being the world’s greatest athlete, among such signal callers. Put Payton Manning there, too. And Troy Aikman and Dan Marino and Joe Namath.
Having athletic talent doesn’t hurt. Mix that in with quarterback skills and you have Joe Montana, Steve Young, Roger Staubach, John Elway, Otto Graham, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb and a host of others.
primary weapon.
He has to complete 60 percent of his passes. That’s a starting point for the best these days. He has to throw for 20 TDs, not a huge number, but enough to make his passing dangerous. He has to throw for at least 3,000 yards, again, a modest number. He can’t take another 46 sacks.
That’s what you should expect of Michael Vick. If he puts up those kinds of numbers, the rest will take care of itself and his running will be a weapon, not something that can sometimes be a liability.
He is expected to grow in his job. He is expected to take it to the next level. He is expected to carry the Falcons to the Super Bowl.
He’s proved his athletic skills. This year, he has to prove his quarterback skills.
Mike Celizic writes regularly for NBCSports.com and is a freelance writer based in New York.
