Michael Vick is throwing a bash on Saturday night to officially usher in his retirement. Then, as you've probably heard, the Falcons are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday. With everything coming full circle, Vick authored a piece on The Players' Tribune on Wednesday called, simply, "Atlanta," which highlighted just how much he loved being the quarterback for the Falcons.
After reliving all of the good times that he had with the team, he then pivots to the unfortunate way things ended. It's at that point that he admits that, through all the low points he's had in his life (going to prison, going bankrupt, fracturing his leg, etc.) "rock bottom" came on April 26, 2008, when he learned that the Falcons had drafted Matt Ryan as his replacement while he was still locked up in Leavenworth Penitentiary.
Vick says he found out from a fellow inmate just moments after hanging up on his mother, who happened to also tell him that his grandma had a stroke. Though he tried not to show emotion, Vick said the news was like a gut punch, since the one thing he hadn't lost up to that point was the title of starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons.
As the article put it:
Despite his initial feelings, Vick says his current relationship with Ryan is "great," that Ryan has his MVP vote this season, and that Ryan's success has comforted Vick since he would've felt guilty if his replacement was a bust. He also says that he's on board the team's bandwagon:
In the rest of the article, Vick talks about his dominant Madden doppelganger, whom he claims he was terrible with; his appearance in T.I.'s "Rubber Band Man" video; and his emotional return to Atlanta for the final game at the Georgia Dome just a few Sundays ago. The piece is well worth reading. We recommend it, especially if you were/are a Vick, Falcons, or NFL fan.