Michael Vick to Dog-Loving Seattle? Thankfully, It Will Never Happen

As Michael Vick prepares to move from prison to home confinement today, speculation has renewed about where he might end up if commissioner Roger Goodell allows him to return to the NFL this year.

John Clayton is the most recent to speculate that the Seahawks might be interested because Vick played for new Seattle coach Jim Mora in Atlanta.

But let’s make this clear right now: The Seahawks will not be adding Vick. Not this year. Not ever.

First of all, owner Paul Allen would not allow it. The Pacific Northwest is perhaps the most dog-friendly region in the country (Portland and Seattle are consistently listed among the top dog-loving cities in the nation). There is no way Allen would alienate half his team’s fan base by bringing in a dog killer.

Second, Mora knows Vick is not really an NFL quarterback. He’s a running quarterback who has incredible physical skills but not the mental capacity to use them properly—the proverbial million-dollar body with a 10-cent head. 

For some reason, everyone is overlooking the fact that the guy never could play the position well. His career percentage is a horrendous 53.8. His career passer rating is 75.7—a nice temperature but a terrible rating. He has averaged a measly 155.5 passing yards per game. He never has thrown more than 20 touchdown passes in a season.

Vick has been a subpar quarterback at best, his only saving grace being his ability to elude and gain yards with his feet.

Mora and new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, who coached Vick in Atlanta, are so excited that they finally have a bona fide NFL quarterback to run their offense in Pro Bowl passer Matt Hasselbeck. They know Hasselbeck gives the Seahawks a better chance of winning the Super Bowl than Vick ever gave the Falcons.

So, no, the Seahawks will not pursue Vick.

That said, the opinion here is that Vick should remain suspended for the 2009 season, and if he comes out clean on the other side, the commissioner can then give him another chance. Odds are incredibly high (pun intended) that Vick would not be able to stay out of trouble for a year.

If he does get a second chance, the question Clayton and others have tried to answer is: Where will Vick end up?

Well, as indicated above, it doesn’t matter because he isn’t very good. As far as football goes, he’s completely overhyped.

But since some people will be interested (people love big drama), here’s the deal: It will require a desperate team with an owner who doesn’t care what people think OR a desperate team in a city where fans wouldn’t care about Vick’s transgression or simply don’t care what the team does in general.

Teams that fit that bill include Oakland, Minnesota, Washington, Buffalo and Jacksonville.

Al Davis will always bring reclamation projects to Oakland, and Vick would fit right in with the thugs and jailbirds who root for the Raiders.

Minnesota is desperate for a quarterback, and owner Zygi Wilf would most likely let coach Brad Childress pursue Vick. Childress said in February that he would “cross that bridge when I come to it” regarding the possibility of acquiring Vick. Well, he’s about to come to it.

In Washington, owner Daniel Snyder is always willing to gamble on greatness. He runs his franchise like a fantasy team and has no concern for what others think. If your franchise was worth over a billion dollars, you wouldn’t have to care either.

The Bills just signed Terrell Owens, proving they aren’t concerned with the opinions of others or with prior poor behavior in their players. What a soap operatic pairing Vick and Owens would be.

Jacksonville is on the list simply because the Jaguars are very good at adding players who don’t help them and who are law-breaking trouble makers, and Jacksonville’s apathetic fan base wouldn’t care if the Jags added Vick.

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