Are There Really 32 Quarterbacks Better Than Michael Vick?

I'm getting ready for work one day last week and I get a text from one of my best friends, Todd.
 
"How is it possible that Vick won't land with a team?"
 
And I honestly had no answer. It's hard for me think that there are 32 quarterbacks in the NFL who are better than Michael Vick. 10? Maybe. But 32? Better yet, 32 backups? Really?

Try telling me that the Vikings, Texans and 49ers are pretty solid at the quarterback position, and do it while keeping a straight face. The Chiefs? What about the Jets?

Sure Chad Pennington just played an entire season with the Dolphins but lets not forget about the emergence of the “Wildcat” formation and that Pennington was actually splitting time with Ronnie Brown at QB. So are we saying they’re set?

These are teams that can’t use a player with Vick’s skills?

This is what I think. Teams are taking a pass on Vick because they're trying to save face. No team wants to be the one with a convicted "Dog Killer" being the face of their respective franchise.

Talent is talent and love him or hate him, Vick is still one of the top 10 most talented players in the league.
 
With the exception of maybe Warrick Dunn, Roddy White (sometimes) and Alge Crumpler, Vick played the majority of his career with mediocre talent around him at best. But he still managed to make it to three Pro Bowls in four injury-free seasons and an NFC Championship game.

During his run with the Falcons, if you stick any other QB behind center, they don't even make the playoffs. Look at his Madden cover season when he went down during the preseason. The Falcons won five games. When Vick came back from injury in week 13, they were 2-10. They finished 5-11. You get my point.
 
Is Vick a P.R. nightmare right now for any franchise? Sure he is. We're living in a time where people will step over a homeless person in order to tend to a stray dog that looks injured. Christmas cards look more like advertisements for Purina dog chow than happy holiday greetings. People love dogs, period, point blank. They're no longer seen as the family protector but more as a part of the family.

I’m not condoning what he did. It was a horrible thing that he was convicted of. But there are several players in the NFL as well as other sports who’ve been convicted of or accused of far worse, yet continue to find employment in their leagues.

In 1998, St. Louis Rams DE Leonard Little crashed into and killed a woman after leaving a party. His blood alcohol level was more than double the legal limit. He was sentenced to three months in jail. The very next season, Little won a Super Bowl with the Rams.

During the same weekend in the same city where Leonard won his championship, Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis and some of his acquaintances were involved in an altercation after a Super Bowl party that left two people dead.

Lewis was later indicted on murder charges but was eventually cleared. Now while Lewis was cleared of all charges in the courts, his reputation was forever tarnished in the court of public opinion. Nonetheless, one year later, Lewis was named Super Bowl MVP.

In 2004, Lewis teammate, RB Jamaal Lewis was convicted for trying to orchestrate a drug deal. He served four months in prison. A few years later, he was one of the most highly sought after free agents in the league. He eventually signed with the Cleveland Browns.

In 2003, Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, at the peak of his tiff with Shaquille O’Neal, managed to find trouble in Eagle County, Colorado where he was accused of sexual assault. While Bryant admitted to committing adultery, he denied assaulting the woman. The charges were later dropped and six years later Bryant would win his fourth ring and be named NBA Finals MVP.

I could go on forever, but you get my point.

Vick deserves a second chance.

Granted, any team that signs the former QB will have to face dozens, possibly even hundreds of animal rights activists and dog lovers protesting outside games and another few hundred in the stands on game day.

During a time where teams are lucky to have people paying nearly 100 bucks to attend one game, they're not going to do anything to possibly keep them away. And I think teams are afraid to take a chance on Vick for that reason.

But if we’ve learned anything from professional sports is that one thing and one thing alone puts butts in the seats and that’s winning. When the numbers start rolling into the win column, fans soon develop selective amnesia and lose all long-term memory.

They forget how much player X disrespected them after he made comments about their team to the press. Or how player Y hates to sign autographs.

If I can paraphrase Bob “Mr. Baseball” Uecker from “Major League 2,”: ”It’s funny how a change in uniform can change the way you look at a guy.” And I promise that this will hold true with Vick.

Regardless of the quarterback situation a unique talent like Vick gives any team in the league a better chance to win. Problem is, he needs to be given a chance. A second one at least.