Michael Vick: Fallen Falcon to Eager Eagle

It's finally here!  The day that the villainous dog killer Michael Vick rejoins the NFL, this time as a Philadelphia Eagle. 

I do not envy Michael Vick one bit. Granted, the Eagles run the West Coast Offense and Andy Reid is an innovative offensive mind, but Philadephia?  Philly fans are tough and have a reputation of being hard on players, but I don’t think the Eagles management envisioned the fury that started bubbling last night when the team made the announcement about the Vick signing. The preseason game with the Patriots was forgotten (though the Eagles made a nice comeback in a 27-25 loss) and the Vick arguments began. 

Even the talking heads can’t agree. Steve Young thought the signing was a great move, while former Eagle great Ron Jaworski thought the pressure may be too much for Vick and good friend Donovan McNabb who was supposedly consulted and signed off on the Vick deal.      

The members of the Eagles brass have a great reputation, but I don’t agree with the assessment that they are a stable organization that can handle any crises the Vick signing will bring.

The organization was well on their way to potentially firing Andy Reid and dumping McNabb after embarrassing games last year against the Bengals and Ravens.  And McNabb was worried about Kevin Kolb looking over his shoulder, let alone Michael Vick who has led a team into the playoffs and NFC Championship Game.  Couple that with the loss of Jim Johnson and Brian Dawkins and the aftershocks of the Terrell Owen debacle a couple of years back and the Philadelphia Eagles organization may be mixing an explosive brew.

As I stated a couple of weeks back, people need to move forward and let Michael Vick try to rebuild his life. His actions were reprehensible and heinous. They should not be overlooked, but he should get the chance to show he is willing to make amends and be a positive influence on the football field and off.  We’ll see if Philly’s the right place for him to start that journey.