Michael Vick Lovefest Meant To Showcase Philadelphia Eagles QB

"We want Vick...We Want Vick," pleaded the Atlanta Falcons crowd during the third quarter of the Philadelphia Eagles 34-7 thumping of the hometown Falcons on Sunday.

With the game well in hand, all the hometown crowd wanted to see was their former quarterback, Michael Vick, get in the game.

If it were a movie, Eagles coach Andy Reid would have taken off his headset, nodded to Vick on the bench, and sent No. 7 in to play quarterback in front of thousands of screaming fans.

Vick responded.

He displayed his cannon arm on a 43-yard strike, although somewhat underthrown, to Reggie Brown. On the same drive, he rolled left, threw a touch pass to the right to Brent Celek for a five-yard touchdown.

Earlier in the day, he ran for his first NFL touchdown since 2006, scoring a five-yard run.

Quite a day for the former Falcon, who spent the last two-and-a-half years in prison for his role in a dog-fighting scheme in his Atlanta home.

Rich Hoffman of the Daily News best summed up Vick's day:

Vick said he was touched. He said, "I'll never forget this day. I'll never forget coming back to the city of Atlanta. I'll never forget arriving [Saturday]. I'll never forget seeing a lot of the landmarks that I used to see when I lived in this city for 6 years. I'll never forget shedding a tear on the bus ride over here this morning...You don't have a lot of chances to experience things like this in your life. This is one moment that I'm going to [savor] forever."

The Eagles and head coach Andy Reid were smart to showcase Vick in his return to Atlanta. More importantly, Vick is getting back into everyday playing shape and the game against Atlanta was by far his most significant playing time of the season.

He ran for one touchdown, threw for another and completed two passes for 48 yards.

Enough for other teams, desperate for quarterbacks in this concussed-filled season, to consider their offense options.

Whether Vick plays this much again does not matter.

It was enough to see that this former-Falcon star is ready for full-time battle in the NFL again.

Vick signed a two-year deal, but the second year is an option year.

If the Eagles hold the option, they could get a draft choice for Vick in a trade.

The year is not over, however, as Vick could be a hit away from consideration to finishing this NFL season as the starting quarterback for the Eagles. He is third on the depth chart behind Donovan McNabb and Kevin Kolb.

For one day, however, nothing else mattered than for a changed man to please the fans he toiled for a few years ago.

Yeah, or woof?

You decide.