One Year Anniversary of Michael Vick's Return: Still a Fragile Dream

Michael Vick's dream for personal and professional success remain in jeopardy for one simple reason.

He lacks fundamental judgment on an innate level.

Michael Vick on the field.

One of the biggest criticisms of him as a player in Atlanta was his lack of pocket-passing ability. A debate ensued about whether he would even need to enhance his decision-making given his ability to win on pure talent alone. Vick has subsequently admitted on 60 Minutes that he had a horrible work ethic and was more interested in using his raw talent. 

Fast forward to August 16th, 2009.

The Philadelphia organization knew that they would have to remold Vick if they were going to capitalize on their risk either as a quarterback or as trade bait for another asset.

Yet, Vick quickly became irrelevant as a football player last season because his speed had clearly diminished. No one knows for sure if he has got it back yet because everyone looks great in training camp.

However, even if he does have his mojo back, the one thing holding him back is his ability to focus in the pocket and make good decisions with the football consistently. 

Good judgment requires the ability to focus attentional resources and make snap decisions based on an assessment of the circumstances. All throughout his career he has shown that he has serious shortcomings in this area. 

Michael Vick Off the Field

There are plenty of examples to illustrate that his lack of focus and self-awareness directly affects his ability to make good decisions in his personal life.

Landing in jail and not knowing people care about animals chief among them.

However, when Vick returned to football in 2009, his heavily anticipated opening press conference with the Eagles left many wondering if he was sincerely remorseful and truthful about his desire to rehabilitate.  

The following comment is taken from his first statements from Philadelphia's official website:

On when he realized what he was doing was wrong: "Just when I was trying to turn the corner, it was too late."

At the time, many wondered if he really would have stopped his criminal activity if he wasn't caught. Most gave him the benefit of the doubt with a "wait and see" approach.  

On February 2nd, Vick appeared on the well-listened to Dan Patrick Show and was asked if he would still be doing it [dogfighting] if he didn't get caught.

"That's the scary thing," Vick said. "I think about it. I would have continued to put my life in jeopardy. From a distance I would have still been involved."

So would he still be involved if he didn't get caught or not? I think it largely depends on how long the public relations leash is. 

And it appeared like that leash was getting longer as Vick once again found himself at the centerpiece of another criminal incident this summer when he unwittingly held an open-invitation birthday day.

This latest PR debacle showcases once again why he will always have problems.

His biggest advocate, Tony Dungy, took a big chance on this guy. Without Dungy's personal support, it is unlikely he would even be in the NFL today. This is what he had to say about the incident last month.

"I have talked to Michael a few times, and again it becomes just an idea of decision-making and not putting yourself in harm's way. He made some mistakes that he probably won't make again, hopefully. It was just not very good judgment and putting himself in a position where you're inviting the public to pay money and come to a birthday party, and you've got people there that you don't know who they are. You've got people that may be carrying weapons, people that are going to drink alcohol. And it's late at night. It's a recipe for failure."

It is pretty mind-boggling that someone in Vick's situation can "make a mistake" of this magnitude given his precarious situation.

Who knows what kind of guy he really is. As fans, we will never know. What we do know is that he lacks serious judgment that could seemingly put him beyond the reach of a support team. It is just a matter of time before he fails to anticipate what's around the corner again.

Whether it is a defensive lineman blitzing up the middle or a violation of his probation in his personal life, one thing is certain.

He won't see it coming.