Michael Vick: Why NFL Network Vastly Underrated Him in Its 2011 Player Rankings

Each and every year, the NFL Network creates a list of the Top 100 Players of 2011.

With that being said, this year's list surely has no shortage of surprises. The way it works is both players and fans vote for the top 100 players in the NFL to be named on the list, and the NFL Network composes the final list for the world to see.

Now that it is released, I (as well as many others) have quite a bone to pick.

The Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback, Michael Vick, had the best season of his career in 2010, and everyone who follows the NFL knows that. He started the season behind Kevin Kolb, and ended the season as the face of the franchise.

When Vick took the country by surprise and emerged as one of the top players in the league, the media flocked to his every move. Hands down, Vick was the story of the 2010 NFL season.

With that being said, why was Michael Vick vastly underrated at No. 20? Can you honestly name 19 other players that have done something for their team like Vick has done? Can you name 19 other players that have more skill and talent and bring more to the table?

No, you can't.

Rating Vick as the 20th-best player in the NFL really just makes no sense. He was second only to Tom Brady in winning the 2010 NFL MVP award, and he won the 2010 Comeback Player of the Year award.

Many people still look down on Vick for what he has done in the past, and I feel that is a large reason why he was so underrated. The fans have a lot of say in the outcome of this list, and it's the majority of the bitter ones that most likely rated him so low (not in top 10).

Is Michael Vick the best player in the league? No, he isn't, and I'm OK to say that. But is he in the running for at least top-five recognition? Yes, without a doubt.

Tom Brady is No. 1 on the list, and after the season he had he does deserve that title. But come on. Are 19 other players, including Adrian Peterson at No. 3, Julius Peppers at No. 10 and Haloti Ngata at No. 17, better than Vick? 

It just isn't fair. Vick easily should've been in the top five on that list. The only plausible reasoning for him to be ranked No. 20 is because of his past off-field transgressions and a lingering bitterness in the media.

Whenever Vick couldn't lead the Eagles to a win, he was attacked and his time as a top player doubted. When he threw that interception late in the game against the Green Bay Packers in the Jan. 9, 2011 Wild Card Game, who did Vick blame?

Himself.

A true man owns up to that. He doesn't blame anyone else when kicker David Akers easily could've taken the heat for missing two crucial field goals that would've gave them the win. 

Vick will continue to take heat from the media whenever he doesn't follow through until the day he retires, and he knows that. Yet, we won't let it affect him.

His past was pretty alarming, and he knows that. That is the reason he spent three years in jail and hours of community service to prove he is remorseful for his actions and is a new man. I buy the new Vick, and so should the world. What he did was wrong, but are fans really mad at what he did? Or are they mad at the success he is having for the Eagles, and not for their team.

How many Eagles fans do you know that can say they hate Vick as a player? I know when I first got the news that the Eagles signed him I hated the idea. I hated it not because of what he had done off the field, but because he was an avid scrambler and a turnover-prone guy. 

He is a completely different player compared to how he was in Atlanta, and deserves a better rating than No. 20 in the NFL.

Do you agree with me? Drop a comment and tell me where he should be ranked according to you.