What's Wrong With Michael Vick? As A Quarterback, I Mean

We’ll try to write a quick post about Michael Vick without resorting to any trite dog comments. Unlike these people.

Anyway, I have never understood the public perception of Michael Vick as a quarterback. Not as a person, just as a quarterback.

Vick always has been viewed as a thrilling player and a great runner, but not a top-level passer. This is accurate. His career passer rating is 76.8, which ranks between Charlie Batch and Jon Kitna among active quarterbacks. And when you’re thinking about elite passers, Charlie Batch and Jon Kitna don’t readily come to mind.

Vick never has thrown for more than 20 TDs in a season. He never has completed more than 56 percent of his passes in a season. And the fact is: None of that matters very much. Whenever discussion of Vick comes up, like now, I can’t figure out why people don’t point out that he’s a winner. Again, not as a person.

To start with, this is a QB who took Virginia Tech to the national-title game as a redshirt freshman. Virginia Tech!?! Think about what a monumental feat that is.

In the NFL, Vick is 38-28-1 as a starter; when he hasn’t started, his teams have gone 9-20. In 2002, Vick’s Atlanta Falcons went into Green Bay and became the first visiting team to leave Lambeau Field with a playoff victory. The Packers had been 14-0 at home in the postseason, and 13-0 at Lambeau before Michael Vick came along.

Vick isn’t the prettiest passer in the world, but there seems to be some pretty strong evidence that he makes his teams better.