Michael Vick wishes he listened to one person who warned him about Dogfighting
Dogfighting, the word that comes to mind when sports fanatics think about Michael Vick. The infamous scandal that erupted the sports world around 2007 when the investigation began, but what if I were to tell you that it all could’ve stopped from the source? On NFL star Tyreek Hill’s podcast, Vick told Hill that there was one man that he wished he could’ve listened to.
As most know, Vick pleaded guilty of Dogfighting on November 25, 2008, and would be given a three-year suspended sentence as well.
As Vick matured and grew older, he realized the situation was much more important than just football. Kids looked up to him and cheered for him. He was their role model. Vick understands the obligations he went through, and had to act a certain way with the Falcons.
Now, the 43-year-old has reflected on the situation on the podcast.
“I wish I had a father figure or somebody in my life — and I did, too, for the most part — but not to the point where somebody was like, ‘Yo, man, you can really screw all this up,’” Vick said. “Ain’t nobody came and said, ‘Bro, you can screw all this up.’ One person [did], I won’t say his name.”
Today, Vick has realized what the consequences are, but the younger, NFL star Michael Vick didn’t realize in the moment what it would cost him: His entire life. He ignored the consequences, the same way he ignored that “one person” who could’ve stopped it all.
“The whole time like I was gone I thought they was gonna wait on me, but that was wishful thinking,” Vick said. “Like, I really thought like they was gonna wait for me to get back and all this would be over and then I step back in, be the starter, and we just move on like nothing ever happened. But that’s not reality. And I was hoping for something that just couldn’t happen.”
It was six long years Vick carried the Dogfighting burden on him. But it wasn’t as secret as he thought. Maybe he just didn’t even care. As a young NFL player, Vick wanted the flash, he wanted all the cars and money. Well, that’s what he did.
One fateful night, a police officer pulled over Vick, who was driving a Maybach. Vick bought the decked-out car after he signed his second contract with Atlanta.
“I’m like, I don’t need this car,” Vick said. “Like, I don’t need this, bro. It’s too much attention. When the police stop you to ask you what type of car you in, you need to reconsider if you want to keep that car or not. . . . Sometimes I felt like the potential to create adverse situations, man, it’s how people look at it and how they feel. Just didn’t make me comfortable at times.”
Young Michael Vick had a brain. He was smart and knew the situation. He knew the consequences that were built around his terrible actions. But everything is history now. Vick learned and matured. Now he wishes he listened to that one person he knew could stop him. Himself.
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