Club Shay Shay - Michael Vick

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

Four-time NFL Pro Bowler and FOX NFL Studio Analyst Michael Vick joins Shannon this week in Club Shay Shay. The two talk about their respective NFL pasts — both on and off the field — as well as what the rest of this 2022 NFL season will bring. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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And then after like day four or five, when I realized that ain't nobody coming, that's just when I had to start just like letting all the emotions and fears come out. Did you ever cry? I cried for two weeks straight. Yeah, my wife would say I've been grinding all my life, all my life, been grinding all my life, sacrifice, hustle, pay the price, want a slice, got the roll of dice, that's why, all my life, I've been grinding all my life. Hello, welcome to another edition of Club Che Che. I am your host. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che.

And the guy that's stopping by for conversation and a drink today is one of the NFL's most electrifying players. He transformed the quarterback position. He's the first African-American quarterback to be selected number one overall, the first quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, and he still holds the record for the most rush yards by a quarterback with over 6,100. You knew him for having the Michael Vick experience. Mike Vick.

Mike, how you doing, bro? Thanks for having me, Shea. Hey, bro, you know, you come by the club. You know, we got to toast this thing. Yeah, we got to toast this. I done drunk half of it. I done went in early. So, you know, that's why I'm here.

Oh, I appreciate that. Enjoy the experience. So, how you doing? Doing great, Shea. Life's good I'm here. Oh, I appreciate that. Enjoy the experience. So how you doing? Doing great, Shea. Life's good, kids good, family good, wife good. And, you know, enjoying my time as a sports analyst, man. What's a typical day like for Michael Vick? You wake up at what time?

You know, I'm so blessed, man. I wake up at 6.30. Okay. I wake up at 6.30. My oldest daughter just started driving to school, which is not a nightmare. But it's a maturity process. Right, right, right.

You still got a little anxious? Yeah, so I take my youngest daughter to school at 7.30. And then from there, I'm up. I'm trying to figure out what's the next line of business. If I got to come on the show with you guys, if I got to do speak. And then from there my youngest son is in school, so I pick him up. And I get a chance to experience what life is like as a dad, truly. And when I retired, that's what I wanted. I wanted to make up for all that lost time.

Right. Do your kids understand who you are? How old were they when you were playing? Did they get an opportunity to experience any of the Michael Vick experience? They did, but they was young. I would say they was around, I retired in 2015, so Jada might have been nine. My oldest son was 11. Right.

And so they seen it. They got the Philly. They got the Pittsburgh. They didn't really get the ATM. They didn't get the experience. They didn't get the Michael Dick experience. No, they didn't get that, which is something that is a blessing and a curse.

But now they see the aftermath. And they like, it leave them wondering. But I try to cut on YouTube and all that here and there, but they don't want to hear that shit. My youngest son, he five years old. I try to cut. This was daddy. This was daddy.

He look at it and he'd go off to something else. So I'm hoping one day football stick or he gravitate toward a little bit. Right. When, you know, like young players, when they shoot the ball, they like Kobe. Yeah. When any quarterback take off running, the first thing they holler, man, that's your big, man, that's a big. How does that make you feel that you're like you're revered like you're revered?

It makes me feel good, Shannon, because it was a time in my career where I started to feel like my style of play wasn't going to sustain. Right. And I got criticized for it to a certain degree. And I just started to go through that phase of, man, I got to become a true pocket passer. And it was in Atlanta. My coaches encouraged me, Greg Knapp, rest in peace, Jim Moore, just

be yourself, continue to be yourself. It's a great way to play the game. I always thought just moving the chains and by any means necessary was the way to get it done. And then it wasn't until I got to Andy. And I always wanted to play with Andy, for Andy, because I seen the way he handled Donovan. And they had some great years and it's like look, man, you just take what you got and you just build on it.

And from that point, when I got to Andy in 2009, I was, I'm just going with it. I'm just going with it. When you were in Atlanta, did you ever try to suppress who you were naturally as far as running the football? You like, you know what? Man, y'all beat me up for running the football. Y'all say I can't read a defense.

And so I just take off running that everything that I'm getting is because of my leg. Did you actually suppress a little bit of who you were as a running quarterback to try to prove to everybody I can throw the ball from the pocket? Absolutely. It was a game in 2005. I had an MCL injury. I was playing.

Probably shouldn't have been out on the field. And I told myself, I'm going to use this moment to show that I can pass the football. Rob Markman Right. Rob Markman Say, when I say I went out, I'm going to go back and look at the stats, but maybe we can look it up, man. I probably passed for 350, went like 28 for 34. One of them days I was high. I was feeling it.

Rob Markman Right. Rob Markman And I went to the podium afterwards and it was very immature for me to go off on the media because, I mean, there was no need to go off on a tangent. With them, I was young, and I was, like, suppressing what I did best. Right. And so I just let them have it that day. I was, you know, don't ever say I can't pass the football from the pocket

ever again. And now I'm going back to being me. I'm going back to being a dual threat. And I just wanted to prove that. So it was always something that, you know, it's always something that pushed you, which is a good thing. Rob Markman Right. And it was all for the better.

And which, you know, goes back to what you just talked about, what you just said. You know, now when people mention a great run or see a great run, they mention it in me. And that's because now I had the people around me to say, keep doing what you do. Right. When I look at you, everybody was like, man, when are we going to see that Michael Vick in Atlanta that we saw at

Virginia Tech? A guy that could, a broken play that he could get off script. They called a play. He could get off that script and go hit his head on the goal post. I think it was the Minnesota game. It was the Minnesota game, But it was your coach. Dan Reeves. Your former coach, Dan Reeves, man.

Yep, Coach Reeves. Rest his soul, Coach. Rest his soul, Dan Reeves. And I was at the funeral when you gave an amazing speech talking about Coach. I was in the back crying, honestly. And Coach was just, he had a way with me. Funny story is I never wanted to play for Dan Reeves.

Watching him as a kid, I watched him go off on John. He was tough. He was tough on John. He was tough, but by the time I got to him, and it was ironic he drafted me, he was lighthearted. He showed a different emotion. He took baby steps with me. He gave me the confidence, And his play calling was catered

towards my ability. Like, what I seen, I seen Justin Fields yesterday, and I seen Daniel Jones doing like a 18-suite quarterback suite. Just generic. And he was doing that type of stuff with me in 2002. So, I mean, just great times, great memories. When you see these young quarterbacks, you mentioned Justin Fields, Daniel Jones, Saquon, nicknamed the Vanilla Ice. You see Lamar Jackson. You see the advent of the quarterback. And now Legs is not criticized as much as it was when you were playing.

No. Now it's embraced. Man, you see with Justin Fields, he just had back-to-back games. He had 350 yards. You see what the market is. Broke my records and all that. Right. Do you wish had it been embraced more when you were played?

You think you would have been more receptive to it and said, you know what, this is who I am. I'm going to embrace it. I'm going to add the passing ability from the pocket. But this was what I believe that can help lead a team to a Super Bowl. Or even if I could just vent and say, give me some time. Right. Give me some time to grow.

Right. I'm coming out of offense in college where it was oriented. Right. And then, you know, we didn't pass it a lot. I still led the nation in passing efficiency. So I knew how to play keep away. Right. And keep the ball away from the defense.

And so as those years, you know, and it all starts when you started losing. Rob Markman Right. DJ Premier, When you lose games, you drop a couple games, and then I got injured trying to run the ball. And so it's all these things circulating. If you don't stop running the ball, you're not going to have longevity. I got all these things in my head when I just wanted to play football. Rob Markman Right.

DJ Premier, Let me just play my style of football. They fired Dan Reeves in 2003 after a win, ironically, which was crazy. And so now I got to pick up the pieces. Then they bring in the West Coast System, which we was both in. And so they brung that in to teach me how to be a passer. Rich McKay's idea when he hired Jim Moore and they brought in Greg Knapp and those guys. And so now I'm forced to learn the West Coast system. But I'm still in the back of my mind, like, if all this fails and break down, I'm going to take off. I'm going to take off to the high.

And have whatever criticism I got to deal with, I'm going to deal with it. Right. And I just, and I left it at that. And I made the Pro Bowl that year. Yep. And then the next year, you know, sometimes you peak and then you start to digress. Right. And so we regressed in 2005 and now here come the rumbles, here come the whispers.

You know, you can't be a runner, you can't do it both. You can't be a dual threat. I run for a thousand yards in 06, but we still don't make the playoffs. So now it's like, something got to give. And then I never made it to the 2007, my seventh season, 2007 because I ended up going to prison. But what happened was, say, Bobby Petrino came with his offense. And man, when I say I was about to light the league up in 2007, I just never made it for that season.

Because that's the offense that Lamar Jackson went to Heisman for a year. Yes, yes. And we was about to run it in the NFL. Right. It was about to get crazy. Go back. You did something that no other team had ever done.

You went to Lambeau Field and beat the Packers in a home playoff game. That raised the bar for Mike Vick because think about all those other great teams that have gone there. All those other great quarterbacks have gone to Lambeau and tasted defeat in the playoffs. Here comes Michael Vick. That might have been what? 2002 season.

2002. So you go into your second season. Now you have to first of all to get to the playoffs you got to go to Cleveland. You beat Cleveland in Cleveland if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. 2002. So you go into your second season. Now, you have to be, first of all, to get to the playoffs, you got to go to Cleveland. You beat Cleveland in Cleveland, if I'm not mistaken. Beat Cleveland. Well, yeah, we beat Cleveland. It was a crazy clinch. Yeah, y'all had to win a couple games at the end just to make the playoffs.

I learned in that game, you know, all the guys, you know, we playing in Cleveland. Yeah. No sleeves, no sleeves. You got to be tough, all this whole, you know, tough guy type of stuff. And I froze. I froze my ass off that day. I'm like, never again.

So that next week in Green Bay, I'm warm. I'm ready to go. We blasting. We march up in there and say it. And it was, I never say the game was easy that night. It was like, you know when it's a sense of calm. And then you, like emotionally, you're not really, there's no anxiety with the underdogs. Right.

But you already, you know, there's Brent Favre on the other side, so I'm ecstatic to be going up against him. Right. I'm like, man, I get to go against my childhood hero. Right. To some degree. And, man, we waxed him that night, though. Right.

We got two. I look at Lamar Jackson, and Lamar Jackson, I think he compares favorably to you, not just because he's a black quarterback, but his ability to throw the football. I think he might be a little better passer to you, especially at this stage of his career. Yeah, no doubt.

You said that you believe Lamar is a more dynamic runner than you are. I don't know about that, Mike. No, you know, I made a comment when he was in college. It was just one of them days where I'm sitting there watching him. And I'm like, hold on. I played against Florida State in the national championship. I gave him work. Right.

But he was just like, he was toying with him. He was playing with him. It looked effortless. It looked easy. And Bobby Petrino was the coach. And I'm like, I just had to say it. Right. And it was almost like I was waiting

to see something like this. Right. I never thought I would see somebody who looked like me. Right. Ever again. Right. But then in the back of my mind, I'm like, that can't be possible.

Like, you know, God working mysterious ways. Somebody going to come along. So as I'm watching Lamar, I'm really trying to push the envelope for him. He needs to play it on the next level. I can't wait to see him on the next level in today's time, in today's offenses, what he would look like now. And he ended up getting drafted to Baltimore.

Are you surprised that people wanted to change positions, that they wanted him to be a wide receiver, they wanted him to be something other than a quarterback. Although the man had won the Heisman Trophy, had a better year, his third year, than the year that he won the Heisman. And people still say, nah, we haven't seen enough. We want you to try position. But to his credit, to his mom's credit, he said, nah, I'm a quarterback.

She said, my son is a quarterback. And if you don't want to draft him at that position, that's your choice. But he'll only play quarterback. And if you don't want to draft him at that position, that's your choice. But he'll only play quarterback. Absolutely. I did some interviews regarding Lamar leading up to the draft. And I told a reporter who said it to me, that's the stupidest thing I ever heard. I can't remember who it was, what network,

what outlet, but I told him that's the stupidest thing I ever heard. If this guy don't play quarterback in the National Football League, it'll be a tragedy. And whether he went, I'm like, I don't care what y'all talking about. If he don't go in the first, second, and third round, that's cool. I said, whoever draft him in the fifth, sixth, seventh round,

if that's what y'all think, go get a gym. And he'll eventually become one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League. Because, you know, you can look at some guys and, you know, he's instinctive. He's going to know how to maneuver the pocket and work it. He's got to get with an offensive coordinator who can mold him. I think the best thing for Lamar was getting drafted to Baltimore. Marty Morningwig was there. He was a disciple of Andy Reid, West Coast system.

So he got to learn protections. Because wasn't Marty the OC when you were in Philly? Marty was the OC when I was in Philly. And Andy was the overseer and so on and so forth. But he got the chance to get a great understanding of offenses. The contract. They offered him a contract. It wasn't to his liking. He see the contract They offered him a contract it wasn't to his liking he see the contract out there he see Deshaun Watson's contract 250 million guaranteed Deshaun Watson is a phenomenal player Yeah

But I don't believe he's accomplished as much as in the NFL as Lamar has Lamar is a unanimous MVP Yeah, Lamar is a multiple-time Pro Bowl player. He's won a playoff game, gotten his team to the playoffs several times. He's like, you know what? He said, now my contract is dry. I'm on the last page, the last chapter, the punctuation of my contract. Deshaun had years

left on his contract, and Cleveland tore it up. Yeah. He's like, how would you have approached that situation? They come to you now They offer you more money than you ever thought you'd ever make and he said nah worth more than that Yeah, and you know the NFL season is a landmine right one wrong step and something goes boom And he said you know what? Because I'm willing to roll the dice. I'm gonna bet on me and

at the end of the year Yesterday's prices fat Joe say year, yesterday's price, as Fat Joe say, is not today's price. Exactly. I don't know if you talked to him. If you could advise Lamar, how would you have advised him in that situation? I understand. I would have advised him in terms of, look,

I understand the business acumen in this whole situation. It makes sense for you to get the most money that you can possibly make in this game because, like you say, one false move, season end, career can be ended, injury, and then you may get treated a certain way. And so that's logical. That could become fact. And so that's logical. That could become fact. But one, I think Cleveland made that move to make it hard for Baltimore. Right.

Two, when you accept this type of money based on cap spacing, the one thing that becomes a real issue is that it's hard to sign other guys, man. Right. It's hard to keep teams together. Right. You're going to eventually have to restructure. Lamar said, I'll restructure. Yeah. As long as y'all keep giving them signings, I'm going to restructure.

Yeah, but – But I need that $300 million, you're guaranteed. Yeah, but, man, you can't go out – now it limits your chances. To me, it limits your chances of going out and getting the championship. But let me tell you what Lamar said. Lamar said after I won that MVP the third year, y'all could have came to me. They could have did it then. They could have got it done then.

Y'all came to me at a 40. Y'all could have done something. Honestly, I thought that's what he said. He said, y'all didn't believe in me. God did. Right. DJ Khaled. God did.

Yeah. Because that's the thing. What we're seeing now is that when teams believe in their quarterback, we saw it with Mahomes. We saw it with Josh Allen. Step up. We saw it with Deshaun. When they believe in their quarterback after that third year.

Oh, yeah, even in Houston. Houston. Yeah. They go give you the money because they believe in you. Right. Because the man had an MVP. Yeah. He had an MVP, a unanimous MVP.

Only two players in the history has ever won unanimously. So he said, so what else do I need to do? Now, in that moment, I probably would have got with my reps and went to the table right then and there. Like, yo, let's just get this out the way because it's going to be a bigger issue next year. Right. And that didn't happen. And so, you know, having the right representation and all that,

at the right time, timing is everything in a lot of these situations. Well, his representation is his mom. He and his mom is handling with some help from the NBA. Yeah, yeah, which I respect. and all that. At the right time, timing is everything in a lot of these situations. Well, his representation is his mom. He and his mom is handling with some help from the NFL. Yeah, yeah, which I respect. I respect that. But it's just hard because, you know, look, you've been in contract negotiations. The team's going to tell you everything that you're not.

Right. And sometimes it gets personal. And the one thing I don't want – don't you tell – your agent doesn't tell you all the things bad that they say about you. He keep because he knows you're human. Your human element is going to come into a place. Oh, that's what y'all think about me?

Y'all don't think I'm good as this guy? Y'all don't think I'm that bad as that guy? I can get this. And so now you go in there, you huffing and puffing. Yeah, yeah. This is the one thing I will say about my agent, Joel Segal. Shout out to Joel. He's like good people.

He's like a father figure to me. Joel used to have me sometimes in the room doing contract negotiations just so I can hear some of the things that's being said, whether I like that or not. He's like, you're going to sit right here and you're going to know all the reasons why I can get something done or I can't get something done. So when I think about representation in a sense, I think you need that professionalism on some level so that you don't have to ask for everything. You don't have to hear certain things.

That's the only thing I think could have been different in this case. But nevertheless, he's going to get the money. It's going to happen. Whether it come from Baltimore, they'll be a fool if they don't. Good quarterbacking is hard to find. You know that. It's going to happen for him, man. It's just all about where.

And I hope it's in Baltimore because I foresee a championship in their future. They do it right. When you look at Lamar, you look at Jalen Hurts, you look at Justin Fields, Deshaun is not as mobile, but he can run. He's more of a pocket passer. When you look at a guy, take a guy like a Jalen Hurts, and you see where he's come from. Second-round pick, goes to Philly.

People are like, well, hold on. Y'all just gave Carson Wentz all this money. Why would you take a quarterback? They saw something. Clearly, they saw something. This kid's a winner. He has tremendous intangibles. He's a tremendous – he's an off-the-chart leader.

He maybe doesn't have the biggest arm, doesn't have the best accuracy, but there's something to be said about a guy that knows how to win, and he can get his team to rally behind him. That's something I don't believe Carson Wentz was ever able to do in Philly. I think attitude is everything, man.

Just having a chance to sit down with Jalen a couple weeks ago, to hear him speak about direction. Not just for him, but the team. It's like, man, I'm willing to get up at six in the morning, I'm willing to come in early, go in the weight room, get some extra treatment, and go watch some film, and get with the guys, and have a good time in the locker room, and go watch some more film.

It's like the dedication, to a a certain degree will always lead to success. And I think if you just, in some cases, if you just keep your head down and keep grinding, good things come to those who wait. Sometimes you can wait too long and you get the leftovers, but hey, if you at the forefront of it and they believe in you, you always got a shot. And I think he's a guy that he's been through so much, he's embraced that role. Right.

And it's just yielding great dividends for him right now. Yeah, I think the thing is that I look at it, because a lot of times as a quarterback, you got to be a lot of different things. You got to wear a lot of hats. You got to be a politician. You got to shake a lot of hands. You got to smile in a lot of guys' face.

Just because you're on the offensive side, you got to mix with the defensive guys. You got to talk to the special teams guys. You got to shake a lot of hands. You got to smile at a lot of guys' faces. Just because you're on the offensive side, you got to mix with the defensive guys. You got to talk to the special teams guys. You got to be part psychiatrist. You got to – guys got a problem, they go company. You got to talk to them about it. You got to be all of them. You got to be my coach, my big brother.

You got to be all of that. The quarterbacks now, Tom Brady, 43 – how old is Tom? 45. He's 45. 45, 23rd season. Struggled a little bit earlier this year, seems to be turning around. Aaron Rodgers, struggling, played great against Green Bay, struggled again against the Tennessee Titans.

What are you seeing from these guys? Because it seems that the statuesque quarterback like Tom Brady, like we saw with Peyton Manning, like we saw with Drew Brees, it seems to me that those guys are becoming relics. They're morphing away from those guys. And I'm not saying the guy has to be you, but a guy has to have like Patrick Mahomes. A guy has to have somewhat like a Josh. A guy that can have mobility. Yeah, a little Josh Allen.

It saddens me because I idolized Peyton and Drew and Tom for so many years. Even when it came to Matt, I'm like, man, I'm not playing with me. I'm not playing with Donovan, even though Donovan was dope on the game. Steve McNair, I want what they got. I would love to have what they have in terms of the sense of playing the quarterback. And I want to get there one day. That's my ultimate goal is to one day just come to the line,

change plays. We moving. We running. And so to see, and it'll be some quarterbacks that I thought Trevor Lawrence would be that guy, but still Trevor Lawrence can move a little. Trevor Lawrence can move. Can move.

So it's like every guy who's coming in now, if you look at the guys who will be coming out in the next couple years, who is it, Caleb Williams from USC. Caleb Williams, Bryce Young. Bryce Young. The crowd doesn't run as much. But you see Caleb, obviously Caleb Williams can run. But you see Bryce Young got better wheels.

Bryce Young got a little better wheels. And so it's like the game is trending towards that's what coaches want. Right. You see Daniel Jones, like they call him Vanilla Vic. I thought that was the funniest thing ever. But it was cool. It was a cool. What do you think is going on with Aaron Rodgers?

And I've told people, I say, I think Aaron Rodgers is going through what Tom Brady went through in 2019. He needs more talent around him. Yeah. Brady realized that there's not just good enough for me to have a guy that can catch the ball and fall down. I need more because as we age, no matter what it is, a professional sport or not, we need more help doing things

than we start to age. Oh, man. Before, Tom Brady could take three guys from Dorchester and go win a ball game. Aaron Rodgers could take three guys from Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, and he can go win a ball game. Aaron Rodgers could go take three guys from Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, and he can go win a ball game. Now they've got to have – you see Mike Evans. You see Chris Godwin.

You see top-notch defense, the top-five defense. You've got to have all those things. With Brady before, I remember Aaron Rodgers won the MVP. He had the number one offense and the 32nd-ranked defense because he could overcome that. He could overcome it, yeah. He can't now. Man, it was like when I got older and I lost Deshaun

and I lost Jeremy Mack and I seen what type of profound effect it had on just my everyday play. Yes. Like even in practice, it's like, I got to find ways to make this work. Right. And it's not the same caliber of guys, I think, for Aaron. I don't think age has anything to do with the decline with the entire team and the decline in his play.

I just think that not having Devontae Adams, we all underestimated that whole situation. It's just that connection. And I think Aaron did the same thing. I mean, I don't know. And I wasn't, you know, none of us was in the room. We didn't know who fought for who to keep. Well, he turned out more money from Green Bay to go to Vegas. But he did say he felt the uncertainty.

You can't keep saying you're going to retire this year. I don't feel bad getting into it. He's like, man, I want some security. I want that. But look, when you're a great player, sometimes you overestimate your ability and underestimate someone else. You do. Because you know – he's like,

well, I did win two MVPs before you got here. Yeah. He started seeing the stats. Aaron Rodgers is this many and 0 when Devontae Adams is hurt. Yeah. And they're like, man, I'm good. And then, you know.

I'm reading the headlines. Hey, you see what Devontae, he's that dude. Yeah, he is. He is. It's a shame in regards to what he's going through in Las Vegas right now. But, hey, maybe he might circle back to Green Bay in a couple years. He ain't going back to Green Bay.

The weather's too nice in Vegas. They play indoor. No state income tax. With Tom, you saw Tom, and Tom was struggling this year. Obviously, he was going with some things off the field. Maybe we didn't know to the extent. Yeah. But I think we all surmised when he left for 11 days in training camp,

you and I both have been to training camp, unless there's a death in the family or some medical emergency, they're not allowed to take time off. You're not getting 11 days. You might get a day. You're not getting 11 days. So we knew something was going on, maybe not to the extent in which it came to fruition that he ends up later

getting a divorce. And I know I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully everything is going well in his life now. But what do you think was going on outside of dealing with what he was dealing off the field? What did you see watching Tom on the field? Yeah, I just – it was no cohesiveness. And, you know, I heard you say it on the show.

It's like the run game is not present. Any season I've ever been a part of where we didn't have a run game, it was tumultuous. It was horrible. It was hard to move the chain. It was hard to move the ball. And things just don't click. It's not as easy.

People underestimate the play-action game. Yes. Common cue to play-action. Yeah, and when they're not, when them backers not stepping up or peeking off the play-action because they're not worried about the run. Right. They're not there in your run. Rob Markman Right. They're not there in your throwing range.

Rob Markman Yeah. Now there's no lanes and it gets harder. So I always felt like Tom was at his best when he had guys like James White. Even he could dump it off to him in his extension of the passing game. But I see them turning the corner and turning the page. And I also think Bruce Irons' influence. I love Brian Lefkowitz. I love Brian and what he's br and turning the page. And I also think Bruce Irons' influence. I love Brian Lefkowitz. I love Brian and what he's brung to the table.

But I also, you know, Bruce Irons is like Andy Reid, you know, an overseer. You always need an overseer. And when we think we got all the answers as players and we think we great and we, no, sometimes we don't. You know, sometimes we need that overseer. Deshaun, obviously we know a phenomenal talent. He's gone through some things. He got suspended for 11 games, dealt with a lot.

You was the guy that was in a situation. You dealt with some things. And you came back and you had to face that. And that's never going to go away. That's never going to go away. Because you went to Philly, it followed you to Philly. You went to Pittsburgh, it followed you to Pittsburgh. And so you're going to hear it.

There's going to be somebody in the stands that's going to have a sign. There's going to be some people when you pull up on the bus, they're going to be out there. How would you tell Deshaun, if you could sit down and talk to Deshaun, how would you tell him how should he handle the situation moving forward? Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee.

No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game, every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal, every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that?

Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. For one, you got to take it one day at a time. Right. And don't take it personal. You know, especially when it's self-inflicted. And so you gotta roll with the punches and you gotta accept your wrongs and move forward. And I think, for me, for a long time it was super emotional. I'm like, you know what, I gotta take my emotions out of this and I gotta look myself in the

mirror and say, okay, you know, you made this bed, you gotta lay in it. And I think that's kinda the approach that he gotta take moving forward. And at the end of the day, he still has the opportunity to go out and play ball and do the things that he loved to do. And if that's enough to clear his conscience in a four hour time span,, and you're going to still hear echoes, you're going to hear whispers, now your resolve and your resiliency is going to be tested on all levels. And so for him, it's about just staying true to himself and doing whatever you can to always try to make amends

pertaining to the situation that you went through. Let's talk about that period that you went through in your life. You get the hundred and thirty million dollar contract at the time. You were the highest paid player in the NFL. Yeah, Mike, I lived in Atlanta when you were in Atlanta and

you might have been you will you were as popular if not more popular than Chipper Jones and everybody view from Georgia, they know what you're. I know the Chipper. Shout out to Chipper. And so I'm thinking to myself, Mike, you could have had a car dealership. You could have had about five or six McDonald's. You could have had franchise after franchise.

You get that money. What made you to think, to say, you know what, I want to do something that. I don't know if you thought that what you did was that harmful, but I'm saying a dogfighting ring, that's what you get. You probably got $25 million to sign. Yeah. I mean, I had $13 million in the bank when I was, what, 25, 26 years old

and didn't know what to do with it. Right. That's where I come from. Right. You know, by the time I end up taking care of my mom. You didn't think about the car wash? You didn't think about the barbershop? I was young. I went to Arthur Blank and I told him, I said, Mr. You know, by the time I end up taking care of my… Rob Markman, You ain't think about the car wash, you ain't think about the barbershop. I was young.

I went to Arthur Blank and I told him, I said, Mr. Blank, he's always come to me like, you're spending all your money, you're spending all your money, this real story, true talk. And I'm like, nah, I got $15 million in the bank, I don't know what to do with this money. Rob Markman, Right. I got everything I want. Every car, every house, whatever.

I don't know what to do and there's more coming. Rob Markman, Got Bob, got Bob situation. Yeah, yeah. So I'm like, I got to protect this now. So I'm like, introduce me's more coming. Rob Markman, You got mom's situation. Yeah, yeah. So I'm like, I got to protect this now. So I'm like, introduce me to some people and help me grow this. And so we had a sit down and it kind of went crazy and that's to be determined. But yeah, man, I was making those, taking those steps to invest my money properly

and money was put into Union City, Atlanta. I was going to build a city, strip malls and restaurants and we had a grant. So I was getting there. I was turning the car. I was doing what

I was supposed to do. And then I ended up, as I started to turn the corner, as I started to see life different, I got a young daughter at the time, I got a son that's like four, and as I'm starting to make change, it was just a little too late. Rob Markman Right. It was a little too late. And then I ended up going through that and they took everything from me. It took everything, Shane.

I had $8 million invested in this shit. They took it all out. I'm like, how you do that? So in other words, they thought that the money that, even though you're a professional athlete, they think that the money that you got, you got it through ill-gotten means, that you got that through the ring. No, I earned that.

No, I earned that. That came from my play. Right. I saved every hour. through the ring. No, I earned that. No, I earned that. That was, that came from my play. Right. I mean, I saved every, I might've spent, might've spent close to maybe liquid, maybe like $2 million. Right.

But it was just so much bread. Whose idea was it to say, hey, Mike, I got this great idea? Cause normally homeboys come in, they got a car wash or they gonna wanna get you to the club. Hey, homeboy, we oughta open this club. Yeah. With your money.

You know, you take all the real, you know, everybody got all these ideas, Mike, with your money. Now, ain't nobody else bringing anything to the table, but an idea. No money, idea. So, when they came to you and said, hey, Mike, I think we can do this. Because, I mean, with any business, I mean, it has to have a business model, business plan.

You got to get dogs. You want to get the best, best dogs from all around the world. You might have to import dogs from Argentina. Wherever they do that at, you might have to import the dogs. Okay, now we got to build out. We got to build kennels to house the dogs. I will say this. That had nothing to do with any of my friends.

That was you? Yeah, I mean, yeah. I grew up under that. So, like, I grew up seeing that, grew up watching it. So it just never, like, I still had the hood in me. Right. I still had the hood in me. And it's like, yo, we're going to stay true to our roots.

Mike, you worked your ass off. You had a lot of homeboys that didn't work as hard as you and stayed there. You worked your ass off to leave there in order to just to go back. Yeah, but nobody never went to prison, though. You didn't think. Yeah, so I'm like. I'm from a small town in the south. Yeah. I know about dog fighting. So you can prison, though. You didn't think... Yeah, so I'm like... I'm from a small town in the south. Yeah.

I know about dog fighting. So you can relate, yeah. But I had never heard of anybody going to jail either. Me neither. So that's why I was like... So I didn't go to prison for that. Right. I went to prison for interstate commerce. Right.

Which was kind of confusing. Like, damn, okay. So laws and rules had to be changed in order to make it so that... But look, that's water under the bridge. Got a documentary coming out to talk about it all. And just kind of clearing the air on the big misconceptions and the way I'm perceived. I don't take anything away. I don't blame anybody but myself for everything.

But it's some things that I do feel like I got to take advantage of in a lot of situations. I look at it like this. You didn't have any homeboys? I mean, like, when you first started coming on the show. My homeboys was soft, though. They wanted nothing but the best for me. Right.

But they knew I was a hard head. Hard head. And when I, not because I had a lot of money and I could make decisions, but they knew like, if we deter Mike from doing this, he ain't gonna do nothing but continue to do it. You know what I'm saying? Rob Markman He gonna do it with somebody else, he gonna cut him. Rob Markman Yeah, so they felt like they was stuck between

the rock and the hard spot with me. And I respect them for that. And just to, I heard the stories of them wanting me to get away from it, but they didn't know what to do. Maybe they felt like, you might cut me off if I go too hard on them. And it's really messed up because that's how we was on the right track, everybody. When I say they had big plans, big dreams, and we started a sports agency.

We was doing a lot of stuff, man. They had sharp ideas and by the decision that I made, decision that I made, screwed everything up. When you, okay, they come to fruition, they come to find out you got this ring and your lawyer, you had the best money that lawyer can buy and you say Mike you probably gonna do some time yeah what the first day to win my let me back up the

my lawyer that I really trusted the one I paid the least amount of money to kept it real with me the lawyers I hired they brung in the pay paid all the money to. They were lying. Lying to me, bro. Took my bread and just dipped off. Just got low, but yeah, but go ahead. The lawyer that you paid the least amount of money to, he told you, Mike, you're probably going to have to go sit this one down for me. Oh, yeah, yeah. It wanted, like, when he broke that news.

They needed a face now. You said a lot of people didn't go to jail. People didn't go to jail for dog fights, so they needed a face for something. Yeah, but still people didn't go to jail for dog fights. So they needed a face for something. Yeah, but still, I knew. Like, when it was coming to it, I was like, man, you know what, man? This shit won't write. It won't write.

Even though I was turning the corner, wasn't into it like that no more. It was like, I still felt shameful for what had happened. Right. So it was times where I used to look myself in the mirror and be like, damn, boy, you going to prison. Like, you about to spend some time behind bars. When did it dawn on you? When did it say, man, this bleep just got real.

I'm about to go to the house. When they didn't get real, it wasn't a joke. It was never a joke. Right. But it didn't get real until they slammed that door and they locked it. And I was like, hold on. Wow. This is really just, this is happening right now.

You're like, three months ago, I had 15 meals at the bank. I was like, no, just a week ago. A week? Well, it was all coming, but, and I still had all my bread. Yeah. But it was like, when they closed that door, it was like, It was all coming, but, and I still had all my bread. But it was like, when they closed that door, it was like, every time, so for the first, my first day in there, they kept coming to check on me to make sure I was alright.

Rob Markman, The Suicide Watch, because they was like, people, young young men. Yeah, so they know it's my first time. Rob Markman, Yeah, yeah, yeah, you ain't, you ain't. Apostrophobic, they probably, I think they was peeking in on me, so like, the walls and everything, I mean, you know, he's just in the room. So what I did, I took the covers and I just put them over my head, because I'm like, yo, hold on. I feel like I'm about to go crazy for a minute.

And then I guess until I settled down and they was like, oh, he all right. That's when they started to check on me. But every time they came to that door to check on me, I thought it was somebody coming to that door to say, all right, you know what? You learned your lesson. Right. A couple hours. Right.

Somebody bailed you out. Somebody walked in. Yo. And then after like day four or five, when I realized that- Ain't nobody coming. Ain't nobody coming, that's just when I had to start just like letting all the emotions and fears come out. Did you ever cry?

Did you ever cry? I cried for two weeks straight. Yeah. My wife would say I cried for two weeks straight. Yeah, my wife would say I cried for two weeks straight. I really cried after I got sentenced, because I went into my sentence and not expecting to get two years. Right.

You know, expecting. It was, like I say, I did a lot of stuff, shit like leading up to, you know, I felt a drug test. I was on pretrial. Like, just still. You ever had a drug test on pretrial? Yeah. Felt a drug test on pret was on pre-trial. Like, just stealing. You felt a drug test on pre-trial? Yeah. Felt a drug test on pre-trial.

Come on, Mike. Yeah, like, felt the murder. How you going to go before the judge and tell him, you know, I learned my lesson. I apologize. Oh, yeah. I'm asking, I come at the mercy of the court. I'm following the mercy of the court.

He made me pay. He made me pay. It was funny, because I was in the club one night. On pre-tri. In the club. This is where I'm at in life. You know they got eyes on you. A random dude come up to me and say, you got Judge Henry Hudson.

I'm like, yes. He said, I went through my pre-tri. I did everything right. He said, Judge Henry Hudson still gave me five years. That's when I knew I was in trouble. And I was like, right then and there, I made up my mind to get ready to go do what I needed to do. I still didn't know I was going to get two years. Rob Markman, Jr.: Did you leave the club?

I thought I was going to get a year. No, I ain't. I party hard that night. Rob Markman, Jr.: You thought, let me go on and get this out the way. Let me get this out the way. Shit is over. It's over. And once he said that, he was like, man, I did everything. And I was like, you know what? This is about to be a chapter in my life that I'll never forget. And hopefully one day I can just live to talk about it and laugh about it like we're doing

now. It's not a serious matter. This is for the next generations to see as they watch this and be like, look, man, don't play with your career. Don't play with what God give you and the position he put you in. Never take that for granted. And, you know, I just wish I would have known better. If I would have known better, I would have done better.

I promise you. So you laying there in Leavenworth, probably laying in the bed like this. Was it six by nine, eight by ten? No, at first I went to a county jail for like 60 days. Okay. It was like in a cell. Small cell. By myself. And first I went to a county jail for like 60 days. Okay. It was like in a cell. Small cell.

By myself. And then I went to Leavenworth. Okay, you looked at Leavenworth and you laying down there and you was like, Trying not to cry. Like, what the f of you done? Yeah. Bruh, you had a $130 million contract. You had 15 mil in the bank.

You got another seven, eight million coming a year for the next seven years. And now you just like the rest of these knuckleheads that done something. Just like everybody else. To get in here. I really told myself, you just like everybody else in here and you going, I'm not going to act like I'm better than nobody in here. So what did the guys, were you ever around any other guys? I was, yeah, I was around, I was with like 250 people.

They wanted to say that. They wanted to say that. But they had so much respect for me, it was like, they brought me in, like, come on, little bro, we got to get through this. Right. Like, like they seen the pain. Right.

They seen the pain. The. They seen the pain. The toughest part was being in there and filing bankruptcy, though. Because, you know, for all this time. That's what I got all that money at the bank. What is it you got to put all that money and put it in the ground? I'm like, yo, hold on.

I just gave $8 million to this guy over here. Why am I filing bankruptcy? So everybody looking at me like, I thought you said you had investments. And I'm like, yo, bro, I do. I do. So that's always been a mystery to me. I'm still trying to crack to this day,

but I'm going a little hard on it now, Shea. I'm going a little hard on it now, man. A lot of money came up missing. You filed bankruptcy. And I heard you talk about it. And I don't remember where I heard it. But you said, you know what? I'm going to make right everybody that I've wronged.

I'm going to make full restitution to everybody. Absolutely. Why was that so important? Because I know it's me. Oh, well, I'm sorry. Y'all like the rest of them. S.O.L., bro. Yeah, bro.

But you paid back every last dime. God, leave me. Every creditor. Why was that so important to you, Mike? Because the money that I invested, I thought I was going to get that back. Right. I thought it was going to come back somehow, some way. I'm like, OK, if I pay everything back,

then at least the $8 million that I invested will come back. It might come back double. It might liquidate it, and it might not be worth it. It might be $6 million. But still, OK. But you got some money coming. But I got some. And so I choose the Fal you know, the Falcons.

They came after they, you know, everybody came after their money and OK. Hold on. The Falcons came and got their money too? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the reason I had the Falcons. What? Hold on. So they wanted the signing bonus back.

Yeah, they came after that bonus. And I respect them for that because it was like, you know, I was... That bad. Yeah, I was like, I was hurt, but I lose sleep at night over it because, you know, even just going through the bankruptcy and the whole bankruptcy committee and the trustees and all that, it was like, I got, it was a lot of questions that never got answered. And it's just really frustrating. You want to know what the eight million was. It was a lot of questions that never got answered. Right. And it's just really frustrating.

You want to know what the eight million was? Yeah, I'm a black man. I worked hard for this. And I did pay all the money back. But at least can I get the rest of it? You know what I'm saying? Where's the rest of it? Because the narrative on me is that I was bad with money and I blew all my money and I screwed up.

No, I didn't. Right. Witt. Wake up with football every morning money and I blew all my money and I screwed up. No, I didn't. Right. Weird. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes.

We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL Media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl

window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that super bowl i don't know why colleen catch the podcast the nfl daily with greg rosenthal every day subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends and who doesn't want that listen now on the iheart radio app apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. Is there anything that you could have done differently? Obviously, being from Newport News, there are a lot of guys from there.

Allen Iverson is from that area. Sweet Pea Whitaker, rest his soul. Bruce Smith is from, he's a little further, I think a little further than you are. But you have some tremendous athletes from that area. Your cousin is Aaron Brooks. Quarterback, Pro Bowl quarterback, played with the Saints, had a nice career. Is there anything, is there any friends that you could have had? If you could have surrounded yourself with some different people,

do you think the situation would have been different? What could Michael Vick have done differently to have a different outcome? Probably listen to my mom. So what did your mom say? When your mom found out, because your mom know what's going on. My mom found out. When my mom found out what was going on,

mom was just like, you need to stop doing what you're doing. Right. But Shay, I got $13 million in the bank. I got money in there. I'm looking at it like, Ma, I'm all right. Right. I got it. Anything happen, I got it in there. I'm looking at it like, ma, I'm all right.

Right. I got it. Anything happen, I got it under control. I'm not doing, I'm lying to her. Right. My mom looked me in my eyes one day, and she told me, she was like, you're not happy. Man, I got all this.

I got everything. And she's like, yo, you're not happy. What were you missing? Why did she think you weren't happy? It was just a lot of guilt to what I was doing. I had a lot of other situations going on with kids and family, with my son and going through it with his mom. So I just wasn't in a good place in 2006, 2007.

I was really searching for happiness when I had everything that I thought I wanted and everything I worked hard for in life. And then, you know, and this was before anything even popped off. I was just, it was a lot of people coming to me trying to get me on the right track. You had everything that you had hoped for, Mikey, as a child. You hoped to have riches beyond your wildest dreams. You hoped to be more famous than anybody you had ever known.

You had that. You had everything that you had hoped for, but you weren't happy weren't happy you didn't have peace no i didn't have peace you know i just wanted to be drafted in the first second third fourth round not not even i never thought i'd be drafted in the first round as a quarterback ever when you started here you said you didn't think you could be drafted the first round and you started hearing talk that mike vick might be the first pick of the draft i'm like me i had a good friend tell me like after my first year, um, Cornell Brown. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I played with Cornell. Yeah, I played with CB in Baltimore. Yeah, Cornell was like the Baltimore, he used to come pick me up from Virginia Tech. He was like,

the Baltimore Ravens said they would, they'll take you in the top five. I just finished up my freshman year. I was like, whoa. But still, that dream could become a reality. I had one more season to do, and I'm like, I got to stay focused. So I knew I was on my way. I knew I had a shot. It was just all about keeping everything in perspective. Right. So you get that.

You do your time. You did 23 months, right? Did 23 months. Did 23 months. Hard months. Coach Dungey, I think, did Coach Dungey come visit you? Coach Dungey came to visit. Soon as I got out and went straight,

I went to see Roger. Arthur Blank came to see me at my house. And it was just good to see those guys. And definitely my conversation with Roger, man. This is what changed my life. I sat down with Roger and Roger was like. Roger Goodell, the commissioner. Roger Goodell.

And I was like, Roger, because I lied to Roger. I told Roger, bold-faced lie right in his face. Roger, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied. Roger said, hey, hey, we're not here to talk about the past. We're here to talk about you moving forward. Wow. And that right there was everything to me.

It was like we was able to have a meeting with the league office and everybody who was helping and making decisions for me to come back and get reinstated. And that right there changed my life. I mean, obviously seeing Coach Dungy, Coach Dungy just wanted to make sure, like, you got empathy, you contrite, and then get a sense of where I was in life. And, but Roger and those words, man, just was like, okay, we can turn the page. Because you say you had lied to Roger.

Obviously, the NFL, they got feelers, they got people, they got reaches that go far beyond what the normal person can reach. So when they got wind of this, they call you in, they talk to you, they ask Mike, Mike, what's your involvement? How involved are you in this? Are you involved with this? Or is this someone just using your name? And you said, I ain't got nothing to do with this.

I'm like, man. You're like a child before the parent. Did you? I was just trying to protect so much. Honestly, when I think about it now, because I can be truthful about it, I had so much respect for just everybody, but my relationship with Nike and what we had built and created all that whole shoe line. And I'm like, okay, I'm on Nike.

I'm like, I'm not losing that. And so I was thinking wrong. Rob Markman Right. So if I had went in with a different attitude, maybe it could have turned out a different way. My lawyer always told me, I can't represent you if you don't tell me the truth. So you lied to your attorney too?

Lied to everybody. God. I was young, man. Well, maybe if you had told the truth, they could have got to the front of this. Right, right, yeah. Got out in front of this, said, OK, blah blah blah blah. We yeah, I learned so much about Myself I learned like just how to be honest like what right?

Trying to tell us the same lie over and over again is impossible. Yeah, cuz you gonna forget Yeah, and I just might you should have been to the front of line to tell Somebody beat you to the line to tell That beat you to the front of the line to tell Somebody beat you to the line of tail. They beat you to the front of the line of tail. Man, God had a plan for my life, man. You get out.

How did the Philly situation come to be? They had Donovan. They gave Donovan. Donovan was one of the guys who wanted to help me. And when they called, I was like, man, I couldn't believe that they called. Did any other teams reach out? Yeah, Baltimore. Not Baltimore, but Buffalo.

We was talking to Buffalo, and we was talking to Cincinnati. Okay. And so the premise was not to play my first year to get myself back in playing shape and not have the whole fanfare around me. So to go to a place where you can be a backup, get your feet wet again, and then work yourself back into the playing shape. Rob Markman, And then that didn't go according to plan because you ended up playing. D Smoke, I was able to sit the first year with Andy, learn a lot from Donovan, learn a lot from Andy, like their philosophy, how they go about game planning and going into a game.

And it was totally different than anything I ever seen. The game plan, how the coach go about being on the same page with the quarterback, what he expect from you. It was just – I was getting in the building at 6 in the morning, man, and just doing it different. So your first year you kind of learned, okay, man. Prior to you going to Philly, what was Mike Vick game preparation like? What was your study habits like?

What was it like before you – in Atlanta, when you were the guy in Atlanta, what was Mike Vick's study habits like? My coach demanded – because I was in a new system, in the West Coast system, so I had to spend some time studying and understanding what the message was, like what was we trying to really accomplish on Sundays. And so I took a lot of pride in that. We was able to go to the NFC Championship game my first year in this West Coast system. But then it was so easy to get there, the second year

I took a step back. I started doing less. Because it was so easy. So I got spoiled. I'm like, we'll get back. The year three in the system, 2006, we didn't even make the playoffs. We didn't make the playoffs in 2005 or 2006. I never got back. And it was all because it was so easy to get there in my first year.

So my preparation that year was amazing. I studied because I never wanted to disappoint my coaches. I always wanted them to be proud of me. And I always wanted them to know that I was listening. And I was taking heed to everything that they were saying. And, Coach, if I say I got it, I got it. But I could have did a little bit more. Right.

I could have did more as I got older. And I think that's not, it's not a coach job to tell you to do more. You gotta do more. Yeah. Like I should have volunteered, came to the coach. You know, I'm gonna break down this film. I'm gonna break down this tape unless.

What year did you break? Was that 2005, 2006 that you broke your leg in the pre-season? That was 2003. 2003, okay. You broke your leg in the pre-season6 that you broke your leg in the preseason. That was 2003 2003. Okay, you broke your leg in the preseason. Yeah, broke my leg in the preseason. I didn't finish that season. So 03 I came back at the end of the year, right? Before games left, they fired in and then the next year I had a new system that I had to learn. So I spent two years with Dan, but pretty much right

while I played and then whole that I had to learn. So I spent two years with Dan, but pretty much right. Well, I played and then whole new coaching regimen came in. Had this dogfighting situation not come up. Do you believe Mike Vick was on a Hall of Fame Arc? Yes. Yes. You know, I had a situation in 2006 where I stuck my middle finger up at the crowd. I flicked off the crowd.

It wasn't towards our fans. It was towards some Saints fans. That was a big misconception, too. But it seemed like things were spiraling out of control for me. And it wasn't until Chip came in. Not Chip. Chip Bobby. Right.

Bobby Trito came in with Hugh Jackson. Right. And they was teaching me how to play the quarterback position for protections. I mean, we was just kind of like starting all over in a new system. Rob Markman, Right. Rob Markman, And Hugh was like, man, you're going to be the league MVP this year. And I really felt that way because my focus was different. A lot of my boys had moved out the house.

We was living together. My wife had moved in, my daughter. So I was turning the corner. Rob Markman Right. DJ Premier And it was, like I say, it was just too late. Everything was starting to take a turn for the worse. But that year, we probably would've, we would've went deep in the playoffs. And we definitely, I definitely would've, you know, been on the Hall of Fame path for sure. I had plans to retire early, though.

Did you? And do what? I don't know. That's why I invested that $8 million. I'm going to sit back and chill, own some property. You mentioned that you had your boys in the home before you had moved your wife in with your daughter. What did they bring? So what were they tell you?

I mean, obviously, video games. You like video games. They like video games. You play video games. But what do they add to Michael Vick's football life? How they they they support a lot of football players. They supported me a lot. Like, like when I started the game prep. No, but it was like motivational speeches like like man, you need to stop doing this

You need to stop My life was one big misconception people think it was my boys was my downfall nah They were some of my biggest supporters. They was just in a position where if they go too hard on me and y'all don't do this Don't go. Yeah, and I hated they felt like they was even in a position where if they go too hard on me and y'all don't do this don't go Yeah, and I hated they felt like they was even in that situation. It's so unfortunate But uh And I never looked at it that way I might have caught an attitude have been a little right set but I wasn't gonna kick my man to the curve just from telling

Me stop drinking the yet, right? I'm looking at you you come back in 2010 you pass for 3,000 yards 21 touchdowns six interceptions a 70 QBR 62 for 63 percent completion percentage you come back player of the year and you go to the Pro Bowl Yeah, right. Yes Andy Reid was everything man. Andy demanded so much out of me and he checked and he was like You know, you know, I went through a lot two or three years prior. It was a lot that I had on my chest. I couldn't go to my agent.

I didn't have a father. My dad wasn't. He was there, but I couldn't. You didn't feel you could talk to him. Right, right, yeah. I just needed somebody to talk to, man. And it was like Andy came into my life at the right time. I could talk to him.

I could tell him whatever I wanted to tell him and get an honest answer whether I liked it or not. He didn't care whether I liked it or not either. But he cared. And just to have those conversations that brought out the best in me. I spent more time in the building and I just I just seemed like I always felt like I saw myself coach a tell Coach, Coach, if I had you, if you would have drafted me, man, I know you had Donovan, but if you would have drafted me, I would have went places. You ended up going to the Steelers, and the fans weren't very happy. No.

Art Rooney II, he said you had proven himself, and you paid your debt to society, and you deserved a second chance. Yeah. And Big Ben and Mike Tomlin was big advocates for me at the time, too, man. And then, you know, I sat down with Mr. Rooney, and Mr. Rooney was, you know, he was amazing. Like, that's truly how he felt. He believed in second chances. And I've never been in a locker room where guys embraced me so much.

Like, even being older, 35 at the time. Me so much. Like, even being older, 35 at the time. I always tell Mike Thomas, thanks for that experience and that opportunity to play one last season. Right. With a good group of young dudes, man, who really cared about football and loved the game. While you were in Pittsburgh, you played with a young A.B.

Another A.B. that what we see now seems to have a lot of his life spiraling out of control. When you were there in Pittsburgh, what did you notice? And did you know... Did you see anything that would give you like, man, this dude, he need to monitor. He need to be careful. Nah, not at all,

man. AB was a hard worker. He believed in himself. He loved Big Ben. He was smart. Understood.B. was a hard worker. He believed in himself. He loved Big Ben. He was smart, understood the system. He would just get a little agitated if he didn't get the ball. I started for three games and I didn't target A.B. I'll be honest. I didn't really know a lot about the AFC. And I didn't know a lot about, because the Steelers, they had guys coming in and out, influx of receivers from Mike Wallace to... Manuel Sanders. Manuel Sanders, like in and out, in and out.

And so it's this new guy, and I don't know too much about him, and so I'm spreading the ball around. Martavius, you know, Marcus Wheaton, I'm trying to just spread it out. Other than him getting a little aggravated that he didn't get the ball, A.B. was a great teammate, man. And I didn't see, I didn't see, definitely didn't see the ball, A.B. was a great teammate, man. And I didn't see, definitely didn't see the behavior that I see now.

I mean, if you could talk to him, because I thought he had a great situation. Tom Brady went to bat for him. Yeah. It's not a whole lot of quarterbacks that can go to bat, especially with the kind of behavior that he's displayed over a period. So Tom Brady goes to bat. Bruce Arians wanted nothing to do with it because Bruce Arians had him in Pittsburgh. He made it abundantly clear at the beginning of the season.

But somehow Tom Brady talked him into it. Tom reaches out, has him in his home, and the way he handled Tom, that's what I'm most disappointed. Look, you can be a jerk to a lot of people. I don't think you should be a jerk. But someone that reached out, gave you an olive branch, picked you up, propped you up. You do them like this? Yeah, that right there was a little

disturbing to me, too, because I know him and Tom was on the same page at one time. And I believe in loyalty, and I believe in friendships, true friendships, and I thought they was creating a bond. He put him in a situation where AD was able to get a ring.

Yes. And shine. And he turned his back on him. I just saw you ran 4.740 at 41. I saw T.O. ran like a 4.5, 4.6. Yeah. If you train, you think you can get T.O.? Absolutely.

I'ma train next year. Oh, you gonna.? Absolutely. I'm going to train next year. Are you going to train for it? I'm going to train next year. Every year I come in, I say I'm going to train. I don't train. This year I was running, and I was so scared to pull a hamstring. I was like, I just got through the race. But next year I'm going to train.

Well, I can't say that because T.O. is a specimen. I'm going to just shoot for 4.6. You're going to shoot for 4.6? I'm going to shoot for 4.6. I mean. A realistic goal. I mean, to just shoot for 4.6. You'll shoot for 4.6? I'll shoot for 4.6. I mean, my god. A realistic goal. I mean, you weren't ran 4.33. Yeah, but that was light years.

I was 23. So is that going to be the race? I mean, can we get that race? Yeah, yeah. You know what, T.O., I'm going to take you up on that, man. But T.O. stay in the gym, though. He's a gym rat. I'm not a gym rat. I'm a distance runner now.

Three months. Can we get you down to 4'6 in three months? Yeah, yeah. For sure. Because, I mean, you trim. You don't lose weight. I mean, you're down to less than your playing weight. No, no, no. I'm like 2'4". I got on the scale yesterday. Well, how much you play at? I play at a 212. Man, that's too...

Bruh. Man, you ain't breaking this morning. I thought you might have said... I thought you gonna say you was like 200. Nah. Nah. I'm... I hold my weight pretty good.

Yeah. This might put a couple pounds on me, but it's all love. Hey, bruh. I appreciate your time. Yeah. And a great time, bro. Hey, all the best. Appreciate your success.

You've been able to reinvent yourself. I really appreciate that. Taking appreciate your time. Yeah, and a great time, bro. All the best. Appreciate your success. You've been able to reinvent yourself. I really appreciate that. Taking that with me. All my life.

Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the roll of dice. That's why. All my life. I've been grinding all my life.

Look. All my life. Been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle paid the price. Want a slice. Got the roll of life. All my life. I've been grinding all my life. Sacrifice. Hustle pay the price. Want a slice. Not to roll a dice. That's why.

All my life. I've been grinding all my life. Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.