Michael Vick is coming off one of the worst seasons of his career. In three starts and 10 appearances, he completed just 53 percent of his passes for 604 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. It wasn't a fiery wreckage as much as a stall, which might be sadder given the dynamism that Vick once embodied. It's clear he has slowed down.
Michael Vick still believes he is an NFL starter
Vick might be right, but history suggests he wouldn’t be very good.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
But Vick, who will turn 35 in less than three weeks, isn’t giving up. He told a reporter at DeSean Jackson’s charity golf tournament that he still believes he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL, despite his age and the fact that he’d be joining a roster well into the offseason.
“I think when you’re a veteran, you can do it,” Vick said. “You understand everything that goes on throughout the course of an NFL season, throughout the course of a preseason. So you know how to pace yourself. You’ve just got to stay training. You’ve just got to work out. You have to make sure when you go in that you’re in tip-top shape and not lagging, because if you do, it’s going to show.”
Don't take that as bravado. Vick is reportedly well aware that it'll take an injury to get a team to sign him. He might be able to improve a few current depth charts -- in Buffalo and Cleveland, for example -- but teams may be hesitant to take him in given his own admission that, at times, he didn't prepare for games as intently as he should have behind Geno Smith last season.
Vick is also approaching an age when few quarterbacks have been successful who weren’t Hall of Fame caliber. Vick has posted a passer rating better than 80.0 five times in 12 seasons, and had a 68.3 rating in New York -- the second-worst rating of his career -- against a league median of 87.2 among passers with at least 100 attempts. He has never consistently been an effective passer, and to demand that he step up this season on short notice would have to be considered a desperate act by any team.
But it wouldn't be unprecedented if Vick did happen to star. He has done it before, and quarterbacks have risen up to have fantastic seasons at advanced ages in the past. In 1998, Bubby Brister, 36, had a 99.0 passer rating -- 10 touchdown passes and three interceptions -- starting four games in place of an injured John Elway after posting a 53.7 rating during his prior meaningful season in 1995. In 1998, Randall Cunningham's passer rating jumped nearly 35 points -- from 71.3 to 106.0 -- over the previous season at 35 years old. More recently, Jon Kitna had a resurgent season for the Cowboys at 38, passing for more than 2,300 yards with an 88.9 passer rating in 2010 after posting a 72.2 rating during his final season with the Lions in 2008.
None of those quarterbacks stayed effective for long, but they give Vick hope. There’s no question he’s serious about getting back on an NFL playing field, and he can. He’ll just need to overcome history and his own perceived attitude.
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