By Ben Present
Every once in a blue moon, an athlete somewhere will pull off a feat so impressive, so awe-inspiring that he or she forces us to question if what is transpiring is actually real.
Monday night, that athlete was Michael Vick.
Exploding for six touchdowns, Vick accounted for more than four hundred total yards and averaged a first down both with his arm and on his feet. Making it look eerily easy, Vick single-handedly picked apart division rival Washington and their newly promoted quarterback Donovan McNabb who, oh by the way, was serving as Vick’s mentor in Philadelphia just a season ago.
If you’ve ever played Madden on rookie, that’s close. But on Monday, Vick faced a bigger, sweeter cupcake on the road in Washington.
Just ten seconds into the second quarter, the Eagles had tallied up a 35-0 lead and there didn’t appear to be anything, anyone wearing red could do about it. The Eagles, once thought to be facing their biggest rebuilding year since McNabb joined the team a decade ago, won 59-28. Now they are as legitimate of a contender as anyone. Can’t say we didn’t tell you so.
Washington eventually got its offense back on track, but facing such a deficit against an Eagles team showing no signs of slowing down, there efforts were never short of forlorn.
Vick said even he was surprised with how easy things were coming to him Monday night. Photo Courtesy of Philly.com
Vick became the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 300 yards, rush for more than fifty and have four passing and two rushing touchdowns.
In light of all the hype, it’s easy to forget that Monday night was almost the historic performance that never was. The Eagles’ initial starter, Kevin Kolb, went down with a concussion in Week 1, setting the stage for Vick coast his way to being 2010’s midseason MVP.
But as Vick continues his inconceivable rise to greatness on the field, he is making an even more surprising ascension: back into the good graces of fans.
Vick made national headlines for his involvement in an illegal dog-fighting ring and spent more than a year in prison just three years ago, and there weren’t many fans left with a good thing to say about the most mobile quarterback ever.
Now, fans and members of the press alike are practically lining up to forgive the star, who hasn’t seemed to lose a step on the ground and, even more surprisingly, has the arm and mindset of a pocket passer. Before he took off against a defenseless Redskins defense, averaging ten yards at a time, Vick was checking his third and fourth options. Excuse us? Michael Vick has somehow miraculously transformed himself into a passing quarterback without losing any his speed? This all during the two years he was without a starting job in the NFL? We know, doesn’t make sense to us either.