We’re live at Vick press conference (from my couch)!
OMG! It's Michael Vick! Not really. But it is one of his fans, who must have gotten the news while he was at the Eagles-Patriots exhibition game Thursday night. (AP photo)
With regard to item #7, I don’t see how anyone could be “astounded.” Isn’t this the same city where one columnist referred to the former #7 as “Ron Mexico”?
But, hey, it’s all Philadelphia’s problem now. Hope they have fun.
(UPDATES BELOW with comments from press conference, statements from Falcons and PETA, and more!)
Seven random thoughts on No.7 before the Michael Vick press conference starts, which I’ll be monitoring . . .
♦ 1.) Does this mean the United Football League is going to fold — and what to do now with all of those No. 7 Florida Tuskers jerseys? (Did anybody really believe that ever was going to happen? Suckers.)
♦ 2.) Here’s an idea: Sell the jerseys to Arthur Blank! The Falcons’ owner is trying to make up for some of the cash he lost after the Vick-fueled franchise collapse. But how happy is he today? He now knows he’ll have at least one sellout this season (Dec. 6 vs. Eagles), and if he’s smart he’ll break out all of those Falcons’ No. 7 jerseys that he has in storage and sell them outside the Georgia Dome game week. What do you suppose complete MV7 set of Falcon-Leavenworth-Tusker-Eagle jerseys would go for?
♦ 3.) This just in: football coaches lie. Yes, shocking but true, the Eagles were one of over 20 teams that publicly shot down any thoughts of Vick signing with their team. This from coach Andy Reid just over two weeks ago: “Number one, I think he’s a good kid Right now we have a good situation at quarterback so that’s not the direction I’m looking. I’m glad Tony Dungy is involved, no finer person around than Tony Dungy. And Michael, the times I’ve talked to him, he’s a good kid, so I think that combination there will help Michael and probably increase his marketability there.”
♦ 4.) It’s a testament to how well great NFL franchises can keep a secret that word of Philadelphia’s interest in Vick never leaked out, especially in the days of message boards, blogs, blind reader commenting and every third cousin of the equipment manager Twittering. And how must ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, a former AJC comrade, feel? He actually had the Eagles listed as a possible destination for Vick early in the week but removed them after speaking to Reid.
♦ 5.) There has been a loud reaction from the significant number of remaining Vick supporters in Atlanta since the signing. But can you imagine what the response would have been if the Falcons hadn’t turned things around with Matt Ryan last season? And given this is a franchise that never has had consecutive winning seasons, the last thing Blank needs is for his team to be 4-7 going into the Eagles game.
♦ 6.) Had to laugh at the response from former Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who, when asked on 680 The Fan Friday morning whether Vick could ever play wide receiver: “No chance. He can’t catch. We tried to [practice] some plays out of the shotgun.”
♦ 7) Just got off the phone after my second radio interview of the morning. The guy on the other end was astounded by how divided the Eagles’ fan base was over the signing and couldn’t seem to get over that people were saying such mean and nasty things about Vick and each other. Dude, you have no idea.
Oh look! It’s Sal Paolantonio! I’ll be commenting during the press conference. Jump in at any time.
Two Twitters last night from Chad Ocho Cinco (@OGOChoCinco): “Mike Vick and McNabb on the same team, damn!!!!!! Glad I don’t play defense, good luck game planning to stop that shh!!” …. And: “Shaq-Lebron Vick-McNabb that shhh is awesome , i know where I am spending my bye week, I am acting like a groupie, I am going to the game.”
