Atlanta · Surry County · Leavenworth · Philadelphia
23 MonthsMichael Vick
In 2006 Michael Vick was the most exciting player in football and held the richest contract the NFL had ever handed out. A year later federal agents were digging up dog graves behind a house he owned in Virginia. He went to prison, came out broke, and in 2010 played the best game of his life on Monday Night Football.
He lost almost everything. Who decided he could have it back?
Newport News, Virginia · 1980 to 2000
Bad Newz
Michael Vick was born in 1980 and grew up in Ridley Circle, a public housing project in Newport News, Virginia. Locals called the city Bad Newz. He played quarterback at Warwick High School for coach Tommie Reamon.
At Virginia Tech he sat out 1998 as a redshirt. In 1999 he took over as a freshman and the Hokies went 11 and 0 in the regular season. He finished third in the Heisman Trophy vote, which almost never happens for a freshman.
On January 4, 2000, Virginia Tech played Florida State for the national title in the Sugar Bowl. The Hokies lost 46 to 29. Vick threw for 225 yards and ran for 97 more. Nobody who watched forgot it.
Atlanta Falcons · 2001 to 2006
The No. 1 pick
Atlanta traded up with San Diego to take Vick first overall in the 2001 draft. San Diego used the fifth pick on LaDainian Tomlinson. Vick was the first Black quarterback ever chosen first overall.
Defenses had never seen a quarterback that fast. On December 1, 2002 he ran for 173 yards at Minnesota, a record for a quarterback, and won the game with a 46 yard run in overtime. A month later Atlanta won a playoff game at Lambeau Field. The Packers had never lost a home playoff game before that night.
He was on the cover of Madden NFL 2004. Kids who played it still talk about how unfair he was in the game. In December 2004 the Falcons signed him to a 10 year deal worth up to $130 million, the richest contract in league history at the time. Nike and Coca Cola paid him to sell their products.
In 2006 he ran for 1,039 yards. No quarterback had ever reached 1,000 in a season.
Most rushing yards by a quarterback in one season. Douglass's record stood for 34 years until Vick broke it. Vick's mark stood for 13.
1915 Moonlight Road · Surry County, Virginia
The house on Moonlight Road
In 2001, the year he was drafted, Vick paid for a 15 acre property in rural Surry County, about an hour from where he grew up. His friends built kennels and sheds behind a white brick house. From 2002 on it was the home of a dogfighting operation they called Bad Newz Kennels.
On April 20, 2007 police in Hampton arrested Vick's cousin Davon Boddie on drug charges. Boddie gave 1915 Moonlight Road as his address. Five days later officers searched the property. They found dogs chained to car axles, just out of reach of each other, along with equipment for training and fighting them. Animal control officers took 66 dogs away, most of them pit bulls.
Vick was the face of the Falcons and one of the best known athletes in America. His first move was to say it had nothing to do with him.
Vick told reporters he was rarely at the house and blamed relatives who stayed there. At the NFL draft that week he told Commissioner Roger Goodell he was not involved.
April 2007, as reported by ESPN and the Associated Press
United States v. Peace, Phillips, Taylor and Vick
The case file
In eight months, the story Vick told in public fell apart. Step through the record one filing at a time. Watch the gap between what he said and what investigators could prove.
The judge, Henry Hudson, said he did not believe Vick had told the whole truth. He gave Vick a longer sentence than the two friends sentenced before him. Prosecutors had noted that federal guidelines for a first time offender suggested zero to six months. Hudson said Vick had not accepted full responsibility.
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth
Vick turned himself in early, three weeks before his sentencing. He was moved to Leavenworth in Kansas, one of the first federal prisons ever built.
The money went faster than the career. The Falcons went to court to get back bonus money. Every major sponsor dropped him. In July 2008, from prison, he filed for bankruptcy.
He chose Chapter 11 instead of Chapter 7. Chapter 7 would have wiped out most of what he owed. Chapter 11 meant paying it back out of whatever he earned in the future, if he ever earned anything again.
| When | What happened | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2004 | Falcons contract signed, 10 years | $130M |
| 2007 | Remaining contract money lost, at least | $60.5M |
| 2007 | Paid to care for the seized dogs | $928K |
| July 2008 | Debts listed in bankruptcy court | $20.4M |
| July 2008 | Assets listed in bankruptcy court | $16M |
Figures from the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the federal court order and the bankruptcy filing.
2009 to 2026
Who opened the door
Vick left home confinement on July 20, 2009. A comeback was not something he could do alone. Commissioners, coaches, companies and schools each had to decide whether to let him in. Open each door to see who made the call and what they said.
0 of 9 doors opened
Each circle sits on the date of the decision. A filled circle opened the door. A half circle opened it partway.
Pick a door
Nine decisions
Each one came from a different person or group, and each one had something to lose.
FedExField, Landover, Maryland · November 15, 2010
Monday Night
He spent 2009 as a backup. In the first game of 2010, starter Kevin Kolb got a concussion and Vick took his job. In Week 10 Philadelphia went to Washington on Monday Night Football. On the first play from scrimmage Vick threw an 88 yard touchdown to DeSean Jackson. Philadelphia won 59 to 28.
No player in NFL history had thrown for 300 yards, run for 50, thrown four touchdowns and run for two in the same game. The Associated Press named him Comeback Player of the Year. In July 2011 Nike signed him again. A month later the Eagles gave him a six year deal worth up to $100 million. A sports business reporter at CNBC called it the first time a brand had ever come back to an athlete it dropped.
Thirteen seasons, fifteen years
The gap
Every bar is one NFL season. Switch between running and passing, then press any season to see what happened that year. Look at where the bars stop.
Pick a season
2001 to 2015
He finished with 6,109 rushing yards, the most ever by a quarterback when he retired. Lamar Jackson passed him in the 2024 season.
Season by season numbers
| Season | Team | Passing | Rushing |
|---|
Norfolk, Virginia · 2017 to 2026
Where it landed
Vick played his last NFL snaps for Pittsburgh in 2015 and officially retired in February 2017. That June the Falcons held a ceremony to honor him. He did not sign a contract to retire as a Falcon. Owner Arthur Blank said Vick would "certainly be considered" for the team's Ring of Honor.
In February 2018 a judge closed his bankruptcy case. He had paid back more than $17 million. A consultant on the case said a debtor pays back almost all of what he owes in maybe one case out of a hundred.
On December 20, 2024 Norfolk State University hired him as head football coach, across the harbor from Ridley Circle. His first team went 1 and 11. His second team opened 2026 with a 56 to 0 win and was 4 and 3 by mid October.
- Falcons retirement ceremonyHeld
- National High School Football Hall of Fame, Canton, OhioInducted
- College Football Hall of FameInducted
- Falcons Ring of Honor. The 2026 class is John Abraham and Bill Fralic.Not yet
"I deserved to lose the $130 million."Michael Vick to James Brown, 60 Minutes, August 2009
Two years after saying it, he signed for $100 million. People still argue about whether he should have been allowed to.
Go to the ByteSize: Who Let Him Back