For much of quarterback Michael Vick’s scintillating stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, a major area of focus was the amount of hits he was taking and how to fix it.
During his main stretch as a starter from 2010 to 2012, he absorbed 323 hits over 35 games (more than nine per game), second most in the NFL behind only Cam Newton (342). That punishment led to various injuries for Vick, including rib and cartilage damage when he dove head first toward the goal line against Washington in 2010 and got walloped by a pair of defenders. Vick later revealed that, for as gifted as an athlete as he was, he didn’t know how to slide. That didn’t stop the requests from pouring in, including from President Barack Obama, who asked teammate Nnamdi Asomugha during an offseason fundraiser to: “Tell Vick to slide.”
Vick’s public response to the calls oscillated. He made a promise to the fans before the 2012 season he would make a conscious effort to protect himself, and then quickly abandoned that stance because it felt restrictive and unnatural. In the end, all that came from the conversation was wasted breath. Vick was who he was. The way he was wired as a quarterback made him both great and susceptible to injury and absence, and the fate was tethered to whether the coin landed on heads or tails.
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