Revolutionizing the game
I am a 25 year
football enthusiast. I have played at every level and if it
were not for injuries I would have continued to play in the professional ranks. I was born in the eighties where the traditional style of
football was played. There were quarterbacks such as Joe Montana and Dan Marino that would pick you apart at will, basically carrying a team solely on their “ARMS”. Enter the 90’s a
quarterback by the name of Randal Cunningham starts to become known for running just as much he was known for his passing abilities. Cunningham started a new trend in the NFL where quarterbacks posed more than a one dimensional threat by having game breaking ability in running the ball. As the position of quarterback continued to be redefined many teams attempted to jump on the mobile quarterback bandwagon by drafting quarterbacks with more speed than talent and many ………… well most failed in their attempts to reduplicate the Randal Cunningham, Steve Young mold of the complete quarterback. It’s now 2005 it’s a Sunday afternoon, the skies are bright and the stadium is packed with thousands of fans cheering their beloved Buffalo Bill’s. The opposing team has the ball, its third down and 8 yards to go in a very intense defensive game where both teams have seemingly struggled offensively. The ball is hiked and the quarterback drops back, the Buffalo Bills blitz in an attempt to rush the quarter back into making a decision as to who he is going to throw the ball to. In most cases the blitz normally has one of three out comes. One is that the quarterback panics and throws the ball inadvertently to the wrong team for an interception; two is that the quarter will be drilled for a sack by the blitzing defenders, or thirdly if the quarterback guesses correctly he may find a receiver that is open or is in one on one coverage for a big play. Well in this game the quarter choose an alternative option one that most , um well no other quarter back could do. He tucked the ball, did a spin move, and ran three yards until a defender grabbed him; however all in the same motion he stopped on a dime making the defender loose his grip. Then he reversed field and ran for another 10 yards, all in a matter of seconds. It’s now first and ten with a renewed opportunity to get in the end zone. Michael Vick is this quarterback that I speak of; he is also a 25 year old athlete. The biggest difference between him and me is that he has the insane ability to throw with the accuracy of NFL quarterback and he also has the ability to be one of the best running backs in the NFL. As a football fan I say this is impossible to do and there is no way that there will ever be another player in the league that will ever do what he can do. As a football enthusiast I believe that this is the beginning of a new era to football as we know it. The game is faster than ever, there are 300 pound guys that run as fast as some running backs now, and for today unless your name has “Manning” at the end of it then you probably have no chance of being successful within this new league.
From Game to game Mike does the unthinkable. He makes plays running the ball, he makes plays passing the ball, and to a certain extent he plays defense too. You may ask how this guy plays defense well considering that an NFL game is technically played for 60 minutes, if Mike keeps drives moving with his abilities he and the offense do not allow the opposing team to get their offense in a set rhythm, its called ball control. Mike may run for 50 yards, throw for 150 yards in a given game. Those numbers seem minimal to NFL standards but to a winning percentage they mean everything. Electrifying, breathtaking, and unstoppable are a few words that some columnist have tagged Mike with. He is all of those things but he is a winner first. So the next time you have a chance, regardless to where you live take some time out ofyour Sunday or Monday evening and catch a Falcons game and chances are you may also become Vicktamized by the face of the new era of professional football.