Dodged that McBullet.
Posted on 01/07/2006 12:31:27 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
By HANK KURZ Jr., AP Sports Writer January 7, 2006
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- Marcus Vick decided to turn pro Saturday, one day after he was kicked off the team at Virginia Tech for transgressions on and off the field.
"I have decided to enter the NFL draft," the junior quarterback said in a three-paragraph statement released through his lawyers. "I am very excited about this opportunity and look forward to proving my athletic ability at the professional level. I believe I am ready for this challenge and the next chapter of my life."
Vick said he appreciated all the consideration and trust that Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer had placed in him during his stay at Virginia Tech, and said "I deeply regret that I allowed my competitive emotions to take control" in the Gator Bowl.
"To all of the Virginia Tech community, I sincerely apologize."
Virginia Tech cited the cumulative effects of Vick's legal problems and his unsportsmanlike conduct in the Jan. 2 bowl in dismissing him from the team Friday.
During the game, he was caught on tape stomping on the left calf of Louisville All-American defensive end Elvis Dumervil after a tackle. Vick claimed it was an accident, but school officials said Saturday they thought it looked intentional.
"We have received hundreds of letter from fans and alumni who are disturbed by what they saw," university president Charles Steger said at a Saturday news conference.
Beamer, who delivered the news of the dismissal to Vick and his mother in person, said he did not advise Vick on whether or not to turn pro, but told him during their meeting Friday that he would help him in any way he could when Vick made his decision.
The dismissal hit Vick's mother, Brenda Boddie, hard.
"I cried a lot yesterday," she said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "But we're just going to move on and make something positive out of this and Marcus is going to show everybody that he's not the person a lot of people claim he is."
She agreed that her son "did the wrong thing" and said she understood why Tech dismissed him, but said she resents seeing her son portrayed as a "monster."
Looking ashen, Beamer said he, Steger and Weaver agreed once all the evidence was in that the outcome had to be dismissal, but that made it no less disappointing.
"When I go into a home and talk about how I'm going to do my best to make everything at Virginia Tech turn out successful and be good and then it doesn't reach that -- it's disappointing to me as a coach," the 19-year veteran coach said.
"I can tell you he's deeply hurt, he's deeply saddened. I can assure you this kid is very, very hurt, his mom is very, very hurt and I'm hurting with them."
Vick was suspended from school in 2004 because of several legal problems, and came under intense scrutiny again once because of replays of his actions against Dumervil. Vick claimed it was accidental, but hurt his cause by claiming to have apologized to Dumervil, the NCAA sacks leader. Dumervil said he received no such apology.
The last straw came Friday, even as Beamer was preparing to visit Vick and offer him the options of accepting a two-game suspension or deciding to leave Virginia Tech.
A fax sent to Steger's office disclosed that Vick had been stopped for driving 38 mph in a 25 mph zone and driving with a revoked or suspended license on Dec. 17. Vick had told Beamer about the ticket for driving on a suspended license on Dec. 19, Beamer said, but had never mentioned to anyone that he'd also been caught speeding.
Vick's license had been taken away in August 2004 when he was cited for reckless driving and marijuana possession, but had been reinstated until a friend driving a car owned by Vick was pulled over and found to not have insurance, Beamer said.
Vick received a citation as the car owner, but an investigation by the school revealed that getting his license reinstated was merely a formality, Beamer was told.
Vick entered this season trying to win his team's trust and knowing he would face hostility from opposing fans, mostly stemming from his drug arrest and another conviction for serving alcohol to underage girls during the 2003 school year.
He said he was ready for anything, but reacted to chants of "rapist!" and "child molester!" at West Virginia on Oct. 1 by gesturing obscenely toward the crowd. He met with Beamer afterward and apologized to the team and to Mountaineers fans.
Vick was the runner-up to Wake Forest's Chris Barclay, by one vote, as the conference's offensive player of the year, and was the league's first-team quarterback.
In 24 career games, the 6-foot, 212-pound Vick threw for 2,868 yards, 19 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He also ran 184 times for 492 yards and six TDs.
I doubt it.
he's probably going to be a late 4th round or 5th round pick at the very best/worst....
The guy is too good an athlete to slip further.
He'll fit right in with the felons frequenting the NFL these days. If these guys couldn't throw a football or dribble a basketball, they'd be doing the drive-by shootings or liquor store holdups or your neighborhoods. It's really no surprise. Rotten values don't change because you wear a uniform (non-military).
I don't think Parcells would jump for that.
Prison for what? Driving 38 in a 25? Get real.
Amsterdam!
When you say the next Ryan Leaf is at UCLA, do you mean that Drew Olson has the possibility to be as much of a head case as Leaf was?
Or that Olson is as over-rated as Leaf was?
He must be a Democrat.
I think both.
Olsen was on the Jim Rome show talking about how they were going to give USC a bigtime run for their money and blah blah blah.
Rome also asked him about his 3 INTs and Olsen immediately answered that there shouldn't be any, and then gave excuses as to why they were there in the first place.
Vick looks like he might fit in as a Raider.
"This creep should be in prison."
Why?
No doubt Vick isn't the only one to get a ticket there, but 13 mph over is not petty, even if it is a trap.
He may also do well as a Minnesota Viking.
it's peculiar how the story has changed from this morning ... when I saw the story this morning, Vick had, what I thought, a snotty attitude as quoted above. Now he is all apologetic and so on. I can't find that quote anywhere else ... he must know the xxxlintons
Dodged that McBullet.
This is like saying "You can't fire me! I quit!"
I would even attempt to have him play as a slash player, wide reciever/running back/3rd string quarterback.
A poster said earlier, that he was pulled over for driving 38 in a 25 zone. That's bull$hit. We have all done that.
He needs a good coach and some time for him to mature. Marcus is not as bad as some players in NFL including thugs Ray Lewis on Baltimore Ravens who was involved in a murder.
exactly.
I think it's a maturity thing.
Same with Clarett, except he has already had his shot.
Denny Green might be the guy to do it too.
I look for him to be a free agent, undrafted. With his background, I don't think any NFL team would stick out their necks and waste a draft choice on this looser.
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