Michael Vick Was the NFL’s Biggest Star. Then He Lost Everything.

On this episode of Our American Stories, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick entered the NFL as the No. 1 overall draft pick and quickly became one of football’s biggest stars, redefining the quarterback position with his speed, athleticism, and electrifying style of play. But after his involvement in a dogfighting operation led to prison time and public disgrace, Vick was forced to confront the choices that had derailed his life.

In this candid testimony recorded at Oakwood University Church in 2016, Vick reflects on his rise from poverty to NFL stardom, his fall from grace, and the lessons, patience, and faith that helped him rebuild his life and seek redemption.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib, and this is our American Stories.
Michael Vick is a former NFL quarterback whose story is
defined by a meteoric rise and a criminal conviction for
dog fighting. Following his release from prison, he experienced a
notable redemption, returning to the NFL for seven seasons. Here's

(00:31):
Michael Vick with his own story.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
You know, I grew up in poverty, you know, surrounded
by a lot of friends, a lot of things going
on in the neighborhood that I grew up in, a
lot of influences, you know, just the ordinary lifestyle you
know of a young black kid. But you know, with aspirations.
I know I had a gift. You know, when I
was about seven years old, like every day, my motivation

(00:55):
was to go outside and you know, do something better,
to try to better myself at the game that I love.
Up at such a young age. And I didn't understand
my passion, you know, back then when I was when
I was that young, I just wanted to have fun
doing it. But everybody around me always, you know, told
me that I looked different from everybody else. And I
think it was because you know, at a young age,

(01:16):
I always practice I knew it was a lot of
challenges growing up in the neighborhood that I was in,
and you know, I always felt like, you know, I
needed an age. I needed to have a different visual
visualization of what everybody else in the neighborhood did. I
wanted to be different. You know, even though we grew
up together, even though we all ran together and had
fun together, I wanted to be different. So, you know,

(01:39):
my ask for racist was to make it to the NFL.
And I told my grandmother that at a young age,
and I told I would do anything to get there.
And she told me, if you're going to be successful
in life, you got to you have to find God
at some point. And you know, that always stuck with me.
So I'm like, at a young age, I'm like, what
can I do to incorporate God into my life? And

(02:00):
I just came to the conclusion, I just put the
Bible under my pillow and sleep with it under my
pillow and to something good happen. Plan B. I wanted
to major in criminology. Sociology was what they had at
at the University of Egenia Tech, So that was my
backup plan. But my plan was planing a I was
to make it, you know, to make it to the NFL.

(02:21):
And you know, I was so determined to do whatever
it took to make that happen that I couldn't see
my plan b So my determination was so strong that
I wouldn't allow anything to come into my life to
negate that until I got a little older. Well, I
think I lost focus. And it's so easy to do.
You know, once you receive all these blessings, you feel

(02:43):
like you've arrived. And I can honestly say I felt
as if there was nothing else that needed to be done.
But I lost sight of everything that got me to
that point. You know, my beliefs, you know, no more
sleeping with the Bible under the pillow, no more seeing
my prayers at night. Once I got drafted, you know,
I started living a different life. It wasn't rigorous, it

(03:05):
wasn't you know, crazy. You know, I did everything to
try to make sure I, you know, did what I
was supposed to do. And at the same time I
had you know, I was straddling the fence. You know.
I always told myself I didn't want to be a
product of my environment. I always wanted my environment to
be a product of me. But at the same time,

(03:26):
I brung some of those same values with me. When
I turned twenty three, twenty four and I had some
money and I was able to, you know, just do
anything that I wanted to do with you know, lost
focus and ended up ended up in prison, and you know,
it was very humbling experienced. You know, I had every
right to do the right thing and not do the

(03:46):
wrong thing. And it's so easy to do the wrong thing.
I mean, it's the easiest thing to do. You know,
it's hard when you got to make a decision based
on a positive outcome. And you know, I had influences
around me, but you know, I think as a grown
man at twenty four years old, and you know, everything
that I received in my life, you know, I was

(04:07):
supposed to take a step back and really look at
my life as a whole and the people that I
affected and the people that really cared about me. You know,
a lot of the Atlanta Falcons organization, you know, my
mom and dad, my college coaches, you know, anybody who
you know put time and effort into me. And you know,
last of all, you know, God, the reason I really

(04:29):
was in the position, the reason I'm here todate, so
I lost focus and you know, ended up, you know,
in a place where I was humble, but at the
same time became a better person. Well, when I first
got into prison, when they first closed the door, it
was like a dream. And you know, at that point,

(04:50):
I felt like everything in life, you know, has to
have an expiration date. That's not positive. The things that
I was doing, I was not going to stop. So
that was my inspiration date. When that door closed, you know,
I wanted to get out so bad. It was nothing,
It was out of my control, you know, and the
only thing I could do was just kind of you know,

(05:11):
look up and think about what I had done and
ask God to forgive me for what I had done
and ask God to help me. And I wanted it
all right then, every time the God came to the
door and put the key in the door, I was
hoping that there was somebody that was coming in to
free me. And that was just the first day, you know,
and I ended up doing four hundred and sixty five

(05:32):
more after that. You know, I wanted it all at
one time. I wanted the God to intervene and help
me right then and there. But I know it's a
mutual respect and the relationship that you have to have
with God. You know, I didn't want to disrespect that relationship.
So you know, I just told myself, I got to
be patient. But those doors are not going to open
when I want them to, and you know, I have to,

(05:55):
you know, put my focus on things that's going to
be positive reinforcement when I get out. And you know,
it wasn't until the end when I opened it. When
they opened the doors and they let me out. You know,
it was a new eraror for me. You know, on
my whole walk. What I was doing at the time,
it was what I dreamed about my in time life
is what I asked God for when I was younger,
and I did everything that I was supposed to do,

(06:16):
from sleeping with the Bible under my pillow to you know,
having a stronger belief than anybody that was around me
that I could do this. And it was so far fetched,
you know, because all you hear about is the reasons
that you can't make it. You know, you're small. You know,
the NFL doesn't they have a limited number of black quarterbacks.
You know, which is you know, something that you know

(06:37):
it should be overlooked and something that I wanted to change,
and I did, and I was I was just kind
of able to just shift my focus to doing all
the right things, and I did it. But just in
the position that I was in, why would you risk that?
Why would you sacrifice that for things that you know,
it really didn't make no sense or it was morally wrong,

(06:58):
and you know, so I'd look at it in that sense.
I felt like I should have been more of a
mature person and should have been able to not be
a product of my environment, which I didn't want to be.
You know. It was a lot of guys that was
older than me, a lot of my former teammates who
were leaders, who just they'll try to encourage me to,

(07:20):
you know, Mike, be on time. You know, come in
a little earlier. You know, it's better to be, you know,
five minutes earlier than you know, you know, five minutes late. Nah.
I mean, you know it's you know, I you know
I'm here, you know I'm on time. But I didn't
see the big picture, you know. I try to think
before I speak. I try to think before I react.

(07:43):
I try to weigh all the options, pros and cons
before any decision that's made on anything in my life.
You know, I think I'm a better teacher starting with
my kids, and better leader, you know in the locker
room and just you know, with my overall family. I
feel like I'm responsible for them. Well, I had a
great career, has beens fifteen long years, you know, football

(08:04):
for me, I got more game in me, But I
can't give it all to him. I still have my kids.
Like I said, I'm responsible for in every decision that
they make. I want it to be a reflection in
themselves and a reflection of me. So that's a great responsibility.
And I feel like it's more out there for me.
I feel like football was just only a facet of

(08:26):
my life, and I think it's time to kind of
put that the rest and try to figure out what
my next calling is. And I'm just gonna let it
flow and let it come. I'm not going to reshit.
I'm not going to ask God to give it all
to me at one time. I'll just let it happen.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
And a special thanks to Oakwood University Church for providing
the audio and a terrific job on the editing and
storytelling and production by our own Greg Hangler, And what
a testimony that was. My goodness. He did everything right,
he was disciplined, he made it to the NFL. But
the next thing you know, he's locked up. And what

(09:01):
he said was, I lost sight of everything. I stopped praying.
I took that Bible out from under my pillow. His
redemption wouldn't come in short order. He'd have to work
for it. He'd earn it, get it when he deserved it.
And now the new part of his life. But this
part of his life with God on his side, patience
on his side. The story of the redemption of Michael

(09:23):
Vick here on our American Stories