Joe Namath praises Michael Vick, on and off the field
If Michael Vick didn’t already have confidence on his side, he should now. On Thursday 18 November, the list of supporters grew just a little bit longer for the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, who has resurrected his career with his stellar play this season.
Hall of Fame play-caller and Super Bowl champion, Joe Namath is the latest to have taken notice.
“All of a sudden, I’ve got the Philadelphia Eagles in the top 10 [teams] of the game. With Michael playing well, they’re a major threat,” Namath said recently on 1050 ESPN Radio’s The Michael Kay Show.
“The Giants better buckle up, they didn’t have a good one last week, that’s going to be a hot one coming up,” he continued, referring to this weekend’s marquee match-up between Vick’s Eagles and the New York Giants. In arguably the week’s most important
contest, the winner will stand alone atop the NFC East.
Namath was pleasantly surprised with Vick’s performance against a porous Washington Redskins defence on Monday night, a game which Philadelphia dominated 59-28. Vick accounted for six of his team’s touchdowns, finding the end zone through the air four times
and running it in himself twice more. As the 67-year-old looked on, he was impressed not only by Vick’s trademark speed and vision while running, but also the QB’s accuracy and presence in the pocket during passing situations.
“[Eagles coach] Andy Reid has got to get a lot of the credit for utilizing Michael with real good plays,” Namath said. “In other words, his depth varies when he goes back to pass. He’s allowed to take a deeper drop. They want him back there so he can get out
of trouble with his footwork, and he’s got some big-play people to work with, too.”
After confessing to his affiliation with dog-fighting rings back in 2007, Vick served 21 months in federal prison before returning to the NFL last season. Having felt as though Vick has paid his debt to society, Namath thinks it’s time to forgive and move forward.
“The repentance is there, he felt good, he’s a new man,” Namath said. “Michael has changed. Change is a constant. It can either be better or worse but nobody stays still. Michael’s changed for the better.”
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