After hearing quarterback Vince Young entered the revolving door for NFL quarterbacks and would be inked by the Philadelphia Eagles, Michael Vick told media what VY could learn from him.

Vick who tolerated scathing responses from fans and media when he returned to the field after serving almost two years behind bars can teach Young how to grow thicker skin, that’s for sure. No one could say anything worse to Young than was said to Vick yet the player stayed focused and made one of the best comebacks in the history of sport.

With Young’s ability to make plays with his legs, development of QB skills that complement an ability to change plays on the run is another topic on which Vick could opine.

Finally, Young’s “character issues” that included giving a beat-down to a man in the office of a strip club, can be addressed and for Young those seem to be the center of his attention. With Vick being a guy that has “been there done that” then bounced back in impressive fashion, who could be better mentor?

Vick looks forward to getting to work with Young, particularly on the “team comes first” concept. Vick wants to get Young caught up not only on the playbook, but his skills then film study.

Welcome to NFL quarterbacking, team leadership and skill development immersion classes, Vince. That’s how Vick learned after returning to take snaps after being out of the league for two years. He had to accept that the way he went about his business in the pre-prison days was a thing of the past. Will Young be receptive? With his history of trying to buck the system, who knows but he will have a better mentor than Vick did.

While Donovan McNabb was said to have welcomed him, he sometimes seemed annoyed on the sidelines in season one with Vick, when he was pulled to give his back up a couple of reps behind center and who’s to blame him with the competition for starting QB positions in the NFL being so fierce.

Philadelphia is becoming the quarterback incubator of the NFL. Will it make Vince Young into the next Michael Vick?

Used with permission of the author

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Fresh off a phenomenal season in which he completed his turnaround from staying in a federal penitentiary and won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award, Michael Vick will be staying with the Philadelphia Eagles when the team uses its franchise tag on their starting quarterback.

For the first time since 2006, when he was a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Vick took control of a team’s offense and put up stats that were better than any expected. Known as a below average passer in Atlanta, Vick posted impressive numbers in 2010.

He set career highs in TD Passes (21), TD/Interception Ratio (7:2), Completion Percentage (62.6%), Passing Yards (3,018), Yards per Attempt (8.1) and QB Rating (100.2). Vick also continued to run the ball well, scoring nine times on the ground and averaging 6.8 yards per rush.

Vick’s 2010 season will be remembered for his memorable performances against the Washington Redskins (in which he had over 400 yards of total offense and a combined 6 touchdowns) and the New York Giants (which has become known as the second Miracle in the Meadowlands).

With the franchise tag, Vick will make more than $20 million in 2011, a large portion of which will be used to pay of his pre-prison debts.

With Vick firmly entrenched in the Eagles future plans, teams around the league will likely be lining up to inquire about back-up Kevin Kolb. Kolb was the starter at the beginning of 2010 but left the team’s first game with an injury.

The free agent market for quarterbacks in 2011 includes mediocre options at best (technically Peyton Manning is a free agent but he won’t be leaving Indianapolis) so Kolb will likely be the most sought after QB this summer.

Kolb is only slated to make $1.4 million in 2011, so team’s will be more than willing to give up good players or draft picks to acquire his services.

What the Eagles do with Kolb will show what they are planning beyond this coming season. If they choose to keep him, it’s almost certain that he is still their QB of the future and Vick will be hitting the open market (and a likely big payday) in 2012. Should the Eagles trade Kolb, they likely will look to lock Vick up for the foreseeable future as there is no other back-up plan in place.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

After further review, Michael Vick has been named the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, and it isn’t related to the concussion suffered by announced starter, Kevin Kolb.

Andy Reid, the Eagles head coach, told the media on Tuesday that Vick has shown the team that he is among the league’s leading quarterbacks after Week 2. We have to assume Reid is aware it was against the Lions who own the most questionable secondary the NFL has seen over the past several years.

Regardless, earlier in the week, Reid announced that Kevin Kolb would return to his starter’s role, but Vick’s QB rating, during his time behind center is 105.1, ranking him fourth in the league.

Vick threw for 175 yards, threw one touchdown and ran for 103 yards during the two quarters of a 27-20 season-opening loss to Green Bay. In Week 2 against Detroit, he had 284 yards passing and two TDs in a 35-32 win at Detroit.

Numbers don’t always tell the whole story and anyone watching that game knows that Vick threw several balls up for grabs in desperate 3^rd and long situations and the Lions secondary although outnumbering Eagles’ jerseys just could never come down with the ball.

Another factor in the decision has to be Philadelphia’s somewhat ineffective offensive line. With his ability to move outside the pocket, he can get past the inefficiencies up front. Vick was running for his life most of the Detroit game and despite Vick’s ability to scramble, the Lions still had 6 sacks.

Vick has not been intercepted and shown, even to his detractors that he looks to pass before running. He goes through his options, looks for check-downs and his arm is like a cannon. In his post-game remarks on Sunday, he seemed sincere when he said he wouldn’t resist Kolb’s return to the starting role when he was cleared to play. He said he believes that he is ten times the quarterback he was when he was forced out of the NFL, after his indictment on federal dog-fighting charges.

It was plain to see that in the final months of his two-season deal with the Eagles he could smell the future and it included a free-agent pick up for a team looking for a starter who can lead a team.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC