Vick recounts Va. Beach shooting in SI
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Vick recounts Va. Beach shooting in SI
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Michael Vick recounts in detail his 30th birthday party in Virginia Beach in which one of the co-defendant's in his dogfighting case was shot, the aftermath of the incident when he thought he "was done," and his decision to leave his hometown and the "madness" after the shooting in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.
For the fourth time in his career, Vick graces the cover of SI. The issue hits newsstands on Wednesday. The cover picture is of the Eagles quarterback staring straight ahead with his helmet perched on his head. The headline: "The Enigma: What Michael Vick Tell Us About Ourselves."
The story, written by S.L. Price, follows Vick's rise back to the top of the NFL mountain this season. But it also describes how Vick's redemption may have never happened because of the June 25 shooting of Quanis Phillips outside the nightclub that was hosting Vick's party.
Vick and his fiance, Kijafa, arrived at the Guadalajara restaurant about 12:45 a.m.
"The plan was for them to have a couple of drinks, sing Happy Birthday and leave. But when Kijafa thought it’d be cute to smear cake on Vick’s face in front of some 400 people, his temper flared," Price wrote.
Phillips then stepped up and grabbed the cake and shoved some into Vick's face, too. Vick blew up, according to the story. He told Price that there was never any physical contact but that the argument "entailed plenty of 'strong' words."
“It was just cake,” Vick said in the story. “But still, it was embarrassing for me. And my pride just got in the way. But I kept thinking, I just got to go. I need to go. In my younger days we would’ve been fighting, but I let it go. It took a lot to let it go, but I did it.”
Vick grabbed his fiance and they drove off. Fifteen minutes later he received a phone call saying that Phillips had been shot in the leg after Vick’s departure, according to Vick's account to Price.
Vick called Eagles coach Andy Reid, who let into his quarterback.
“You shouldn’t have been in that environment. . . . You shouldn’t have been out after 12. . . . I don’t know where this is going to go," Vick recounted to Price.
Vick kept saying after the incident, when he arrived at training camp, that he should have listened to his mother, Brenda, from the beginning and not have gone to the party that was hosted by his brother, Marcus. Apparently, Vick and his brother had been partying for months.
“She told us to stop having parties in February of this year," Vick said. "Kept doin’ it. Kept doin’ it. Kept doin’ it, kept getting by, kept getting by, doin’ them quietly. Then: boom.”
The shooting occurred and Brenda Vick admonished her sons.
“I’m sitting on the chair crying, looking all crazy in the face,” Vick says. “My brother, he’s sitting there, he ain’t got no expression on his face because he ain’t going through what I’m going through. I’m going through something totally different: I know what I want in life. I’m sure he do too, but I love the game of football. I know what I can do on the field and what I can provide for a team. That’s where my heart’s at, and it would’ve killed me to have that taken away.
"And I could just see in her face, she was tired. She told us it was embarrassing. She wanted to disown us. That’s what she told me: She wanted to walk away. She’s like, ‘You went to prison for 19 months, and you come out and you still ain’t listening. . . .’
“Right then and there I told myself, I am changing my life. I’m going to do everything they ask me to do. I’m getting myself away from this madness.”
The article also provided other revelations:
-- After Vick was initially released from prison in May, 2009, Reid phoned Tony Dungy, who visited Vick in prison and was going to assist him in his recovery, that spring. “Do you think he’s heading in the right direction? Do you think his heart’s right?" Reid asked Dungy, according to the article. The Eagles eventually signed Vick in August.
-- As Reid has said before, his own personal experience with his sons, Garrett and Britt, had something to do with him giving Vick another chance. Reid's sons were both imprisoned for their drug use. The Eagles coach welled up when he recounted to Price the expressions of gratitude he received from others willing to offer assistance to his sons.
-- Vick, who is reportedly $20 million in debt, said that he isn't destitute. “Mike ain’t broke,” he said. Vick earned $1.6 million from the Eagles last year and will make $5.25 this year. He could become eligible for free agency after the season.
Good for Vick if he has turned the corner. So hard to leave his old life behind. It trails him constantly begging him to return. Hopefully he'll turn out a better person for himself and society.
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- I'm glad he's on the cover of SI. Now I just hope there's some truth to the SI curse!!! Dog fighting, prison time, shootings! What a guy!!!— beaglemommy
life has a funny way of putting things into perspective. i'm sure he THOUGHT that it might be ok to go to his bday party. but now he knows(i hope) that any small accident can end his football career for good. be smart young man.- beaglemommy -- aslong as he's not dog-sitting your beagles, dont worry about vick. i doubt if you are even a football fan
- Once a thug alway a thug by heart unless removed from company of other thugs and their surroundings. Eagle management should keep the spy guard and probation officer on 24/7 duty to keep Vick from screwing up for the last time.— jwatson
- "he be innocent"=you "be illiterate"— amanda718
- Trash - he should be in jail.— JB215
- "Mike ain;t broke." Beware of anyone who speaks about himself in the third person. There's always a jerk ready to emerge. Or re-emerge in Vick's case.— mmds
- I thought the same thing about the 3rd person. There was a video that came out after he was arrested but before he was incarcerated. He was out on the town and somebody asked about his fans - his response was "Everybody loves Mike Vick". This article took me back to that with the 3rd person.
He must have really been feeling sorry for all the dogs he killed and mutilated - when he was out partying, partying, partying.— JB215 - When he signed with us, I just KNEW he was a damn con artist trying to skate through another "hoop" until he could get his hands on some more "Big Bucks".Use us to get "legitimized" then head for somewhere that could let him be #1, along with big money. I would have been VERY happy to get a #3 draft pick for him after last season. Evidently there were no offers. And now....THIS?!?!After a pretty mediocre exhibition season? After being injured? After being ignored by the rest of the league in the off-season? He just may be a con artist when all is said and done. But after all of the interviews, being center-stage in the league, the incredible Monday night and everything else....I have changed my mind:Yes, keep him.....or trade him to Buffalo for their next three #1 picks. Because if he goes to an NFC team.....he WILL haunt us! I'm afraid Andy and Marty have created a superb Quarterback for this team, and we should pay what his agent will want. Is he going to be a model citizen? Ya gotta freaking HOPE so.....there will be way too much money down the toilet unless it can be included in his contract. I know his teammates believe in him, and I think Andy does too. I just hope he keeps one jaundiced eye out for him, for the sake of the franchise. FLY IGGLES FLY!!!— TBear
- Keep it up Vick; we know most humans are FLAWED and have demons to quell...it is a life long struggle for many....Point: F these HATIN ARSE CLOWNS......now let's go WIN that SUPER FREAKIN BOWL!!!!— RoastedBird
- Beaglemom- We are proud of you for sleeping with your Dog.....now try finding a MAN and a LIFE....— RoastedBird
- And rich white folk continue to abuse horses, farm animals and race dogs in equally appalling ways. Michael Vick is an providing hope to millions of ex-cons hoping to turn their lives around. And a hall pass for closet racists across the country.— yawns
