What they're saying: Praise for Mornhinweg
Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is getting credit for turning Michael Vick into a quarterback. But will he be with the Eagles in 2011, or will he get a head-coaching chance somewhere?
What they're saying: Praise for Mornhinweg
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
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As the national media continue to try to find different ways to tell the Michael Vick story, don't be surprised if you see Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg get his share of the credit.
Les Carpenter of Yahoo Sports wrote a feature on Mornhinweg and how he's helped Vick become a better quarterback the last two seasons.
Just two days before, on a player’s day off, Vick showed up in Mornhinweg’s office. They hadn’t done their drills in months now but there were some things Vick felt he wasn’t doing right. This was no more than 48 hours after he led an improbable fourth-quarter rally against the Giants and had been hailed as the league’s offensive star of the week.
Could they go into the practice bubble, pull out the nets again and work on a few things? Vick wondered.
They could indeed.
“That’s where he is right now,” Mornhinweg said, shaking his head.
An obvious question that several of you have asked me is: Will Mornhinweg still be with the Eagles next year, or will he get another chance to be a head coach?
It's a fair question, but one that depends on what jobs become available. By my count, there could be as many as 10 opportunities: Dallas, Miami, Denver, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Houston, Tennessee, San Francisco, Minnesota and Carolina. Now, obviously, that's just a guess, but the point is it would be far from surprising if Mornhinweg gets a look as a head coach.
Just yesterday, SI.com's Peter King casually mentioned Mornhinweg when discussing the Cleveland Browns:
Cleveland's Eric Mangini had to be great this year to survive the shotgun marriage with Mike Holmgren, but a three-game losing streak puts him on the firing line -- if Holmgren can get one of his type of guys (Jon Gruden, maybe Marty Mornhinweg) to coach.
Between Vick's contract, the unsettled CBA and Mornhinweg's future, it's going to be an interesting offseason for the Eagles.
MORE LINKS
* Dan Graziano of Fanhouse writes that Vick has become a criminal justice success story:
What Vick is, as so many other pro athletes are, is an avatar -- an overly stylized example of what can be if the criminal justice system works the way it's supposed to work and gets what it sets out to get. There's no way we can prevent everybody from doing terrible things and committing crimes. But when people inevitably do, there are a couple of different ways it can go from there.
* Tom Brady was asked for his thoughts on the MVP during a radio interview with WEEI in Boston:
"My feeling as always is most valuable player in a team sport, to me, that doesn't make a lot of sense," Brady said. "I can understand the most valuable golfer or something like that. Michael Vick, he's a great player. He's the best player for that team. He fits what they do well. And Peyton Manning fits what his team does well. Unfortunately, it's really a quarterback award. Not a lot of other great players get that recognition, which they probably should. There's so many great players in the league. I guess it's something that they have to do. The only award I ever care about is a Super Bowl ring. That's the only one that's important to me."
* Jerome Bettis, sharing his thoughts with SI.com, says the Eagles are the best team in the NFC:
The way they've been winning is how you build championship-caliber character. They're beating the teams they're supposed to, pulling out comeback victories and last-second wins, and their only loss since Michael Vick came back from his rib injury was at Chicago, arguably the toughest NFC venue. They're more playoff-ready than any other team, having performed so well with the pressure on. I expect more success against the Vikings tonight.
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Vick had football to fall back on. Guys coming out of jail usually have little education and no job skills. So of course they go back to committing crimes. Our system doesn't work.— soulman386- MM is as good as gone. Frisco or Minny are good bets and possibly paired with #5 again.— barrywil
Comment removed.- I am a veterinarian and I hated what Vick had done and when he was signed by the Eagles. I was not convinced that he would ever be able to throw off the stigma of why he was put in prison. This year, however, I have seen a change in Vick. He truely seems to have turned the corner. Not because he is winning games for my Eagles, but because of his leadership with the young guys on the team, because of his new work ethic, and because he has turned his life around. He certainly deserves this second chance, and from the reporting that I have read, he has put his past behind him. He deserves all the praise he is receiving, and our support.— chucksf
- westphillyguy, if what you explained is the system working, than we have the wrong system in place. Incarceration should be about safety (general citizens) and rehabilitation (criminal). It shouldn't be about money and federal dollars and headcounts and street repairs. I do think what you described is what really goes on, but that shouldn't be perceived as doing what is intended, much like anything else in today's country/world, when dollars are involved, objectives and goals become distorted behind income.— Bleue
- The trick to jail is having something better to do on the outside. Otherwise, it doesn't do any good. Most people who get locked up don't know enough about themselves to realize they have something better on the outside.— HandNik
Michael Vick has turned the corner on his professional career. He has played as well as any Eagles quarterback for the games he was available for. I appreciate the work he has put in and the results he has achieved. Unfortunately, this will be forever linked to the crime he committed and whether his reclamation has been a success. They have nothing to do with one another, and only at his final epitaph, if then, will we know for sure that he is a changed man. That said, its not my place to judge if he is or not. He's the one who has to look in the mirror every day and know who's looking back. Best of luck Michael, its a long hard road you've chosen to walk, and many will never forgive. Thanks for the effort.
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