{"id":56919,"date":"2025-07-11T13:13:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/56919\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T13:13:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:13:10","slug":"18-years-after-incarceration-michael-vick-shares-heartbreaking-lesson-he-learnt-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/56919\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Years After Incarceration, Michael Vick Shares Heartbreaking Lesson He Learnt in Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sports have always had some characters who have found themselves on the wrong side of morality when they navigate through success. Whether it\u2019s UFC\u2019s Jon Jones\u2019<\/strong> doping scandal, Tiger Woods\u2019<\/strong> infidelity, or one of the more recent ones, the alleged Jake Retzlaff <\/strong>assault, but only a handful of people bounce back after something as serious as what Michael Vick<\/strong> went through.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been nearly two decades since Michael Vick\u2019s fall from NFL grace made national headlines. But somehow, 18 years later, the former No. 1 pick is still finding new ways to inspire. On the field, Vick changed the way we viewed quarterbacks. Off it? He\u2019s still rewriting the comeback story. Because this story needs a long, long time.<\/p>\n

If you caught Vick on the Got Sole<\/a> podcast with Johnathan Dimodica<\/strong>, you probably felt it too.<\/a> The vibe was of a real and honest man, not someone who is seeking aggressive redemption, but of someone who is repenting. When asked about how he got back up, Vick said, \u201cI mean, this is like a boxing match,\u201d Vick said, reflecting on the aftermath of his 21-month prison sentence. \u201cIf you get knocked down and you ain\u2019t all the way knocked out cold and you can get back rise back up to your feet, then you going to rise back up to your feet. I was down, but I won\u2019t out but I still woke up every day with opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It wasn\u2019t just a metaphor for Vick. He has lived through that metaphor, and that too when he was in his prime. For Vick, prison took a better part of his career, and it tested his core. But as he puts it, the harshest lesson turned out to be the most transformative. \u201cWhat I learned being away is that as long as you don\u2019t take my freedom away, I still got equal opportunity just like everybody else,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I learned the value of freedom the hard way, and everybody don\u2019t get to learn that lesson, but for me it was destined in my life.\u201d And yeah, the comeback is a work in progress. Vick says he still feels the pressure, still wakes up with a chip on his shoulder, still grinding like it\u2019s 4th-and-long. \u201cEven to this day, still feel like I got to prove to myself or my family or whatever is driving me or motivating me to keep going and keep moving and keep trying to reach new heights,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess that\u2019s what I try to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Very few athletes get to pull off the second act Vick has. Even fewer get welcomed back with open arms. But Vick\u2019s never asked for pity or praise. Just another shot. And whether it\u2019s mentoring young athletes, raising awareness, or simply sharing lessons the hard way, he\u2019s a living, breathing example of \u2018fall seven times, stand up eight.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Norfolk State\u2019s all-in gamble on redemption<\/b><\/p>\n

If you thought Michael Vick\u2019s story peaked with that Philly comeback or those vintage Madden runs, think again.<\/a> Norfolk State\u2019s decision to hand him the reins after a 4\u20138 season trumps both of those. A program hungry for culture, change, and credibility just hired a man whose life has been a walking documentary. You don\u2019t bring in Vick for safe pressers and 7-win seasons. You bring in Vick because if there\u2019s one person who understands how to fight back from rock bottom, it\u2019s him.<\/p>\n

And now, Vick is coaching through his past. On the Got Sole podcast, he opened up with honesty. When host Jonathan DiModica asked about the world giving him a second chance, Vick said, \u201cI don\u2019t think it was really up to the world, man. I think it was just God-giving\u2026 it was just God, man. You know, spirit. I believe in the spirit, the Holy Spirit. And, if that was on people\u2019s hearts to\u2026 invite me into that space, their presence, to try to instill the right qualities in me, the right ability to make rational decisions.. And I was like, man, I appreciate that.\u201d And that love? He\u2019s turning it into fuel, pressure, and purpose. \u201cIt comes with pressure,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut it\u2019s cool, man. I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Then came the gut punch when he was asked what starting from scratch actually looked like? Vick answered with trademark realness, \u201cAin\u2019t no plan. You just gotta\u2014like, my plan was to play. I was still young.\u201d At one point, he had negative $1,000 in his bank account. Let that sink in. The same guy with a $100 million Falcons deal came out of prison with less than zero. But instead of folding, he fought. \u201cThank God I had the right people in my corner,\u201d he said. And now, that rebuilder is walking the Norfolk sidelines, headset on, ready to pass the torch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports have always had some characters who have found themselves on the wrong side of morality when they…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[6119,41709,41683,2964,19997,11030,22608,41698,1641,931,5350,41693,41708,17358,41703,2359,14974,41701,41692,26081,2965,9658,15702,2871,2074,38360,15957,1638,41700,41699,35391,41681,41691,41705,1318,2941,1910,11574,12621,2362,22184,33397,1412,2956,3958,2982,2963,41702,41704,21426,2968,25177,41685,398,1639,12935,41686,1317,1315,1316,41696,17851,22299,41682,41684,5824,16494,41690,17267,41697,2991,2990,1618,41688,6228,41689,41694,2955,1926,2966,62,2959,11124,4695,41679,242,448,2949,67,132,68,2969,41695,41687,41680,906,41706,1685,41707,1640,9924,1615,2957],"class_list":{"0":"post-56919","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-6119","9":"tag-20231026_zma_c04_087-jpg","10":"tag-41683","11":"tag-abbild","12":"tag-acc","13":"tag-action","14":"tag-agency","15":"tag-agentur","16":"tag-am","17":"tag-and","18":"tag-at","19":"tag-atkins","20":"tag-atkins_fbc_virginiatech_syracuse_2023-10-jpg","21":"tag-atlantic","22":"tag-atlantik","23":"tag-auf","24":"tag-between","25":"tag-bilder","26":"tag-blacksburg","27":"tag-cal","28":"tag-cals","29":"tag-cfb","30":"tag-coast","31":"tag-college","32":"tag-conference","33":"tag-credit","34":"tag-csm","35":"tag-der","36":"tag-dienst","37":"tag-draht","38":"tag-during","39":"tag-ehem","40":"tag-fahrspur","41":"tag-fbc","42":"tag-football","43":"tag-fusball","44":"tag-game","45":"tag-greg","46":"tag-hokies","47":"tag-im","48":"tag-image","49":"tag-images","50":"tag-in","51":"tag-klage","52":"tag-kollegium","53":"tag-konferenz","54":"tag-kredit","55":"tag-kum","56":"tag-kuste","57":"tag-lane","58":"tag-league","59":"tag-legend","60":"tag-legende","61":"tag-media","62":"tag-medien","63":"tag-michael","64":"tag-micheal","65":"tag-ncaa","66":"tag-ncaa-football","67":"tag-ncaafootball","68":"tag-noxusexinxgermany","69":"tag-oct","70":"tag-october","71":"tag-okt","72":"tag-oktober","73":"tag-on","74":"tag-orange","75":"tag-oranien","76":"tag-partner","77":"tag-partnerin","78":"tag-press","79":"tag-presse","80":"tag-quer","81":"tag-rangen","82":"tag-service","83":"tag-sidelines","84":"tag-sipa","85":"tag-spiel","86":"tag-sport","87":"tag-sportart","88":"tag-sports","89":"tag-stadion","90":"tag-stadium","91":"tag-syracuse","92":"tag-syrakus","93":"tag-tech","94":"tag-the","95":"tag-und","96":"tag-united-states","97":"tag-unitedstates","98":"tag-us","99":"tag-usa","100":"tag-va","101":"tag-vick","102":"tag-virgina","103":"tag-virginia","104":"tag-vit","105":"tag-vs","106":"tag-vt","107":"tag-wahrend","108":"tag-wire","109":"tag-x0x","110":"tag-zwischen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}