Wm. Rhoden: Vick is a pioneer. A player without modern day peer

[heyabbott]

Rhoden must be a drunk, senile old fool.

At times like these, young players need someone to provide sage advice and perspective. Manning can pick up the phone and call big brother Peyton, who plays for the Colts, or he can call his father, Archie, who played quarterback in the N.F.L.

Who can Vick call?

No one in the history of modern football has played quarterback the way Vick plays the position. He is a latter-day pioneer. At any given time, Vick may be the fastest player on the field or the best athlete, or have the strongest arm.

Who can Vick call to gain some perspective? Late Thursday evening, it hit me: Vick should call George Taliaferro... I suppose that Eli Manning can afford to be relaxed. No one is expecting him to redefine a position or break any molds. The Giants want him to manage the game and not lose it. Vick, 26, is only a year older than Manning, but he faces extraordinary expectations.

“Michael Vick has the weight of the world on his shoulders,” Taliaferro said. “What Vick is at any time in history is the best that a football player can be. Defensive coordinators are having fits, and all they can do is pay homage to the Almighty that Vick does not have a set of dedicated receivers. If he did, that team would be one for the ages.”

Eli Manning will eventually be a good quarterback; he’s on time.

Michael Vick’s problem is that he’s ahead of his time.

This isn't another Vick thread, but how far down his throat does Rhoden have to take every black athlete and how drunk is he when he writes these columns?

Vicks' easiest peer to acknowledge in the current game is Steve McNair, and Vick isn't half as good a QB as McNair. Hey Rhoden, care to drag up some of your prior columns about Randall Cunningham or Kordell Stewart. Or Doug Williams or Donovan McNabb or James Harris.
Revolutionary? Pioneer? I remember when Fran Tarkenton started scrambling in the late 60's and early 70's, oft times for his life with the Giants. That was a revolutionary player. Vick is merely the latest running QB. Elway ran & Young ran but they were smart enough to understand that a quaterback passes the ball further than he can run it. But Rhoden completely ignores the last 20 years of NFL history to drag up a true pioneer, who started his NFL career over 55 years ago. To remind everyone that the world our grandparents raised our parents in wasn't perfect.
Newsflash for Rhoden, others sell the same lessons, but sell it in signficantly better prose.

BTW Vick has played in 69 NFL games, Eli 36. So in NFL years, Vick is in the prime of his career.

 

[shockey]

vick is in his sixth season. eli is in his third.

i don't believe they should be linked on the same "young qb curve."

vick "ahead of his time?" meaning what? he's great but the coaches don't know what to do with him? when is it just going to be VICK'S fault for maturing in baby steps?

 

[scribebaseball]

Vick is not a pioneer. He's a throwback to the 1930s and 1940s days of the wing-T and other odd formations where the quarterback was also the team's best runner. That style was phased out for a reason. You can't play quarterback in this league and be an inaccurate thrower. You just can't succeed that way.

 

[spnited]

vick is in his sixth season. eli is in his third.

i don't believe they should be linked on the same "young qb curve."

vick "ahead of his time?" meaning what? he's great but the coaches don't know what to do with him? when is it just going to be VICK'S fault for maturing in baby steps?

Not only are you sexist, you're a racist as well :o ::) ;)

 

[Ben_Hecht]

Bill's agenda leads him to explore some very tight corners.

His problem . . . and the Times'.

 

[shockey]

vick is in his sixth season. eli is in his third.

i don't believe they should be linked on the same "young qb curve."

vick "ahead of his time?" meaning what? he's great but the coaches don't know what to do with him? when is it just going to be VICK'S fault for maturing in baby steps?

Not only are you sexist, you're a racist as well :o ::) ;)

lol. i'm sure a certain someone will throw that one out there, too.

 

[hondo]

So it's Eli's fault that Michael Vick doesn't have a father figure to call?

 

[micropolitan guy]

Call Bobby Douglass.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

The Michael Vick Backlash is going to lead some people into some very smelly places.

 

[heyabbott]

Bill's agenda leads him to explore some very tight corners.

His problem . . . and the Times'.

...and readers

 

[jason_whitlock]

I love and respect Bill.

Randall Cunningham and Steve Young.

Vick is certainly blazing, but it's not a new trail. Vick can call me and I'll be more than happy to tell him what to do. Put the Playstation controller down, get in the film room and on the practice field and tune out the groupies who will excuse your every error by insinuating racism.

If Vick takes those steps, he could develop into Cunningham or maybe even Steve Young.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Cue the canned applause...

 

[Pringle]

Cue the canned applause...

F_B - He's not an accurate passer. He's just not. You have to be accurate to succeed in the NFL. And you have to win.

 

[fever_dog]

silly column.

who's tony romo calling for advice?

does lebron need to call somebody during the rare times when he struggles? the nba has never seen anything like lebron, and yet he does just fine by simply dominating.

vick just needs to play better .... if he can.

 

[heyabbott]

Cue the canned applause...

When it comes to an objective analysis of Vick's talent and performance, the applause, canned or live, is deserved.

 

[Jesus_Muscatel]

I love and respect Bill.

Randall Cunningham and Steve Young.

Vick is certainly blazing, but it's not a new trail. Vick can call me and I'll be more than happy to tell him what to do. Put the Playstation controller down, get in the film room and on the practice field and tune out the groupies who will excuse your every error by insinuating racism.

If Vick takes those steps, he could develop into Cunningham or maybe even Steve Young.

Well played Jason.

But Jim Mora's right.

He is looking like a coach killer.

 

[slappy4428]

The Michael Vick Backlash is going to lead some people into some very smelly places.

Mexico?

 

[Ben_Hecht]

At the end, Randall C barely had a nodding acquaintance with the playbook . . . and we all saw how
he turned out. Such a disappointment, off a powerfully-promising beginning . . .

 

[Boom_70]

William Rhoden is the consumate enabler which is the last thing Michael Vick needs.

 

[Oz]

Vick still doesn't even hold the single-season rushing record for a quarterback. That would be Randall Cunningham.

So what rushing records for a QB does Vick have?