Former Colts coach Dungy backs new chance for troubled Vick
The Michael Vick who signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night is not the same person who organized and participated in a dog-fighting operation and once played for the Atlanta Falcons.
So says Tony Dungy, the former Indianapolis Colts coach who has become an adviser and confidant of Vick.
“I think he is a different person than the man who went in (to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan.) 21 months ago,” Dungy said on Thursday afternoon during a promotional visit to Adrian Jules Custom Clothiers in Irondequoit.
Dungy maintains that belief after spending many hours over the past year speaking to Vick. During Vick’s 19 months in Leavenworth, Dungy was a visitor, providing spiritual guidance and mental support.
Their relationship has continued since Vick was released in May, and Dungy has been a liaison between the exiled quarterback and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
“He’s a young man who made some mistakes,” said Dungy, who retired as the Colts’ coach after the 2008 season, two years after guiding Indy to a Super Bowl championship.
“He maybe took for granted a lot of things in his life. I think he took his children for granted. I don’t think he appreciated the impact he had on young people.”
The Eagles apparently agree that Vick is deserving. They signed him to a two-year contract ($1.6 million for the first year, $5.2 million for the second option year, Fox Sports reported).
All summer Dungy has championed Vick’s right for another chance in the NFL. He says he believes in Vick, whose last NFL game was against the Eagles in 2006.
He admits he’s also driven by subtle “what-ifs” that dart through his mind.
A man who lives every day based on his belief in God, Dungy is still wondering if he could have prevented what happened. If he could have done something to put an end to Vick’s role in dog-fighting long before the illegal and ultra-cruel activities grew into a felony conviction and prison time.
When the Colts and Falcons played an NFL preseason game in Japan in August 2005, Dungy and Vick spoke several times at promotional gatherings in Tokyo.
“He’s a big fisherman and I like fishing and we talked about setting up a fishing trip when we got back,” Dungy said.
For various reasons, the trip never came to fruition.
“Ever since then I’ve wondered,” Dungy said. “I would have had eight hours in a boat. Maybe it (the dog-fighting) would have come up. Maybe I could have said something that would have led him away.”
As recent as the past weekend during Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities in Canton, Ohio, Dungy spoke with the Buffalo Bills about Vick. He believed One Bills Drive would have been a perfect NFL home because of the support system in place under coach Dick Jauron.
“I know Dick very well and he would be a great coach for him to play for,” Dungy said. “He certainly couldn’t play for a better head coach. I’ve known him (Jauron) a long time. He’s so upright and straightforward. I think he (Jauron) would be a great person for him (Vick) to emulate.”
Dungy passed along that belief to Wilson last weekend as well.
“He wanted to know about him as a person,” said Dungy, adding that the message he conveyed to Wilson was that Vick “deserved a second chance.”
Dungy was in town as a favor to Arnie and Peter Roberti, the brothers who operate Adrian Jules. The tailor shop has supplied him with apparel since 1996, often on a moment’s notice, so he served as the model for the unveiling of their 45th anniversary garment.
Dungy also spoke to many of the company’s employees at the anniversary celebration.
“I feel like I know you, even though I haven’t met you,” he told them, “because you’ve dressed me for the last 13 years.”
KEVINO@DemocratandChronicle.com
Vick remorseful
Michael Vick says he accepts blame for not stopping an illegal dogfighting ring that he bankrolled.
In an interview that airs Sunday on 60 Minutes, Vick says he feels “some tremendous hurt behind what happened.” He adds that “I should have took the initiative to stop it all … I didn’t — I didn’t step up. I wasn’t a leader.”
— The Associated Press
