Vikings Helped Sway Vick Towards Retirement

On Friday, longtime NFL quarterback Michael Vick announced that he was officially retired from the National Football League. The former #1 overall pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, Vick wound up playing thirteen seasons in the NFL, but was not part of any team in 2016. His last active season was with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2015.

According to an interview with Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Vick may have gotten the final indication that his playing days were over when the Minnesota Vikings didn’t make any contact with him following the season-ending knee injury that Teddy Bridgewater suffered back in August.

“Me and the guys (his friends) were sitting on the couch, and I thought I was going to get a call, man,” Vick told the Pioneer Press Friday at the site of Super Bowl LI. “But they didn’t call. That was probably the reason I chose to go into retirement, because I could have helped that football team.”

There was a rumor circulating that the Vikings were contemplating bringing Vick in to help with their quarterback issue, but they wound up trading for Sam Bradford instead.

Vick, apparently, feels that the Vikings missed out by not signing him.

“I think they dropped the ball on that one,’’ Vick said of never being signed by the Vikings. “Me and Adrian Peterson would have been dynamic. I think a lot of these general managers, they don’t make the right decisions. Ultimately, I think it jeopardizes their careers, too.

“But it’s all in who you want. I would have loved to play with Adrian and played with the Vikings. But it’s all good.’’

Whether Vick could have helped the Vikings on the field in 2016 is something that people can debate. I’m not sure how much of a help a 36-year old Michael Vick would have been to the Vikings. . .after all, none of the other 31 teams signed him to be so much as a backup, let alone their starter. But, it doesn’t sound like he’s going to be helping anyone in 2017 or in any season after that.

One of the most dynamic athletes the NFL has ever seen officially hung it up on Friday, and the Minnesota Vikings helped him to make his decision.