Take a chance on this QB

I know a lot of people on this board have judged this kid already and have made up their minds, but I think some team will be very happy one day to have drafted him. I'd love it if he came to NY so we could see what he's made of. If he screws up, nothing lost other than a second day draft pick. But he could be GREAT.

Vick should put on NFL show
Marcus Vick is prepared for the combine, but he may have to put on his best performance off the field.
BY NORM WOOD
247-4642
February 24, 2006

There will be no surprises for Marcus Vick when he takes the field Sunday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. He has done the drills hundreds of times.

But nothing can prepare him for the barrage of questions he'll have to answer.

Vick spent seven weeks in January and February at a training facility in Duluth, Ga., that prepares football players for the NFL combine, a clearinghouse-event going on in Indianapolis for former college players to showcase their skills for NFL personnel before the league's draft in April.

While Vick's trainers say he should do better than most in drills that will measure everything from the size of his calves to his ability to spot a blitz, his draft potential may be influenced more by how he answers one simple question: "Why?"

Why did he get into so much trouble during his four seasons at Virginia Tech, trouble that eventually got him kicked off the team?

Chip Smith is the president of Competitive Edge Sports in Duluth, a suburb of Atlanta. He says that he has helped train more than 600 NFL players, and hopes to add Vick to that list when the NFL draft takes place April 29-30. Smith said physically Vick compares to some of the best players he has worked with.

"He's better than 99 percent of the players in the NFL right now athletically," said Smith, who played running back at Western Branch High in Chesapeake during the 1970s. "Now, the jury is still out on whether he can play quarterback in the NFL, but he picks things up extremely well."

Smith said he and his staff worked with Vick for a minimum of six hours a day at his business, which is located less than a mile from the home of Michael Vick, Marcus' older brother who is the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback.

Smith said he only addressed Vick's off-the-field troubles once, when he was determining whether to accept Vick as a client to his $800-$1,500 per week training program. Smith, who said training for interviews is provided at his facility, added that he didn't have any problems while Vick was at the facility.

"If Marcus wasn't doing what Chip Smith was asking him to do, I would have kicked him out of here," Smith said. "I've done it before. There are too many kids I have to go to bat for, for me to waste my time. NFL teams ask me about these kids all the time. I'm singing his praises because he did everything I asked him to do."

Smith said Vick will likely run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds. Smith also said that when it comes to the "L-drill," which focuses on timed footwork around three cones placed in an L-shape, Vick should log one of the top times at the combine. Smith said the fastest L-drill time ever at his facility was 6.5 seconds by Terence Newman, a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys who attended Smith's facility in 2003. Vick, a Warwick High grad, did the drill in 6.53 seconds. He did not return messages left for him.

Many draft analysts have said Vick will be selected between the fourth and seventh rounds. Roger Theder, a former head coach at the University of California and quarterbacks coach with the San Diego Chargers, helped train Vick in Duluth. Theder said Vick is better than a fourth-round selection.

"I think arm strength is compensated for a lot of times by a quick release," Theder said. "The thing he has is the ability to get that ball released in a hurry. ... I think part of the rap on Marcus was the misconception that he was more apt to run first and pass second. That's not true. I didn't see that at all. He's a pure drop-back quarterback with speed. The only negative I can see is height, but he has everything else to be a productive NFL quarterback."

Productivity wasn't the issue while Vick was at Tech. He was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast player last year, and led Tech to the ACC championship game. Most of Vick's problems came from bad choices.

He was suspended from Tech for the fall semester in 2004 after being arrested twice earlier in the year for marijuana possession and reckless driving, and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. An appeal helped him avoid 30 days jail time on the contributing to the delinquency of a minor charges.

On Oct. 1, 2005, he made an obscene gesture with his middle finger during Tech's 34-17 victory at West Virginia. He later apologized.

He was pulled over Dec. 17 in Hampton and charged with driving on a revoked or suspended license and speeding.

On Jan. 2, 2006, he intentionally stomped on the left leg of Louisville's Elvis Dumervil during the Gator Bowl.

Finally, on Jan. 6, he was kicked off the team.

His troubles continued after his Tech career ended. He was arrested Jan. 9 in Suffolk and charged with three counts of brandishing a firearm.

Vick is scheduled to appear March 6 in Hampton General District Court for the revoked/suspended license and speeding charges. He also will appear March 13 in Suffolk General District court for the firearm charges.