Michael Vick found himself in the crosshairs again.
In an interview published in the September issue of GQ magazine, the Eagles quarterback admitted that Philadelphia wasn’t his first choice. In fact, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had a hand in sending Vick to the Eagles.
“I think I can say this now, because it’s not going to hurt anybody’s feelings, and it’s the truth,” Vick told GQ. “I didn’t want to come to Philadelphia. Being the third-team quarterback is nothing to smile about. Cincinnati and Buffalo were better options.”
Obviously, Vick wanted to start. The interesting part is that he referenced a meeting with Goodell as a determining factor.
The interview, which went viral Thursday morning, had sports talk radio lines buzzing. By early afternoon, the Eagles and Vick put out a statement saying that Goodell never told him where to play.
“I did speak with many people, but the decision to sign in Philadelphia was based on my discussions with my agent, my family and with coach Reid,” Vick said. “The commissioner never told me to sign or not sign with particular teams.”
Much of the interview is a rehash of a story that appeared in the August issue of Philadelphia magazine. We won’t bore you with those details.
However, the other controversial point Vick makes is about race. He tells the magazine that white people might not understand black culture and its ties to dogfighting.
“Yeah, you got the family dog and the white picket fence, and you just think that’s all there is,” Vick said. “Some of us had to grow up in poverty-stricken urban neighborhoods, and we just had to adapt to our environment.”
