‘My Father, My Wish’: Michael Vick Reflects on Prison, Falcons Cut

Michael Vick is largely remembered as one of most gifted offensive weapons in NFL history. But the legendary QB does not run away from the fact that his MVP-level football career was sidetracked by his late-2000’s dogfighting scandal.

And now the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback is opening up to reveal a part of his background that he finds the most regretful.

“I wish I had a father figure or somebody in my life (to day), ‘Yo, man, you can really screw all this up,’” Vick said. “Ain’t nobody came and said, ‘Bro, you can screw all this up.”’

Vick, now 43 and considered by many a mentor to today’s generation of QBs, did say in his podcast talk (via Vocal Podcast Network) with Tyreek Hill that he was offered some guidance …

But obviously not enough to guide him away from his six years of supervision of a secret dogfighting ring, an activity that led to his eventual arrest in 2007. He spent 21 months in federal prison.

Vick played in Atlanta from 2001-06 before his conviction. And later, he did return to the NFL, from 2009-15 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

But his actions cost him millions of dollars and a great deal of national respect. It did, however, also end up teaching him humility.

“The whole time like I was gone I thought they was gonna wait on me,” Vick said of the Falcons. “But that was wishful thinking … I really thought …  I step back in, be the starter, and we just move on like nothing ever happened. But that’s not reality. And I was hoping for something that just couldn’t happen.”

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Falcons? Click Here.

Follow Falcon Report on Twitter.

Want even more Atlanta Falcons news? Check out the SI.com team page here.