Michael Vick shares admission about dogfighting scandal

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Jul 3, 2023 3:38 PM ET

Retired quarterback Michael Vick shared he has one major regret regarding the infamous dogfighting scandal that cost him two years of his career.

"I wish I had a father figure or somebody in my life — and I did, too, for the most part — but not to the point where somebody was like, 'Yo, man, you can really screw all this up,'" Vick explained during the "It Needed To Be Said" podcast hosted by Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "Ain’t nobody came and said, 'Bro, you can screw all this up.' One person [did], I won’t say his name."

Vick earned three Pro Bowl nods while featuring for the Atlanta Falcons from 2001 through 2006 before the news about his Bad Newz Kennels dogfighting ring broke in 2007.

As noted by ESPN, Vick pleaded guilty to federal dogfighting charges and served prison time before he returned to the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of the 2009 season. The signal-caller made the NFC Pro Bowl squad for the 2010 campaign and won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award for that season.

Vick acknowledged during the podcast he initially thought in 2007 he could one day resume his QB1 duties with the Falcons.

"The whole time like I was gone I thought they was gonna wait on me, but that was wishful thinking," Vick said. "Like, I really thought like they was gonna wait for me to get back and all this would be over and then 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."

Atlanta ultimately replaced Vick by spending the third overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft on Matt Ryan. Ryan became a one-time regular-season Most Valuable Player but never guided the Falcons to a Super Bowl title from 2008 through the 2021 season, while Vick last played with the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 2015 campaign.

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