Michael Vick's NFL career ended Friday when he -- the No. 1 overall pick in 2001, arguably the most electric quarterback in NFL history, and everyone's favorite Madden player -- officially announced his retirement to multiple reporters.
Vick threw for 22,464 yards and rushed for 6,109 yards in his career. He's the only quarterback in NFL history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. To put it simply, he was amazing to watch, even if he never really lived up to the hype statistically (career 80.4 passer rating) or led the Falcons to a Super Bowl.
lol look at this freaking throw pic.twitter.com/J3wLoelpkF
— Chris Towers (@CTowersCBS) February 3, 2017
Vick's career will also be remembered for the ugly. In 2007, Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison for running a dogfighting operation. He never played for the Falcons again (they drafted Matt Ryan in 2008).
Vick missed the entire 2007 and 2008 seasons, but eventually returned to the game, playing for the Eagles, Jets, and Steelers.
It sounds like Vick, who made it clear last summer that he wanted to keep playing, finally realized that no one really wanted to sign a 36-year-old quarterback who hasn't played at a high level since 2010. From 2011-15, Vick went 15-20 as a starter. He spent the last few years of his career as a backup.
He told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that he's retiring because the Vikings didn't bother to give him a call after Teddy Bridgewater's injury this summer.
Michael Vick to Pioneer Press "(#Vikings) didn't call (when Bridgewater hurt). That was probably the reason I chose to go into retirement."
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) February 3, 2017
He added that they "dropped the ball" by not signing him.
MIchael Vick on wanting to play with Peterson: "(The #Vikings) dropped the ball on that one. Me and Adrian Peterson would have been dynamic"
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) February 3, 2017
Still, he sounds like he's at peace with his decision.
"In this moment right now, I'm willing to say, 'Yeah, I'm officially retired,'" Vick told ESPN's Josina Anderson. "I think it's time. I think going through the 2016 season without playing and being able to be a spectator and watch the game and enjoy it from afar and root for a lot of the players and coaches I once played for, I think kind of summed it all up for me.
"So now I think I'm officially ready, I'm ready to move on to different things in my life and different facets of my life."
If you're in Houston for Super Bowl LI, you can attend Vick's retirement party on Saturday. Tickets start at $50.
