At the peak of his first stint in professional football, Michael Vick was the face of the National Football League.

He shared an era with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Ray Lewis. And yet no one electrified highlight reels, owned jersey sales, inspired imaginary amusement park rides, redefined dual-threat quarterbacking and scared multi-million-dollar defenses like the 6-foot lefty out of Virginia. By "Madden" standards, Vick was the literal face of the NFL before his 25th birthday, appearing as the video game's 2004 cover athlete -- and in the game as a famously, unfairly dominant character.

Now closing in on 38, Vick laughs off the possibility of returning to the cover of a video game -- a hypothetical one based on the American Flag Football League, the upstart pros-against-Joes venture that'll feature him and other big names on NFL Network this summer.

But he shouldn't.

He may be three years removed from his last NFL season and almost a decade removed from the last of his four trips to the Pro Bowl, but the lefty can still sling it. The former Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles star even clarified to CBSSports.com this week that he didn't intend to signal an NFL comeback when he told Bill Reiter in May that he's "still got it."

He also didn't have to. Because Michael Vick has never been more of an ambassador for football.

Almost exactly a year after retiring as a member of the Falcons and serving under his old Eagles coach, Andy Reid, as a Kansas City Chiefs intern, Vick has his hands on just about every big league breaking into the marketplace. With the AFFL, he's not only a quarterback for one of four teams starring ex-NFL veterans but also a founding partner for the tournament-style project. And starting in February 2019, he'll be seen on CBS as the offensive coordinator for Georgia in the eight-team Alliance of American Football.

"I still light up when I see a football," Vick said. "It doesn't take much to get guys like me involved (or) to convince these guys to come out and play again."

His motivations for each league vary. The AFFL lets him keep slinging passes in a more "relaxed setting," and he likes the idea of promoting overlooked standouts who then "may get a shot to play in the AAF or NFL." The AAF, meanwhile, lets him build a resume under the Reid coaching tree -- he'll be working alongside Reid's own former offensive coordinator, Brad Childress.

"To have the career I've had, I'm too blessed," Vick said. "I think I went through all the phases. Now, this is to have fun."

More free time has allowed Vick to embrace family time above all, but there's never been any doubt that "fun" is just something he does well. In his most explosive days, those record-breaking years of "Madden" fame, he was probably the most fun thing about the NFL. After his more serious turn from convicted felon to humble play-maker, it was still "fun" that fueled Vick's resurgence, like his 2010 MVP candidacy as Reid's Swiss Army knife. Why would anyone expect the quarterback to be representing anything else in retirement?

Take it back to the NFL, his old stomping grounds, and he has plenty of fun talking about the teams he once called his own, too.

The Eagles? In Vick's mind, Carson Wentz should've been the 2017 MVP regardless of his late-season injury, Nick Foles is the best backup in the league, and the City of Brotherly Love might be home to the game's next great dynasty.

"Eagles fans are never satisfied, but they'll be satisfied these next few years," he said, acknowledging with no hesitation nor hyperbolic tone that the Birds have repeat potential as the defending Super Bowl champions. "This is a team that the NFL has to look out for. It's one of the best Philadelphia Eagles teams that's been assembled in years, and they're still adding key components."

The Falcons? Well, let's just say they've still got his true devotion. If it were the Eagles vs. the Falcons in 2018's NFC Championship, Vick knows exactly who he's taking.

"I have to go Atlanta, man," he laughed. "Philly got theirs."

And if his role across the sport-- the NFL and all its alternatives -- is any indication, Vick is still getting his. You might say, in some sense, he's one of the faces of football.