# The Michael Vick Return Pool **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 22, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819 "2009-07-22T03:08:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/1 "2009-07-22T03:08:47Z")
Quite simple: The next time Michael Vick plays in an NFL regular season game will be in what week, playing for which team? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/2 "2009-07-22T03:10:29Z")
And my answer…Week 9, Philadelphia Eagles. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/3 "2009-07-22T03:23:30Z")
Week 1…2010. Houston Texans. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/4 "2009-07-22T03:37:28Z")
Week 4 Oakland Raiders SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/5 "2009-07-22T04:44:14Z")
I can easily imagine a team trying to land Michael Vick on the cheap, in hopes he might spark some interest at the box office… but I can’t see anyone giving him a shot at the starting QB job this season, let alone handing him the position. Vick was an exciting athlete, but he wasn’t a very good NFL quarterback. The Falcons were actually a lot better on offense WITHOUT him! I don’t see a single team where he’d represent a major improvement at quarterback right now. I’m all for letting the man make a living, and I don’t think he deserves to be suspended any longer. But he was a subpar quarterback to begin with, and he’s not likely to have gotten better in prison. No sane GM would sign him. Perhaps a team with a dumb, loose cannon owner (the Cowboys or Raiders) might. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/6 "2009-07-22T04:57:22Z")
Canadian Football League. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/7 "2009-07-22T07:15:18Z")
2010, Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/8 "2009-07-22T07:47:39Z")
My money’s on “Never.” Like **astorian** says, he just wasn’t a particularly good QB (2002 excepted), and at age 29 his unique athleticism is likely to evaporate in the next couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/9 "2009-07-22T12:33:24Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > but I can’t see anyone giving him a shot at the starting QB job this season, let alone handing him the position. Fair enough, but please keep in mind, everyone – the question is when he _plays_, not when he _starts_. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/10 "2009-07-22T14:32:05Z")
Week 2 Raiders ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/11 "2009-07-22T14:43:46Z")
Week 10, 2010 season, whoever’s the most desperate. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/12 "2009-07-22T15:48:26Z")
Never. What role are you going to give him? Starting QB? Who’s gonna hand the reins over to this guy, investing millions and making him the face of the franchise? Backup? Most teams want a studious, hardworking type as their backup; if the starter is young, they want a veteran tutor. Not a lazy fuckup. Moreover, who’s gonna want to deal with all the hoopla and protests and all that – including pissing off some of your own fans – for a backup? Conversion to other position? Dude’s 30. He’s a QB. Wildcat? The NCAA produces as many good wildcat candidates every year as any team could want. The only way he gets in if someone has one or more QBs goes down with injury, and some GM/coach who are BOTH on the hot seat decide that giving Vick the ball and telling him to schoolyard it is better than going with their 3rd QB. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/13 "2009-07-22T16:05:08Z")
> [@Stringer](#): > > Week 1…2010. Houston Texans. Oh, please, no… Just to guess, I’ll say week 7, The Eagles. But I think he’s done for. Time will tell! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/14 "2009-07-22T16:06:29Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Fair enough, but please keep in mind, everyone – the question is when he _plays_, not when he _starts_. Okay… well, then I can see either Jerry Jones or Al Davis signing him, against the advice of the real football men (Jones signed Ryan Leaf, after all). IF the Raiders sign him… well, the Raiders are going to stink, so he’d get to play some for the Raiders by week 6. IF the Cowboys sign him… well, the Cowboys should be very good, so they shouldn’t need to play Vick at all at quarterback. But Jerry Jones fancies himself a master strategist, so he’d tell Wade Phillips to start using Vick as a Kordell Stewart/Slash type player. And if the Cowboys stumble early and fall out of playoff contention, Jerry Jones would tell Wade Phillips (or whoever’s coaching by Week 12) to put in Vick at QB, just to keep the media interested. ---
**Author:** ![Starbreaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@Starbreaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbreaker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/15 "2009-07-22T16:18:36Z")
He’ll be lucky if he gets to play in the UFL. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/16 "2009-07-22T16:32:47Z")
Hell. Week of the first big freeze. ---
**Author:** ![Starbreaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@Starbreaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starbreaker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/17 "2009-07-22T16:46:29Z")
The Atlanta Beelzebubs. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/18 "2009-07-22T17:20:24Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Okay… well, then I can see either Jerry Jones or Al Davis signing him, against the advice of the real football men (Jones signed Ryan Leaf, after all). Ryan Leaf was a perfectly worthwhile guy to take a flier on; he still had the physical talent, and signing him to be a 3rd QB on a lousy team cost nothing. Just having Vick on your roster means you get picketed at your home opener, means all your players get asked innumerable awkward questions about it, means ESPN runs features on the decision, means every single telecast has cameras focusing on Mike Vick holding a clipboard … who wants that kind of BS? Al Davis … maybe. If Russell sucks in 2009 that it’s obvious he isn’t the answer, I can see Davis going for Vick in 2010. He’s probably the only one. Which actually says a lot about Davis. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/19 "2009-07-22T17:47:41Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Just having Vick on your roster means you get picketed at your home opener, Just picketed? Maybe it’s just the crowd I hang out with, but if the Steelers were to sign Vick, not a single friend of mine would watch any games until he was gone. Now, maybe some of that is just posturing, but… I think that signing Vick would signal more desperation than Palin being chosen as VP candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819/20 "2009-07-22T18:55:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Just picketed? Maybe it’s just the crowd I hang out with, but if the Steelers were to sign Vick, not a single friend of mine would watch any games until he was gone. If that’s the truth, then the crowd you hang out with would be known as “non-football fans”. If he were to somehow end up on the Giants, I’d be pissed – absolutely outraged that my team would stoop to signing this fucknugget. But you’d damn well better believe I’d watch every game. No one person is bigger than the sport. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-michael-vick-return-pool/503819.md?page=2)