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DEL.ICIO.USVick still delivering as critics bear down
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
There are few absolutes in the NFL, but here’s one: Jimmy Johnson talks a lot. As a coach, people find that sort of thing entertaining. As a studio commentator, people find that sort of thing either entertaining, blasphemous or somewhere in between.
But one thing Jimmy never says is, “Gee, I really don’t have an opinion on that.”
So it follows that when the subject of Michael Vick came up during a Fox pregame show last season, the former Dallas and Miami coach did what he always does. He shot from the lip.
“He’s not a quarterback,” Johnson said. And he made some crack about how long it will take Vick to absorb the team’s new offense, adding, “The jury still is out on Michael Vick.”
“People were so upset,” Johnson said this week by phone. “A lot of people have taken my comments about Mike as criticism. It’s not like I ever said he was a bad player or something. All I meant was he’s not your traditional quarterback. But people got all bent out shape.”
Now, depending on your perspective, you are either going to view these next comments as entertaining, blasphemous or somewhere in between. Either astute observations or backtracking drivel.
One week after Vick seemed to elevate his quarterbacking to a new level, Johnson was asked to pick one quarterback if he had to start a franchise.
“I’d have to think long and hard about that, but it would either be [Tom] Brady or Vick,” he said by phone. “And there is not another player who would come close to either of those two.”
Why?
“Because they win games,” he said. “Because they win games with their talent. Other quarterbacks win games with the talent of their supporting cast.”
Told that last punch should really go over well with Peyton Manning fans in Indianapolis, Johnson laughed and said, “Yeah, well, I’m kind of used to that by now.”
The Falcons play Minnesota today, which means Vick will be opposed by Daunte Culpepper. Next week they play New England, which means he will be opposed by Brady. By any definition of what a quarterback is, neither is suddenly a mismatch.
One start against the Buffalo Bills — during which Vick read defenses, anticipated blitzes and threw two touchdown passes — hardly means he is free of flaws. He remains a work in progress. But that progress is now clear should mute criticism (real or misinterpreted) for a while.
“He’s the most exciting player there is in the league, and it’s scary to think what he might do when he gets really proficient in the passing game,” said Johnson, who built and coached two Super Bowl teams with the Cowboys.
“Some people are critical of him because they’re accustomed to seeing the drop-back passer. They’re not used to seeing quarterbacks running naked bootlegs all the time. It goes against the grain of what we’ve come to expect from that position. The first thought that comes to mind is, ‘He’ll get hurt.’ But because of his talents, you have to make that part of your system. The fact that I said he’s not a traditional quarterback doesn’t mean I thought he was a bad player.”
Johnson worked with traditional quarterbacks in Dallas (Troy Aikman) and Miami (Dan Marino), and in college, and believes the position should be graded differently than others.
“To me, it’s not so much how many great plays you make, but how few bad plays you make,” he said. “Michael Vick makes a lot of great plays. His improvement has to come in the area of negative plays. Don’t carried away with sacks because with all of the plays he’s going to make with his feet, he’ll get sacked some times. But he needs to keep his interceptions down, which is what he’s doing.”
So maybe this means the jury is in now.
Permalink | Comments (9) | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Jeff Schultz
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By Brian
October 1, 2005 02:43 PM | Link to this
All Vick does is win. I couldn’t care less whether he throws for 300 yards a game or 150 a game. That’s for all the pontificators. It means nothing.
So what that Manning threw for 95 touchdowns last season, did he get his team to the conference championship?
Everyone still rates the Eagles higher than the Falcons in their polls even though the Falcons beat them (except for Dr. Z at SI. As he put it, “the Falcons beat them fair and square”). And there is no doubt that if they were to play again the Falcons would still beat them. McNabb had the passing stats but Vick got the “W”.
Stats mean nothing. All that matters is the “W”.
By dirrtybird
October 1, 2005 04:10 PM | Link to this
Jimmy Johnson is still a moron.
By geechee
October 1, 2005 05:20 PM | Link to this
Quoting William Bennett: “you could abort all Johnson babies which would lower the number of people in America who talk out of their butt but at the same time you’d have a whole lot of blank pages in the phone book also.”
By geechee
October 1, 2005 05:49 PM | Link to this
While we are quoting sources, here’s one from ESPN; “Urban Meyer’s offense was supposed to transform Florida, but defense is the reason the Gators are unbeaten.”
Of course when you hop the Greyhound to ‘Bama and you leave both of them back in the swamp, it’s hard to go unbeaten in the SEC.
By geechee
October 1, 2005 08:04 PM | Link to this
Jeff, thanks for letting me come in and read the column in peace for a few hours before letting all the trash in.
It is starting to look like USC is so good, the only way they can stay in their games mentally is to come out and toy with their opponent like bear would, for the first half.
By zack
October 1, 2005 08:50 PM | Link to this
Hey Jeff, how about getting some new material!!! The Tuscaloosa Correctional Inst. ( as you like to call Alabama) is getting tired.. What are you jealous???You are a joke and you picks are funny.. Always bet against the goofball——-Stop playing on the past, move on.. Georgia,ha,ha. What an overated bunch that is!! Grow up Jeff!!
By curtis fitzgerald
October 1, 2005 09:54 PM | Link to this
VICK—-THROW ONE OF YOU HARD SPARROWS RIGHT UPSIDE JIMMY JOHNSONS BIG * HEAD! Maybe he’ll see you more as a pocket passer then. GO FALCONS!!!!
By uncle jc
October 2, 2005 08:28 AM | Link to this
Look for 2 to 3 successful Atlanta Bombs connecting against the Vikings. Heck I think Roddy and Jenkins will catch at least one. This will really make the ground game scarrry. When the Falcons start connecting with the pass, I would hate to be the opposing defensive co-ordinator!
By falcon guy
October 3, 2005 03:10 PM | Link to this
I think Jimmy Johnson is right. Vick is not your father’s QB. He’s also right in choosing Vick (or Brady) if starting a new team. Winning is paramount, and Vick delivers. Vick has only been a starting QB for less than 4.5 years (2 in college and 2.5 in the NFL). And even still he’s won. So it stands to reason that he will only get better. He’ll run less and pass more. But now the Falcons have a nucleus around him that can win even if Vick has to sit out a game or two. Reminds me of the Eagles from a few years ago, when McNabb was out for a few games. They still maintained a level of play and made the NFC title game.