The Eagles just gained a lot more fans.
Or, perhaps that would be better stated saying the Eagles have regained a lot more fans.
Welcome back, Michael Vick haters.
Reports this morning indicate the team will not bring back Michael Vick to take a backup role to newly minted star young QB Nick Foles.
Bob Grotz has the details here.
It does not exactly come as a surprise. Vick has indicated that he wants one more shot at being a starter. He wasn't going to get that here.
The team took a lot of heat - and lost more than a few fans - a few years back when they offered Vick a refuge for his return to the NFL after spending two years in federal prison for his role in running a vicious dog-fighting ring near his home in Virginia.
I abhor what Vick did. The description of what happened to those animals is hard to stomach.
And I'll be the first to admit I was not a fan of Vick when he was with the Falcons. One of the images that has stuck in my head is Vick flipping off some fans who were giving him an ear full as he jogged off the field after a loss. And this was in Atlanta, after a home game.
But having said all that, I am a firm believer in second chances.
Vick paid his debt - and then some. He gave up two years of his career - in his prime - as an NFL superstar. It cost him untold millions.
But forget, if you can, the money. Consider the man. I fully expected to dislike the guy who came to Philadelphia. But it quickly became clear to me that the Vick who left that prison was not the same man who went behind those bars.
From the very first day, at the press conference where he sat between his mentor Tony Dungy and his new coach Andy Reid, Vick has said and done everything right.
He's been earnest. He's expressed regret for what he did, and he vowed to be different.
He was good to his word.
So have those - mostly animal lovers - who wrote off the team from the moment they signed Vick.
I know die-hard, lifetime fans who have not watched a minute of Eagles football since Vick hit town.
Welcome back, folks.
And a thank you to Vick, who showed you can change. And you can make the most of a second chance.
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