Keith Reed is an award-winning journalist and a past senior editor at ESPN. His work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Root, Vibe, Essence and elsewhere.
Norfolk State University, a historically Black college in Virginia, announced this week that former NFL quarterback Michael Vick will be the Spartans’ next head football coach. That means that 15 years after he was released from federal prison for his involvement in a dogfighting ring and nine years after he played his last NFL game, Vick is writing the next chapter in what has become one of the greatest redemption arcs in American sports this century. Not everyone is on board, of course.
When Vick got out of prison, he played first for the Philadelphia Eagles, then the New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Though his game was never the same as it had been with the Falcons, his off-field turnaround had already begun. He sought mentorship and received it from Tony Dungy, the first Black NFL head coach to win a Super Bowl and a notably religious man. Vick, who had been notoriously private, even with teammates, started to come out of his shell.
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