Marcus Vick gets a pass

[Don Wassall]

We're still subjected to nearly 30 year old grainy footage of Woody Hayes hitting a player on the opposing team, but Marcus Vick, fresh off a one-year suspension from Virginia Tech after two criminal convictions, gets a free pass from the national media after elbowing a coach.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05277/582194.stm

Football: TV camera catches Vick's bad side
Hokies QB appeared to elbow WVU coach
Tuesday, October 04, 2005

By Chuck Finder, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Given that it's the one-season anniversary of a Rutgers week when an obscene gesture by a West Virginia receiver garnered widespread attention and criticism, Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez wondered yesterday if similar incidents Saturday involving Virginia Tech star Marcus Vick will get similar play.

Including the one where Vick elbowed a Mountaineers coach.

From ESPN footage, it appears Vick shoved his right elbow into the back of the head of a surprised defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel or defensive backs coach Tony Gibson after Vick was run out of bounds with 4:04 left in the second quarter of Virginia Tech's 34-17 victory at Mountaineer Field.

"I'll probably just reserve comment," Rodriguez said. "We haven't seen the TV replay, just what we can see in the back [of where their video camera focused]. I don't know what the intent was, or if there was any; it might have been an incidental thing. I haven't paid much attention to it, to be honest. We've already moved on to Rutgers."

Speaking of Rutgers, it was Oct. 30 last season when Mountaineers receiver Chris Henry got two unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties and ejected, extending a middle finger while he exited the Rutgers Stadium field. Rodriguez suspended him from the first half of the next game.

Vick, suspended from school last year for two separate run-ins with the law, received verbal abuse from some Mountaineer Field fans Saturday and seemingly gave it back. He brandished a middle finger at fans after running out of bounds with 11:01 left in the third quarter, an act captured on ESPN's broadcast and noted by analyst Chris Spielman.

Near that quarter's end, he punctuated a 23-yard run by tossing a football in the facemask of Mountaineers cornerback Dee McCann, who retaliated, and each got an unsportsmanlike penalty. And then there was the elbowing that Rodriguez referenced.

Asked if it seemed that the reaction to Vick hasn't come close to the post-Rutgers response over Henry, Rodriguez said, "I guess that's for other people to judge. Obviously, we weren't happy with Chris' behavior in the game. I heard about it, and the program heard about it. ...

"It is an intense game, and things happen. Some of the things that happened with Marcus shouldn't happen in football. I'm sure his coaches will talk to him about it. Just like we did with Chris."

Virginia Tech officials said they plan no disciplinary action for their starting quarterback as the No. 3 Hokies play Saturday against Marshall.

 

[Southern Knight]

The media BLACKout of this story is no different from the hundreds of black-on-White murders that are hushed-up by the national media.

To add insult to the whole affair, Negro athletes are praised for having "overcome some off-the-field problems," while we are constantly reminded about the White players who screw-up in public. One apologist actually blamed Marcus's thuggishly offensive behavior on the "extreme pressure" that he has to deal with every day, being Michael Vick's brother and all.

"Extreme pressure." Right. You mean the kind of pressure that comes with knowing that your brother is a millionaire 100 times over, and that no one in your family will ever need to work an honest day for the rest of their lives? Living with that kind of "pressure" would certainly drive me to be a complete jackass, too.

D-1 athletic departments are filled with petty and not-so-petty thugs, and we never hear about any of them. It would be bad for business.

There is no limit to the dishonesty of the media and its controllers. The media will never regain its honesty until it is wrested from the hands of the kind of people who control it now.

 

[Gary]

Don-Do you remember a QB from Virginia Tech named Jim Druckenmiller? He was the man most responsible for getting Virginia Tech national attention. He was 6'5 230lbs and could bench press more then most lineman. He was drafted by the 49ers and got into trouble[sad to say]. But I'd take him over Vick anyday at QB. Jim could pass and was strong enough to break tackles when he ran. He was one of the strongest QB's I have ever seen.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I remember Druckenmiller. Man, I haven't heard that name in a long time.

 

[White Shogun]

As my grandma used to say, "Marcus thinks his sh*t don't stink."

The guy is receiving accolades for being related to the NFL's poster boy, Mike Vick. He knows no matter what he does, he will get a pass. He will never be challenged for bad behavior, he will never be benched for bad behavior, and not for poor play, either. Barring some serious injury, he will be drafted early and win the lottery with his contract. Then the rest of us will be subjected to stories about these two for the rest of our lives, how they were raised, how they've competed since they were children, blah blah blah.. if it isn't already its going to be enough to make you literally sick.

 

[Don Wassall]

We gotta hope the Manning Brothers continue to tear it up, it will make it a lot tougher on the media to worship the Vick boys, especially since a lot of football fans are clearly sick of the hype Michael gets.

Bart, I just looked up Druckenmiller's stats, and his career was even shorter than I remembered. He was a first round draft pick of the 49ers in '97, and that was the only year he played in the NFL, though he kicked around for a while, signing with the Colts as late as '03. It's tough to understand a guy being thought of enough to merit a first round pick and then getting almost no chance to play (52 career passes). Even the great Akili Smith had 462 passes in the NFL over four seasons.

 

[White Shogun]

We gotta hope the Manning Brothers continue to tear it up, it will make it a lot tougher on the media to worship the Vick boys, especially since a lot of football fans are clearly sick of the hype Michael gets.

I was thinking about the Manning bros. as I wrote my last post, but I'm still wondering if even they can override the media machine that is the caste system, no matter how well they play.

 

[Guest]

I predict Marcus will go into the draft overhyped and perform way way worse than his brother. He is awfull - he is like a slow, less acurate mike vick. He couldn't hit the water if he fell out of a boat. Marcus will never pplay a full season.