Michael Vick

CTL-E-7049 · Person · other · born 1980

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07921 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-7049.

Michael Dwayne Vick, born June 26, 1980, in Newport News, Virginia, is a former NFL quarterback whose running ability reshaped expectations for the position. After starring at Virginia Tech, he was selected first overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2001 NFL draft, becoming, as contemporary and later coaching coverage reported, the first Black quarterback taken with the first overall pick. With Atlanta he became, in Britannica's words, the highest-paid player in NFL history at the time. In 2007 he pleaded guilty to charges of running an illegal dogfighting ring, was sentenced to 23 months in prison, served 18 months in federal prison, and was suspended indefinitely by the NFL. Released in 2009, he returned with the Philadelphia Eagles and was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2010. He later played for the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, and in December 2024 Norfolk State University named him its head football coach.

The record

• Also known as: Michael Dwayne Vick

Notes

Sports Encyclopedia roster CTL-SPE-0412. Firsts disposition: first Black quarterback selected first overall in the NFL draft (2001) — carried as reported in the cited coaching coverage, attributed, not asserted from Britannica alone. The 2007 federal dogfighting conviction, 23-month sentence and 18 months served are stated factually and briefly per Britannica, without relish or erasure. Curator's Judgment (DRAFT): Vick's record holds both a genuine positional revolution and a serious federal conviction; the encyclopedia keeps both in the same frame, neither canceling the other. Photo: CLEARED, CC BY 2.0, file description names Michael Vick as Atlanta Falcons quarterback, 2005.

Sources

• Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Michael Vick." Britannica. Accessed 2026-11-03. (primary source · build store)
• National Football Post. "Report: Michael Vick agrees to become Norfolk State coach." National Football Post. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)
• Yardbarker. "Cam Newton skeptical over Michael Vick taking Norfolk State head coaching job." Yardbarker. Accessed 2026-11-03. (build store)

More person records

• Marie Van Brittan Brown
• Marilyn Hughes Gaston
• Marilyn McCormick
• Marilyn Nance
• Marino Casem
• Mario Van Peebles

Browse the full directory: all entity records

Record CTL-E-7049 · Combined Graph record U-07921 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 3 sources.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

Cite this record

Citation guidance for teachers, journalists, and funders: How to Cite Us.

From the Archive

The archive in pictures

The people, places, and institutions this work documents. Photographs from the CultureTechLens research record — rights-cleared, credited, and cited like everything else here.