PhotoDude.com

Wed. Sep 18, 2002

Million Dollar Knees

Million Dollar Knees – "Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick said Wednesday that a Chicago coach screamed ‘take his knees out’ during a loss to the Bears last weekend [...] ‘They were coming up to hit me,” Vick said. “I heard one of their coaches scream, ‘Take his knees out!’ That was their goal, to knock me out of the game.’ [...] Jackson, a Falcons receiver, said he heard Blache tell his players to take out Vick’s knees after a scramble by the speedy quarterback."

The Atlanta paper reports, "Four days after Atlanta’s loss, Vick was still having a hard time believing what happened. ‘After that play on the sideline, I heard that, and I turned around and said, ‘My knees? Coach, what’s that?’ and he said, ‘Your knees .’ I said to a couple [Chicago] players, ‘There’s no need for that. We’re all competitive, but that could be a career-ending injury.’ Even though [Blache] said that stuff, they weren’t going low; they just hit me hard.’ "

It’s not that he’s naive about the game: "Vick, who had 128 yards rushing this season, realizes that teams are going to punish him when he leaves the pocket. ‘I know my style of football,’ he said. ‘I’m going to take a lot of shots. I’m prepared for it. That’s why I lift weights so hard.’ "

And in the Atlanta paper, he says, “It kind of surprised me that a coach is on the sideline screaming that, but . . . he won’t be the only coach. I know every coach is going to be gunning for me. It’s up to me to protect myself, and that’s what I’m going to try to do over the next three or four weeks, focus on getting down and sliding.”

And anyone who’s followed Vick at all knows he’s a virtual Boy Scout, a rarity in pro sports. So these are not the words of a big mouth just talking trash. For that, well… " ‘He got his butt beat and now he wants to make somebody look bad,’ [ Bears defensive coordinator Greg] Blache said. ‘Unbelievable.’ "

But the next line in the article states, "The Bears were penalized three times for roughing the quarterback in their 14-13 victory Sunday." In fact, out of Chicago’s 7 penalties, four of them were for one form or another of “unsportsmanlike conduct.” By the fourth quarter, the tone was clear even from my couchside view.

And by the way, Greg, 14-13 is hardly getting your “butt beat,” you must be thinking of the Philadelphia-Washington game.