Marcus Vick

Marcus Deon Vick (born March 20, 1984 in Newport News, Virginia) is a former collegiate and professional American football quarterback and wide receiver. He is the younger brother of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who also began playing high school football in Newport News Public Schools.

After accepting full scholarship to attend Virginia Tech, Marcus played quarterback for the team. However, he was suspended for the entire 2004 season due to two criminal convictions. After a conditional reinstatement, he started every game in the 2005 season, but was involved in several highly-publicized incidents during the season, including the display of his middle finger to the crowd and violently stomping the leg of an opponent, as well as having additional traffic arrests. In early 2006, he was dismissed from the Virginia Tech football program "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play".

Vick then declared himself eligible for the NFL spring draft in 2006, but was not selected. He was later signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent but was released from the team on May 1, 2007. His legal troubles continued after leaving Virginia Tech, and have included a charge of brandishing a firearm against a group of people, a civil lawsuit involving a juvenile girl who claimed that she was 15 years old (below the legal age of consent in Virginia) when forced into a sexual situation with Vick, who was 20 years old, and additional traffic incidents and arrests in January 2007, February 2008, and June 2008 in the Hampton Roads area which resulted in many arrests and seven additional convictions. After the June incident in Norfolk, he was convicted of DUI, misdemeanor eluding police, and driving on the wrong side of the road, and on October 20, 2008, received a 12 month suspended jail sentence, $530 in fines, and his privilege to operate motor vehicles in Virginia was suspended for a year.

Marcus Deon Vick was born to Brenda Vick and Michael Boddie on March 20, 1984, in Newport News, Virginia. His parents married about a year later, by which time they had four children, Christina (Marcus's older sister), Michael (Marcus's older brother), and Courtney (Marcus's younger sister). After their parents wed, the children elected to continue to use their mother's name as their surname.

The children grew up living in Ridley Circle, a public housing project in the financially depressed and crime-ridden East End neighborhood of Newport News not far from the massive Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipyard and local coal piers. During his younger years, his father, Michael Boddie, had a job which required a lot of travel. Their mother, Brenda, worked relatively low wage service jobs that included driving a school bus as well as a position at a local K-Mart.

As did his older brother Michael, Marcus Vick attended Warwick High School. At Warwick High School, he was coached by high school football coach Tommy Reamon, a former collegiate and professional football player himself who had been instrumental in the development of future NFL quarterbacks Aaron Brooks and Marcus' brother, Michael.

College Career

Virginia Tech

Heading into his senior year of high school, Marcus Vick was one of the country's top quarterback prospects. Although his brother had taken Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia within one game of a national championship and despite Michael's close relationship with Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, Marcus did not seem sold on attending Tech.

The Universities of NC State, Virginia, Tennessee, and Miami all had scholarship offers on the table and after taking a trip with Reamon to the Atlanta Falcons training camp, even Michael was not convinced that Tech was the best option for his brother. Marcus was seriously considering NC State and Virginia Tech. By September, it was clear that Marcus was considering several schools, mostly because of concerns about the Hokies' scheme and its ability to prepare him for the NFL.

While Vick arrived at Tech with great fanfare, he did not play as a true freshman. Beamer redshirted him, and he was a member of the dress squad for every game. During his freshman year, he ran a 4.48 forty and posted a 36-inch vertical jump during spring max testing. Vick threw five touchdown (TD) passes during spring scrimmages and added another in the Maroon-White game. He was 6-for-7 passing for 95 yards and one TD during one scrimmage, and turned in a 57-yard run in another scrimmage. He hit 10-of-15 passes for 92 yards and a TD in the Maroon-White game. For performances such as these, he was awarded the Paul Torgersen Award for the top offensive newcomer.

In 2003, Vick played in eleven games, splitting time with Bryan Randall. The highlight of Vick's season came during a 31-7 upset win over #2 Miami. Despite completing only one pass, Vick's exceptional running ability and the outstanding play of Tech's defense contributed to one of the biggest wins in Tech's history. In Virginia Tech's loss in the Insight Bowl to the California Golden Bears, Vick racked up 82 receiving yards, including one touchdown reception.

Head coach Frank Beamer initially announced that Vick would enter the 2005 season as the team's third-string quarterback, but he quickly won the starting role after impressive spring practices and scrimmages. All in all, it was Vick's most successful season which saw the Hokies contending for a national championship and culminating in an impressive 11-2 record, an ACC Coastal Division title, an appearance in the inaugural ACC Championship Game in the 2005 season, and a win in the 2006 Gator Bowl.

In 24 career games at Virginia Tech, Vick threw for 2,868 yards, 19 touchdowns and 15 interceptions while also running 184 times for 492 yards and six touchdowns. However, during the same period, he was charged with nine traffic offenses, as well as convictions for possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

On January 6, 2006, Virginia Tech announced his permanent dismissal from its football program "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play".

In response to being thrown off the team, Vick has been quoted as saying, "It's not a big deal. I'll just move on to the next level, baby."


NFL

Miami Dolphins

Despite pre-draft speculation that Vick could go as high as the third round, he went undrafted, becoming an unrestricted free agent who could sign a contract with any team. Many of the NFL's scouts questioned his attitude and his ability to avoid future troubles on and off the field. Vick attended a Miami Dolphins rookie free agent minicamp after the draft, and was subsequently signed to a free agent contract as a "wide receiver/quarterback/return specialist", for league minimum pay, by the Dolphins.

He was released on September 2, 2006 to reach the Dolphins' regular-season roster limit, but was re-signed to the practice squad on September 4. His number was 16. On October 17, 2006 the Miami Dolphins signed him as a Wide Receiver/Kick Returner/Quarterback. He was signed from the practice squad to the active roster for the team's Week 7 game versus the Green Bay Packers. He was listed as the No. 3 "emergency" quarterback on the depth chart. His first action in the NFL was a regular season game against the New York Jets on December 25, 2006. He played the wide receiver position for the 4th quarter, but had no recorded receptions. After the season, his contract expired, and the Dolphins opted not to resign him.

Legal troubles after Virginia Tech

Within three days of his expulsion from Virginia Tech, Marcus Vick became involved in another incident resulting in criminal charges, this time back home in Hampton Roads. The result in court was yet another misdemeanor conviction, but only suspended jail time. He also subsequently became the target of a civil lawsuit which had not been resolved as of June 8, 2007.

On January 9, 2006, he was charged with three counts of brandishing a firearm, a Class One misdemeanor, in Suffolk, Virginia. A police report stated that he allegedly pointed a gun at a 17-year-old and at least two of his friends in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant in the 6200 block of Town Point Road in Suffolk. After Vick's girlfriend had an argument with three people, they claimed that Vick pointed a gun at them. Vick claimed that the "gun" in question was actually a BlackBerry cell phone that was mistaken for a gun and that his accusers were trying to blackmail him.

On December 14, 2006, a 17-year old girl from Montgomery County, Virginia, filed a civil lawsuit against Marcus Vick accusing him of molestation of a minor, fraud, and additional charges. In the lawsuit, seeking $6.3 million, an unnamed girl claims that when she was 15 (below the legal age of consent in Virginia) and was a student in high school, she was forced into a sexual situation with Vick, who was 20 years old, over a nearly two year long period. She also alleges Vick offered to provide her alcohol and marijuana and forced her to have sex with other men and women. On September 15, 2008, the New York Times reported according to the plaintiff's attorney, the parties had agreed in principle to a settlement in the lawsuit.

According to Virginia court records, on January 9, 2007, Marcus Vick was charged in the City of Hampton with Speeding 45 miles per hour (mph) in a 30 mph zone. On March 5, he was tried and convicted in absentia by a Hampton General District Court judge, and a penalty of a fine and assessment of court costs were imposed.

On February 6, 2008, Marcus Vick was charged in the City of Norfolk with several traffic-related offenses, including Speeding 48 miles per hour (mph) in a 30 mph zone, operating a vehicle without a valid motor vehicle inspection sticker, and driving while his privilege had been suspended. On April 4, he was tried and convicted in absentia by a Norfolk General District Court judge of the first two counts. The suspended driving license charge was reduced to a less serious charge of not having a valid Virginia license in his possession at the time of the offense. Court records indicate that fines and court costs were imposed for each of the three convictions.

On June 13, 2008, according to a report in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper, a bicycle officer in Norfolk approached a couple arguing in a car shortly after midnight. When asked for identification, the driver, Marcus Vick, allegedly took off, driving the car at high speed. When another officer spotted the car and stopped it, Vick failed a sobriety test. Marcus Vick was charged with DUI, misdemeanor eluding police, driving on the wrong side of a street, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license, and was taken into custody. The young woman who is from Miami, Florida was charged with public drunkenness. Vick listed his address as a riverfront mansion in Suffolk whose owner in the city's real estate tax records is listed as his older brother Michael. According to a report by the New York Post newspaper in 2007, Marcus also was spending part of his time at Michael's luxurious condominium in the Philippe Starck high-rise building in the exclusive South Beach section of Miami Beach.

He was released on bond later Friday morning. At a preliminary hearing on June 16, a court date of September 10 was set. On September 10, trial dates for all five charges were continued until October 20, 2008, The judge allowed him to remain free on bond until that date. On October 20, Vick plead guilty to the DUI charge. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail, which the judge suspended, a fine of $250 and his Virginia driving license was suspended for a year. He was also convicted of eluding a police officer and driving on the wrong side of the road, and fined $280 on those charges.