Live from the Dome: A former prince returns to the city
The midfield reunion we've long awaited: Arthur M. Blank and Michael Vick. (Photo by M. Bradley)
Michael Vick has returned to the Georgia Dome. He jogged on the field at 11:24 a.m. He received a polite round of applause. (There weren’t many folks in the stands yet.) The first person he approached was Jimmy Cribb, the longtime Falcons photographer. The two embraced.
“He told me I always took good pictures of him,” Cribb said, “and if I got anything good today to send them to him.”
Then came the long-awaited meeting with Arthur Blank. (See above photo, shot by someone much less professional than Jimmy Cribb.) And then Reggie Roberts, the Falcons’ VP of communications, walked over to Vick. More hugging ensued.
Roberts: “He told me he missed being here. He misses the city, misses the Dome. He said he was crying on the bus ride over.”
Along those lines, here’s a snippet of an as-told-to article Vick did with David Fleming of ESPN The Magazine. Here’s Vick speaking his mind on, of all things, the Dome:
“I’m looking forward to going back to the Georgia Dome. I may not do much. I may not even play in the game. But just having the opportunity to be there and maybe have a chance to talk to the Falcons owner, Mr. Blank, before the game — that would be a great thing for me. I spent many a Sunday making that crowd go wild, and I appreciate all those fans. They were great. Man, I miss [those] days.”
In all the furor over Michael Vick, one truth kept getting lost: No matter what he did, the guy’s still a human being. And now he’s again a football player. We don’t know much he’ll play today, if at all. And we don’t yet know — it’s only 11:45 — how the crowd will be. My guess: Warm toward Vick, warmer toward the Falcons.
Speaking of whom: The home side is up against it. Here’s the inactive list: Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Michael Jenkins, Sam Baker and Harvey Dahl. That’s five offensive starters out for what is a game with massive playoff ramifications. (The Falcons and Eagles are tracking the same wild card.) The only consolation, and it’s slim: Philly is missing playmakers DeSean Jackson and Brian Westbrook.
And that’s why a 7-4 road team is a 5-1/2 point favorite over a 6-5 opponent. You never see that in the NFL, but today seems a day where form could take a hike. The Falcons are undermanned, but there’s almost a last-stand element to this one. Meaning: On this given Sunday, the desperate club could just lift itself by its bootstraps.
And I’ll be here to watch and report, as we say in the trade, with one difference: I have permission from AJC.com higher-ups not to make this a live chat, but because the day has started on a bright conciliatory note I’ve decided to open the floor for comments. Should we devolve into our usual volley of back-and-forthing, the live chat will go away and will not re-open. It’s your choice. Thanks in advance.
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1,246 comments Add your comment
80sFalcon
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
Make an effort Roddy!!
J.J.M.
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
i just dont understand why we dont throw a screen with the eagles blitzing like this
John
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
Wow he just did the dirty bird. Somebody go pile drive him.
81Dawg
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
Wow. That was exciting. Way to go Redman.
Tell it like it is
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
Redman needs to go back to selling insurance.
JTH
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
People taunting by doing the Dirty Bird are freaking out of touch
Ron
December 6th, 2009
3:24 pm
Situation normal…,AFU
GA Girl
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
Aside from the Eagles being a winner, the cell phone companies were a winner as well. I wish Sprint had the same coverage as their commercials.
preston
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
that ball floated in the air like a lost balloon……..wow.
Sonny Clusters
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
Mark, does he have a Blank look on his face?
J williams
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
Those AT&T commericials, to combat how Verizon whipped them with 3G service, and then in the courts, are quite lame.
Rod
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
The falcons have completely shut down the messageboard. How pathetic
Falcon 8211
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
this is a terrible performance by atl after all that smack last week
J.J.M.
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
Redkin
December 6th, 2009
3:23 pm
@JJM
Jealous much? LOL Serioulsly though, you need to calm down. All that bitterness and anger will kill you.
huh???
FalconsHeroZero
December 6th, 2009
3:25 pm
”
3:13 pm
I wish Blank would move the Falcons out of Atlanta. The dome will be done, and off to Gwinett County for the Falcons in 5 years.”
__________________________________________________________________________
Those wealthy Gwinnett folks do not want the trouble, traffic, or the taxes it would take to build a $Billion Dome (with a retractable roof and grass field) up there… Plus, The Flowery Branch and the players homes are too close..
People never seem to figure that out by now….and nobody in the local media is willing to break the bad news to the fans that want it up there.
The did not want to build one for The Braves at their peak!
It’s a wealthy Suburban County!
Atlanta has the hotels, the sewage system, Mass Transit, and they will tax the hell out of everyone for this stadium.
Any new Dome will be downtown.
L.A. does not have a team or a Dome because their Gwinnett or Alpharetta, The residents of Anaheim do not want to be taxed for a dome, and they do not want the traffic or trouble. The referendums do never pass for a prospective owner to bid for a NFL team.
Rod
December 6th, 2009
3:26 pm
ACTIVATE DJ SHOCKLEY
Cedrick
December 6th, 2009
3:26 pm
Good Job Falcons!!!! Did anyone notice Stafford and his dislocated shoulder started today????? Are QB could have got a painkiller in the stub toe and played like the RB CJ Spiller did last night. But no they ruled the scrubb out Sunday night instead of watining until Wednesday. So every time he gets dinged we gonna let him sit on the sideline. I hope Vick plays the whole 4th QTR.
Mark Bradley
December 6th, 2009
3:26 pm
This makes the Falcons 6-6. There are three winnable games to go, provided some people get healthy.
Speaking of which: Center Todd McClure has left the game with a knee injury.
Dawgs2009
December 6th, 2009
3:26 pm
Oh Crap! I forgot about trading away our 2nd round pick! Before you brought that i was thinking about our future draft and now we are going to be without a high second-rounder.
Just as well,,,,,,they would have drafted an injury prone stiff from Florida International or Valdosta State.
Mr Charlie
December 6th, 2009
3:26 pm
Why is McNabb in, I want Vick.
J williams
December 6th, 2009
3:26 pm
Well, at least the defense is well rested.
43 and counting...
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
Well if the Eagles ONLY have 27….
How many will the Saints (coming off a loss) roll up on us next week?
Good to see our talent level is so deep.
Arthur — talented vets win. Not this pile. See what one BAD draft does?
Jimmy
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
You know, the thugs on the Philly D
act like they are beating last year’s Super Bowl champs
instead of a makeshift college team.
Jones was doing the dirty bird?
What a jerk.
They’ve been leading their hits with the head.
That Biermann sack serves Philly right.
They shouldn’t be throwing down field in this blowout.
Classless.
Kyle
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
What more can you say about these fools. If Arthur Blank is stupid enough to keep paying them for not delivering then so be it. It took them about 6 weeks longer than it should have to get rid of that field goal kicker so I guess we can plan on a 1000 more balls being knocked down from Redman until they give JPW a look. At least is isn’t my money anymore that is paying for no effort.
Sid
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
Driver 8, actually every good year they have is followed by 3,4,5 bad years. At least they are consistent.
Mark Bradley
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
Here comes the chant: “We want Vick!”
McNabb is shaken up after the sack.
JSS
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
Oh not the chant!!!
J williams
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
Is the dome chantting “We want Vick?”
bigdave
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
wow…
calling for Vick… hahahahahahaha
Ted Striker
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
A lot of former UGA players have performed well today for the Eagles.
Falcon 8211
December 6th, 2009
3:27 pm
hey mark type it out it’s over and the falcons suck
Mr Charlie
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
C’mon Dome, VICK VICK VICK VICK. I want to see him play.
J.J.M.
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
lol@the fans
81Dawg
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
The only people left in the Dome in a few minutes are going to be Vick fans. This is going to get real ugly for Atl.
Cedrick
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
HAHAHAHAHA
Mark Bradley
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
McNabb stays in.
MATTY SMALL NUTTS
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
GOOOOOO VICK.
YOUR STILL THE KING
tallDawg
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
how is Matt Schaub doing today?
Big Ray
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
Looks more like our third team than our second team. I’m still backing our Falcons, though.
We were wingin’ it on a weak secondary, which we tried to bolster with some free agency signing. Started strong, but Ryan struggled with the sophomore jinx, Turner was slow out of the gate, and we began losing starters one after another. Our already patch-work, young defense lost starters Peria Jerry and Brian Williams, and Pro Bowler John Abraham is executing a serious disappearing act.
Here’s what’s funny. People predicted we would go 4-12 with a much tougher schedule, yet here we sit at soon to be 6-6, despite all the problems. I’m proud that our team has managed to do THAT well in the second year of a rebuilding. By the way, the worst we can be now is 6-10, but I’m hoping for 9-7, so that at the very least, we can finally have back-to-back winning seasons, which is a great foundation to build upon for the future.
All things considered, it could be and probably should have been worse than this. But it isn’t. Talk mediocrity all you want. This team was mediocre even in the so-called Vick glory days, at least every other year. Here’s to hoping this changes as we rebuild yet again.
Matt "Choke" Ryan
December 6th, 2009
3:28 pm
HA HA HA
Ron
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
Please….will they just let the closk run out……and do we even need to play the game next week??
Bat Masterson
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
most dumbest really Preston.
PMC
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
Just a cursed franchise. almost 50 years now of constant failure. Not able to find 53 guys that can play.
Oh well I guess south atlanta is happy anyway.
Mark Bradley
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
Nope. McNabb out. Vick in.
Throws a deep ball. Completes it.
Cedrick
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
HAHAHAHAHAH go mike VICK!!!!
bigdave
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
hahaha!!!
J.J.M.
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
wow this is so funny…
Mr Charlie
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
There he is!!!!
JTH
December 6th, 2009
3:29 pm
What a great catch by Brown. Very nice.
Go Vick!
December 6th, 2009
3:30 pm
HaHa for the Vick haters AKA WP!!!