I Bet Michael Vick Doesn't Wear A Seatbelt, Either

With all of the injuries in the modern NFL, and given the players' bellyaching about an 18 game schedule and off-season OTAs and padded practices, you would THINK the players would be taking every sensible precaution to keep their million dollar careers safe.

Just don't wear a mouthguard, you pussy!

On the seemingly innocent "hit" (or, "collision" more accurately) that knocked Michael Vick out of the game last Sunday against the Falcons, it turns out that Vick was in fact, NOT wearing a simple mouthguard.

Alex Marvez of Fox Sports.com... 

A FOXSports.com video analysis of the game telecast shows Vick wasn’t wearing a mouth guard while playing against the Falcons, including during the accidental collision with Eagles right tackle Todd Herremans that knocked him from the game. The impact left Vick with a concussion and lacerated tongue — both of which may not have occurred had he been using that piece of protective equipment.

The Eagles declined comment through a team spokesman and Vick wasn’t available Tuesday to comment on whether he was wearing a mouth guard.

To be sure, a mouthguard is no magic forcefield. In fact, scientific studies are inconclusive on the ability of one to prevent or mitigate severity of concussions.

But hello, simple logic would say having one in, is at least BETTER when it comes to keeping your skull from hitting "tilt." If nothing else, it's doubtful Vick would have cut up his mouth as he did on that play.

Of course, these are the NFL players who executed the worst bluff ever in the history of collective bargaining. Right when they had the league freaking the fuck out about missing even ONE full week of pre-season games, they caved and took a rollback in salaries for a league that is riding a rocketship of popularity and television rights.

Now I find out the players successfully "negotiated" to NOT make knee pads and mouthpieces mandatory. Wow. What a coup, DeMaurice!

Going forward, it's increasingly obvious Vick simply can't play a full season without getting killed. He's too quick and athletic to simply take a 5 step drop and dump the ball to his first or second read. And his instincts to extend plays - even if just moving around WITHIN the pocket - will inevitably lead to the one time a defender can just shake loose as a play is breaking down, and crush the wideout sized QB into a fine pile of tangled ligaments and broken bones.

The first thing I would do if I was Andy Reid - besides removing every mirror in my house - is stop running Vick on idiotic gadget plays like he did on the first series on Sunday night. Secondly, I would take every advantage of spelling him in games that are essentially decided.

For example: At 31-13 in the Rams game, with 8:56 left, Vick should be done. Gone. Instead, Vick played two more series, one of which was three knees in the victory formation. Still, the previous series was un-necessary.

Football machismo, however, and coaches absurd adherence to superstition over logic, will dictate that they don't do sensible things like this, because it makes them look "weak" or "scared." Coaches will fall back on the logic of "well, you can get hurt anytime" or the old "the NFL injury rate is 100%."

Whatever.

If I have a $100 millon Ferrari of a player, I'm not going to drive it over gravel roads if I can avoid it, or take it out in the snow or heavy rain, just to be safe.

And you could call me a pussy all you want.