What hits did he take that are typical that resulted in injury? You just answered yourself right there. His style of play, a quarterback who can extend passing plays or run is going to take more hits and those hits can add up. The same is true for any running quarterback, they're more prone to injury than ones that are traditional drop back, pocket passers. LOL! That was a vicious hit? You need to watch a replay located here and they show it in slow motion. His shoulder pads barely get grazed. Give me a break. Replay here: http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/20120...aign=GC_schedule_rr#menu=highlights&tab=recap Vick has taken some big hits and hopped right back up as well, are you saying he hasn't? You don't? Sports Illustrated's All Injury Prone Team: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mu...006/nfl.all.injury-prone.team/content.5.html# And that's just one link, there are plenty of others out there that make similar claims on Big Ben. I believe Ben gets a break because of his overall success, 3 Super Bowl appearances with 2 wins. Cam Newton is a decade younger. Between Vick's rookie year and his last year in Atlanta he missed 3 total games due to injury if you remove the year where is leg was broken, again pretty common among running quarterbacks and not exclusive to Vick. If you think Cam is going to play that style of ball and not end up with some injuries eventually you're only fooling yourself. Cunningham, Vick, Tarkenton, Young, McNabb, etc. are all mobile quarterbacks and all suffered injuries more than your typical pocket passer type quarterbacks. If you think Favre would have set the consecutive games streak with that playing style, whether or not he had Newton's physique, you're crazy. No, I don't get worried every time Vick takes a hit, the media has actually propelled that type of thinking. The only time I worry is when he is running in open space and dives. I think the most serious injuries will happen during one of those plays. Contrary to your belief, Vick takes a pretty good amount of punishment and hops right back up and keeps playing.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mPcvZ8oKcpw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Are you saying this is not a hit that EVERY quarterback gets on a repeated basis? And yet he got shaken up, had to leave the game, get X-rays or whatever tests done. That's called "fragile" period. (The hit on Luck v. the Steelrs was actually worse than what Vick saw that shook him up). FYI: Brett Farve (the league history leader in sacks taken saw that repeatedly). Secondly, big Ben gets "nicked" up. If he can stand on one leg, you can count him playing, hobbled or not. That's the advantage of having the "physique" Big Ben has. He rarely misses big portions of the season except in 2010, unlike Vick. Again to your last comment, point to the video I posted. We're talking about a guy that got "injury" scares in 2 freaking pre-season games, where players don't play as hard (outside of the 2nd/3rd stringers), and no game plan to follow. Players play to "avoid" injuries instead. Can you be more than 50% confident that Vick will play more than 12-13 games this year? B/c missing nearly 25% of the season could be the difference b/t the playoffs and sitting home.
Every quarterback in the league does not get a defender going 90% speed toward them into the rib cage while running toward and throwing toward said defender in the opposite direction on a repeated basis, especially with the edge given toward quarterbacks (roughing the passer penalties, etc.). Did you watch the Luck replay? LOL! How exactly was that worse? He gets one defender grazing his shoulder pad and one whose leg hits him in the stomach. Yes it looks bad on the original angle and in regular speed but watch it in slow motion and please tell me how that is a vicious hit. Big Ben gets nicked up? Big Ben has completed as many 16 games seasons as Vick has, 1. He has missed 12 games total in his career and Vick has missed 21, with one more season than Ben under his belt. The difference is not that great. Again, he has reached tremendous levels so that takes a way some of the scrutiny. Again no, most quarterbacks do not take that hit repeatedly and get up like nothing happened then again most quarterbacks don't make that play, they lie down and take the sack or throw the ball away to avoid that type of hit.
LOL! Do you even watch the NFL? The Buccaneers have had Blount and Joseph, two good starters injured this preseason. The Giants have had mounting injuries as well as several other teams. Dumervil in 2010, Cassel in 2009, Vick actually got hurt in the preseason in 2003 as well (broken leg), Umenyiora in 2008, Cunningham in the 1990s and I could go on and on and on. Yes players want to avoid injuries especially in the preseason but they can and do get injured in the preseason, even starters do. That is some hysterical thinking on your part. I'm confident he can, like I said I don't buy into the media's hype on NFL players. Is it likely he'll miss games? Based on past experiences yes but that doesn't detract from the fact that I think he can remain in all 16 games for the season, as I think all players can with a little bit of protection and luck.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHVhMATHxek <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lv7DTI-kTzA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> It's a pretty common hit, esp. if you stand in the pocket for too long b/c they want to throw the ball, which most QBs tend to do. And the comparison to Big ben, what are you talking about? Big Ben has played in at least 15 games in 5 of 8 seasons, 14 games in 6 of 8 seasons. Vick has played at least 15 games in only 4 of his 9 seasons, and missed 11 games in the last 3 seasons alone. And I would like to add, my guy, Tony Romo plays just as reckless at times (got his ribs broken last year) and didn't miss a game. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yWWqcR83lHk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I never said players don't get injured. Injuries happen in sports all the time, which can be caused accidentally or by an actual play. The thing with Vick is you get injury "scares" basically every damn game. You don't know if that one hit that he takes is the hit that takes him out. That's what I meant to say. And a co-worker of mine is a die-hard Eagles fan; the guy basically breathes Eagles during NFL season. And he basically closes his eyes every time Vick is about to take a hit. Why would the media hype a guy's propensity to be injured? You may get annoyed by the media's hyping of a player's "actual" play (ala a Jeremy Lin or a Tim Tebow). That player only gets that label b/c he gets injured often, over a period of several years ala a Darren McFadden or a Michael Vick or a Tracy McGrady or a Yao Ming.
Yeah, that's a bad hit but you said repeatedly. Vick probably gets hit 3-1 vs. most NFL quarterbacks and as I said, those hits add up. You're crazy if you think Eli repeatedly takes those hits and keeps getting up. Also, some players are just incredibly lucky. I'm not a doctor so I cannot tell you how severe Eli was injured after that hit in comparison with Vick and I'm willing to be you can't either. Again, Vick has missed about 2 games per season overall while Big Ben has missed about 1. The difference isn't that great. You can put it in other terms but that is the fact. Roethlisberger has missed 9% of the games he has played in, Vick has missed 14%. How is this statistically that much greater? And he is a traditional pocket passing style quarterback. Is there a mobile, running quarterback that has played with broken ribs before? Different styles of play require different levels of precaution. Coaching and training staff are different as well and some will allow it and some won't.
He doesn't scare me every game. I've seen him take a pounding and keep on going (Chicago game in 2010 is a good example). Like I said, he gets hit probably 3x as much as other QBs. Eventually it adds up. OK, maybe I am missing something but how is your co-worker relevant? Because if Vick scrambles for 20 yards on that play the media is like "Only Michael Vick can make that play" if he bounces up and heads to the huddle they say "They really need to limit Vick's hits". I don't pay attention to it because the media themselves are always changing their minds on what a player should and should not do.
His small physique is the primary reason why he's often misses games. Compare a Drose to a Lebron James. Both play a very similar game, yet Rose is now considered injury-prone, and yet Lebron never misses a game. The NFL is a much more physical sport, and Vick is way too small to be taking those hits. Are you disagreeing that if Vick was 6'5 and 245 like Cam Newton he would have the same problems? Size matters at the QB position nowadays, where the game is faster and hits are harder. You have to be able to take those hits, and take them quite often. I look at Ben and Vick differently. You basically look at their careers as a whole and see how often they miss LARGE portions of the season. Vick misses large chunks more often than Ben does. And again, the past 3 years, Vick has basically missed 25% of the season each year. You simply can't ignore that fact. Ben has only missed 25% of the season TWICE in 8 seasons. Vick has done it 5 times in 9 seasons. That's a HUGE difference. Like I said 4 games in an NFL season can basically decide b/t being in the playoffs, and sitting home. Romo is a very reckless QB. He LOVES to extend plays just as much as Vick does (although he doesn't run as much downfield). Tony Romo was 6th in the league in sacks taken last year at 36 (that's freakin' 2+ a game). Vick took 23 sacks (I know sacks don't take into account the "other" hits a player takes during a game, but it's a decent indicator). But he's 6'2 and 230, which helps a ton. We're in the pre-season? Add what hits up? Michael Vick is in his 11th season. It's up to him to consider what he can and can't/shouldn't do anymore, for the betterment of his team. His team needs him on the field to be a contender. Look, like Doc Rivers said, the best attribute of a player is whether that player can actually play in the game before anything else. If you can't depend on a player to stay healthy, he's not a dependable player, regardless of how great he is when he's healthy. The point is with his age and small physique, Vick can't take these hits anymore. He's simply can't. If he was 6'5 and 245lbs, then sure, be reckless. But not when you're smaller than RG3, who looks small himself on a football field.
The NBA talk is irrelevant because as you point out it is a different game, no need to bring it up. No, size does not matter. Why is Brees not injured all the time? He has gotten hit just as much as Vick, in terms of sacks but is pretty consistent. And being 6'3'', 6'4'' really helped Pennington, Stafford and Bradford avoid the injury bug, didn't it? Why are you counting the following: 1. His rookie year, where he only started two games, played in 8 and missed none because of injury? That was a time when it was thought rookie quarterbacks should not be thrown in the mix right away explaining his absence in those games. 2. In 2009 when he was a third stringer for the Eagles and missed 4 games because of suspension. You even include that year in your past 3 years statement. Laughable. 3. Last year he missed three games not 4 or 25%. Even accounting last year it is still Vick 3, Big Ben 2 for 25% time missed during a season. Not that much difference. 6'2'' and 230 yet he still sustained broken ribs just like Vick, he was just able or allowed to play through that injury.
As said in my post above, you're giving too much emphasis to size when even bigger quarterbacks sustain injuries. A lot of it is just plain dumb luck, it really is that simple.
Look, I realize that Vick's style of player presents more danger to him in terms of being injured. He's a quarterback who is very mobile, can and does run and tries to extend (many times overextend) plays. This is the very reason he sustains injuries because he takes hits when he runs and he does not give himself up or throw the ball away like most quarterbacks do. Double damage. So yes, I take issue with the fact that many people consider him fragile when they don't look at the reason for those injuries in the first place and the sheer amount of abuse the guy take. If Vick throws the ball away or lays down last week, he's healthy. If he did the same thing against the Cardinals last season he might not have missed a game last year but alas he does not exposing himself to even more hits and injury threats than others around the league. It doesn't mean he can't endure the rigors of the NFL any less than any other player. There are probably two quarterbacks (Manning and Rivers) who have been able to play 16 games over multiple seasons that are active. Vick really isn't the minority when it comes to missing games as a quarterback.
Different game yes, but it tells a lot why size matters. Being bigger and stronger allow you to withstand more of the physicality the sport brings. And the NFL is the most physical sport we have. Obviously there are exceptions to everything. But for every Matthew Stafford/Bradford, I can tell you a lot more guys that size that rarely get injured (Eli, Peyton, Romo, Rodgers, Brady, Rivers, Sanchez, Flacco... and so on). And you bring up Drew Brees. He plays 3 more game than Vick and only got sacked once more. And you're not even taking into account how many games Vick leaves mid-way b/c of those injuries. NO is only the best O-line in the league (3rd annual Madden's Protector award for 3 years running). If Brees gets his or exposed to hits a ton, at his size, he wouldn't last. Hell, have him be hit as much as Aaron Rodgers and he wouldn't last. I'm not going to comment further b/t Ben and Vick. We obviously have a different views of looking at that. And to your last point, I wonder why Romo was allowed to play through that rib injury.
Romo has missed 13 games in the past 4 years, Peyton and Brady have both missed entire seasons. There is a fallacy about NFL quarterbacks that the vast majority of them complete all 16 games every year without injury. 6 of the 16 NFC teams lost their QB for at least 1 game last year. 7 of 16 AFC teams lost the QB for at least 1 game last year. That's about a 50/50 shot of your QB getting injured or not. Again, bigger quarterbacks sustain injuries too regardless. Does size help, most definitely but the amount of abuse taken has to be taken into account as well. Could Manning, Rivers, etc. take all those hits and remain on the field without missing a game? Doubtful. So you still believe Vick has missed 5 seasons as you stated above, even counting the rookie and 3rd string campaigns? Because he is 6'2'', 230 according to you.
Dolphins acquire a 2nd round pick and conditional 2013 pick from Indianapolis for CB Vontae Davis Ravens cut K Billy Cundiff. Former Texas K Justin Tucker wins the job. Seahawks cut T.O. Last of all, Bills on the verge of acquiring Tavaris Jackson and suddenly, Vince Young's roster spot may be in jeopardy!
He's worse, at least Collins starts off his "when I coached Jordan" shtick to establish some credibility. Collinsworth has that know-it-all tone that can only come from a former WR fresh from the jerk store.
Great trade for the 'Fins. Can anyone blame the Ravens for cutting Cundiff? He's their Jacoby Jones. I wonder if VY will find a roster spot anywhere this season. His career may be over.
