Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/20...2011-interview

In this story on Michael Vick, Vick says that when he was released from prison, the two teams he was going to sign with was either the Bengals or the Bills because he would likely be able to start there very soon.

But that was before Roger Goodell began talking to him and apparently convinced him that he should go to Philly, and then granted him approval to sign with Philly (sounds like he may not have had approval to sign with Buffalo or Cinci).

Really strange story because I never knew commishes do that kind of thing.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

That's not what caught my attention in this interview. I can't believe he played the blame game when he spoke about the dog fighting issues. I grew up very poor,didn't fight dogs. Didn't torture dogs. Sounds to me like the only thing he really has remorse about is being caught. Bottom line,he was a multi million dollar NFL QB when he was busted. He didn't need the money.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

What has always got me is I hate how the media considered his Redemption due to being good at football again, playing football has nothing to do with making up for all the wrong he did.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

Eh. Unique case, unique situation. If I were the commissioner, I'd want him going somewhere with a strong coach and a roster where he wouldn't be asked to be "the guy" coming out into it. Going to Buffalo would've just sent him into another spiral. He would've been asked to do too much too soon, and he would've just bailed out. In this situation, I think the right choices were made.

For anyone wanting to condemn the guy again: you cannot know what's truly in his heart, PERIOD. Is he truly remorseful? Only Michael Vick knows for sure. Anyone who points to this or that is merely expressing a subjective point of view.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

Pretty much sums up what I was going to say. We don't know how the conversation went down and it could've been really innocent with Vick's best intentions in mind.

I'm sure the NFL just told Vick to be mindful of where he went and that a team who's coaching staff and roster were fairly stable was probably the best fit for him -- even if it meant he wasn't going to start immediately.

I'm sure the commissioner didn't come right out and say you can't go to Buffalo or Cincinnati and you must go to Philly. Vick needed good, sound guidance and mentoring and it looks like that's exactly what he got.

I can't imagine his game would be where it's at now with either one of those two organizations. In fact maybe not anywhere else but Philly.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

Vick: "The commissioner never told me to sign or not sign with particular teams. I want to make it clear this is a decision I made.''

This wouldn't be the first time a commissioner played a part in where a player landed. No big deal here.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

Ugh. This article is going to re-ignite the whole Vick debate. Not looking forward to it.

As a Bills fan, and reading this, I was just excited he even considered Buffalo. Yay!

If he had come to Buffalo, I don't think he would've had the breakout year he did last year. There's a world of difference between the Bills & Eagles (and I get an up close look at it being a Bills fan in Eagles territory), roster-wise, coaching staff-wise, and organization-wise.

I can see people making something out of this, but we don't know and frankly, it doesn't matter at this point. The past is the past.

Re: Roger Goodell Convinces Players Where To Sign?
 

I think the whole thing may be blown up and out of context. What previously starting QB wants to sign on with a team and be their 3rd string QB? The Bengals and Bills might have been a quicker path to starting again, but the Eagles offered a better path to success in the NFL again IMO, even if he'd stayed as just a backup, he grew back into the game under Andy Reid and is a better player for it today.

He said that after discussing it with Andy Reid, his family and friends that he chose the Eagles. There's no direct quote in the GQ article saying that Goodell would only let him go to Philly.