Michael Vick Has Nearly Paid Off His $18 Million Debt

New York Jets quarterback Michael Vick has reportedly paid more than 80% of the $18 million in debts owed after serving a prison term.

Michael Vick is doing what most of us could hardly worry about in our 20s: he’s paying off his debt.

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Except this is no lingering credit card debt from his college days piling up 15-20% APR.

This is a result of the millions Vick lost after being convicted and imprisoned for his role in a dog fighting ring. Those figures tallied up to nearly $18 million, most of which has now been paid off by Vick.

“What Michael did was the exception, not the rule,” said Joseph Luzinski, the liquidating trustee in Vick’s bankruptcy, per ESPN. “He didn’t have to do this. The law allows you to skate by and pay your creditors 10 or 20 cents on the dollar, but he thought this was the right thing to do.”

Vick would have joined the thousands of Americans who do just that and make minimal monthly payments toward their debt and never fully pay them off. Instead, the Jets quarterback showed perspective on his payments.

“I didn’t want to stiff people who never stiffed me,” he said.

“I feel blessed because I came out and found myself in a position where I had a lot of people who really believed in me, people who gave me an opportunity,” Vick added. “At the time, it wasn’t about trying to fulfill all the bankruptcy needs. I was trying to fulfill all the needs that I had in my life because I had nothing.”

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