Michael Vick plans to retire from football after 2016 season

Michael Vick, at one time thought to be the best quarterback in the NFL before issues with the law, will hang up his cleats after the upcoming season.

It was 15 years ago this April when Michael Vick changed the face of the NFL. After a star-studded career at Virginia Tech where he led the Hokies to a national title game appearance (and were one quarter away from upsetting the heavily favored Florida State Seminoles), Vick was taken first-overall by the Atlanta Falcons and immediately became one of the most high-profile players in the game.

A decade and a half later, after a roller coaster ride both in the league and in the legal system, Vick is telling one ESPN insider that, after the 2016 NFL season, he is planning on retiring:

For his first six years in the league with the Falcons, Vick was the most dynamic player in the entire league. He set records for rushing yards and touchdowns by a quarterback and arguably became the first quarterback to be as serious a rushing threat as he was throwing the ball (with apologies to Fran Tarkenton and Steve Young before him).

All of that came to a halt in 2007 when Vick was convicted for his part in a dogfighting operation in his home state of Virginia. After serving nearly two years in federal prison, Vick returned to the NFL and played five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he started 40 games before spending the last two seasons with the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. Vick will be a free agent when the NFL’s new year starts at 4 P.M. est on Wednesday.

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