Eagles quarterback Michael Vick and role model don’t come up in the same sentence all that often, but Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III admitted last month that Vick helped inspire him to play football.
Word of that inspiration made its way back to Vick during a recent radio interview on 106.7 The Fan, which was passed along by Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post‘s D.C. Sports Bog. Vick doesn’t seem to have any problem with serving as that kind of inspiration, unless you think referring to yourself as “game transcending” is some kind of roundabout way of being self-deprecating.
“I think guys like RGIII idolized me as they grew up playing football. I think Cam [Newton] and Robert Griffin III both were inspired by me and my play. And that’s me being a trend setter, game transcending, and guys wanting to emulate one another,” Vick said. “And I think that’s what it’s all about. I wanted to emulate Steve Young and be just like him, and Charlie Ward, and Randall Cunningham, guys who played before me. So I think it’s a great thing. I think it’s a credit to what I’ve been able to do, what I’ve been able to accomplish — but first and foremost to the ability that God gave me — for younger players to want to pattern themselves after me.”
Since he was the only one of Vick’s inspirations to win a Super Bowl, Eagles fans would like to see more Young and less Cunningham or Ward from their quarterback this season. They’d also probably like to hear a little bit less about how great Vick is and see a better illustration of it than they got last season.