PHILADELPHIA — Michael Vick picked a tough place for a second chance.
Philadelphia sports fans, it is said, would boo a cancer patient. They threw snowballs at Santa Claus during a game in 1968.
They cheered when the Cowboys’ Michael Irvin injured his neck and had to be carried off the field in 1999. They behaved so badly that a courtroom was set up at old Veterans Stadium to handle arrests.
But the City of Brotherly Love is where Vick will make his comeback attempt.
“I think everybody deserves a second chance,” a somber Vick said Friday, a day after signing with the Eagles. “We all have issues, we all deal with certain things and we all have our own set of inequities. I think as long as you are willing to come back and do it the right way and do the right things and that you’re committed, then I think you deserve it. But you only get one shot at a second chance, and I am conscious of that.”
A three-time Pro Bowl pick during six seasons with the Falcons, Vick served 18 months in federal prison for running a dogfighting ring and was reinstated just last month by the NFL after being out of action since 2006.
Vick said he wanted to play for a team with strong ownership, a solid coaching staff and an established starting quarterback. He signed a one-year deal for $1.6 million with a team option for a second year at $5.2 million.
None of the money is guaranteed, so the Eagles face no financial risk if Vick doesn’t make the team.
Dressed in a gray, pinstriped suit, Vick called his offenses “a horrible mistake” and vowed to crusade for animal rights.
“I want to be part of the solution and not the problem,” Vick said during a half-hour news conference. “I am making conscious efforts within the community, working with the Humane Society. Hopefully I can do that locally and continue with my disciplined efforts in bringing awareness to animal cruelty and dogfighting in the inner cities and our communities.”
Eagles coach Andy Reid and former Colts coach Tony Dungy, a mentor to Vick, sat with him and answered questions from more than 100 members of the media.
Reid insisted he did his homework on Vick. Giving second chances is something Reid knows all about: He endured a family crisis in 2007, when his sons were arrested on drug charges.
“Michael has aggressively attacked the issue that he was presented with and done it in a manner that is not only proactive, but sincere,” Reid said.
Reid clearly had to convince owner Jeffrey Lurie that Vick deserved an opportunity.
Terrell Owens helped the Eagles reach the Super Bowl in 2004 but got kicked off the team midway through the next season after criticizing management and feuding with quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Lurie called Vick’s actions “horrific” and “despicable.” He said he did serious “soul-searching” and spent several hours talking to Vick before agreeing to the deal.
