"Everything I tried failed," Young later told Sports Illustrated, after Vick was indicted on charges that would eventually send him to prison for 18 months.
Vick's troubles didn't start the day he was indicted. A string of lesser incidents had already changed the headlines. After a 31-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Nov. 26, 2006, Vick made an obscene gesture to a fan. That may not have been a huge deal in Philly, but it was in Atlanta.
Less than two months later, Vick's water bottle was confiscated at Miami International Airport. The police report said the bottle smelled of marijuana and contained an unknown substance in a special compartment, which Vick had said was for jewelry. No criminal charges were filed when the police said the substance wasn't a drug. Vick said everybody had rushed to judgment.
An earlier episode had turned into a huge embarrassment for Vick. In April 2005, a woman named Sonya Elliott sued Vick for allegedly giving her genital herpes. This part follows Vick around to this day: Elliott said Vick often checked into health clinics to get tested under the alias "Ron Mexico." The case was settled out of court in April 2006, but the name Ron Mexico became comic fodder. After several requests were made for personalized "Ron Mexico" Falcons jerseys, the NFL took the step of telling its online shop to add the pseudonym to its list of banned names.
More than anything, the transgressions nicked away at his image - and he had a pretty good image in Atlanta. They also popped around the same time as the realization in that city that Vick wasn't going to take some leap as a quarterback and turn into the best the game had ever seen.
