Rich Hofmann: Vick's debut falls short of all the hype

TWO MEN were eating hoagies in the plaza at the north end of Lincoln Financial Field. Grant Thomas was wearing a bootleg black Michael Vick jersey he bought outside the stadium for $70. Kaven Wilson was wearing a white T-shirt purchased outside for $25 that read, "Michael Vick . . . That's My Dawg." The only thing that angered Wilson was that he later saw the same shirt being sold for $10.

"Why did I buy it? Because I thought it was funny," Wilson said, taking another bite, shrugging.

It is there that we begin, with a shrug. Because, for fans of controversy - real controversy, not just conversation - Michael Vick and his re-entry into football society continues to disappoint. If this keeps up for much longer, we might actually stop talking about Vick and start talking about how lousy his new team has looked this summer.

There were supposed to be protests outside of Lincoln Financial Field last night, anti-Vick protests by animal-rights activists and pro-Vick protests by the NAACP and other groups. The reality is that the passions on display were as hot as a wet match. By all accounts, the sum total of the protesters could have fit into two minivans.

The fan base was supposed to be terribly, painfully, horribly, inhumanly, unnecessarily divided by the Eagles' signing of Vick. The reality is that the guy received a semistanding ovation when he entered the game on the Eagles' second offensive play. If anyone booed in what was then a stadium that was two-thirds full, I didn't hear him.

"I can't explain the feeling," Vick said afterward. "It was unbelievable, the way that I was embraced, just a warm welcome. It actually made me screw up one of my reads. I wanted to please the crowd and I actually made a bad play [by running instead of giving the ball to a running back] . . . It was awesome, an awesome feeling."

There was genuine excitement in the stands when Vick first ran out there. There was some applause and a persistent curiosity for each of the half-dozen plays in which Vick participated. On one, he completed a 13-yard pass to Hank Baskett, a nice throw. Another time, he ran around the left side and looked, frankly, pretty tentative.

"I didn't think it was going to be that positive," he said. "I didn't know what to expect. I was running out there on the field and I was listening to see what the reaction was going to be and I was very pleased . . . I didn't expect that reaction but I was very thankful."