At least a certain portion of the football-loving population has either forgiven him, doesn't care, feels he has served his time and deserves another chance, or is so enamored with his play that it believes he warrants special recognition. It might be all of the above.
Vick is playing the best football of his career after spending a year and a half in a federal penitentiary for operating an illegal dogfighting operation. He has the league's second-best passer rating (105.7), and when he starts and finishes a game, the Eagles are 6-1.
At 8-4, the Birds are tied with the New York Giants atop the NFC East. They will need to win at least half of their remaining four games to reach the postseason - and probably more - and if they do, Vick could win the NFL's comeback player of the year award and perhaps be named the league MVP.
The season, the starting job, the Pro Bowl nod, it is all more than Vick thought possible. He said on Wednesday that after last season, he thought the Eagles would trade him. Vick claims he never saw any of this coming.
And now the Pro Bowl is a virtual lock. The fan balloting is one-third of the voting. Coaches and players hold the other two-thirds. Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware will get a firsthand look at Vick on Sunday when the Eagles play at Dallas, and he said regardless of what happens, Vick will get his Pro Bowl vote.
"A guy like Michael Vick, you're not going to hold him down," Ware said. "Especially with the athleticism he has. Maybe last year he was a little rusty just coming into the season. Now, he's gotten the reads. He knows what to do. . . . I mean, the sky is the limit for him. He's a totally different type of quarterback."
