You Can Call Him, Mr. Vick
Michael Vergane
Tuesday July 25, 2000
Dwight Vick finds himself pursuing two dreams this summer. His childhood dream of playing in the NFL and the dream that will sustain him through the rest of his life. That being a family therapist.
But during this summer, Dwight is just a young man with a full day. Vick has a degree at Virginia Tech in Sociology and Family-Child Development. So while in Norfolk to help ends meet, he is a full-time substitute teacher at a local middle school. His day ends at 3:15pm. From there he has just enough time to go home and eat. And then it is off to watch film, lift weights and practice with the Nighthawks.
Vick is a local high school athlete and bucked the trend of other local football stars, and signed with Virginia Tech instead of the beloved Uva back in 1994.
"When I signed there I got a lot of slack from the Cavalier fans", said Vick. "They wondered why I went there. But as it turned out, we started a bit of a dynasty. Now we have national respect."
After graduation, Dwight signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens and attended their mini-camp in the Spring of 1999. The situation was not right for him, and he was waived shortly afterwards.
Vick was out of football until early this spring. But it wasn`t the Norfolk Nighthawks that called first. It was the New England Sea Wolves of the AFL. New England saw tapes of him at Virginia Tech and signed him immediately. However, the brief cancellation of the season and the events that followed changed his mind, so he returned to Norfolk.
It was then that his agent, Frank Caraballo, called Nighthawk Coach Deatrich Wise and arranged a meeting with the two.
"Coach Wise invited me down to their facilities. I liked what they had. I liked the guys on the team, too. Everybody made me feel comfortable, so I signed with them."
Vick has been a anchor on the offensive and defensive line for Norfolk this season. Much like everyone in the af2, it has been a learning experience for him. At Virginia Tech, Dwight was an offensive guard. So the learning has taken place on the defensive side of the ball.
"By playing Arena Football you learn more about the game of football than a lot of people think. It`s been a great challenge for me and I`ve been enjoying it. There is a lot more thinking involved playing on the offensive side of the ball. That`s the biggest difference for me - learning to just fly to the ball and being the aggressor."
As Dwight continues to work his way back to the NFL, the Vick name lives on back at Virginia Tech with his cousin, Michael Vick.
To refresh your memory, Michael Vick is a sophomore quarterback who was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy last year as a freshman. He has a rifle for an arm. Lightning speed. And he led the Hokies to the National Championship game against Florida State.
Virginia Tech fans can thank Dwight, as he was instrumental in bringing Michael to Blacksburg. "I helped him get into Tech. I told him while he was being recruited that wherever he decided to go, he would still be my cousin. But he went to Tech because he felt that it was the school for him. Just like I did. We are always talking and I`m pretty much a ‘coach , slash mentor, slash cousin’ to him."
After this inaugural season of the af2 winds down, it will be interesting to follow player movement during the off-season. Will any players be invited to NFL camps? How many players will be scooped up by AFL teams? And don`t forget the new XFL - there will be eight new teams with rosters to fill.
One thing is for sure. Good offensive linemen are always in demand. And you would have to figure that a job is waiting for Mr. Vick somewhere.
Michael Vergane was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
