NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Jason Wright remembers being with the Falcons early in his NFL career. The locker next to him was occupied by a star quarterback named Michael Vick.
The outgoing Commanders' president had an up-close look at Vick as a teammate and his impact in the locker room, which, in his opinion, bodes well for Norfolk State.
"I know the caliber of leader Mike Vick is because I experienced it myself," he noted in an interview with News 3 Friday morning. "I played with him my rookie year in Atlanta and he had a meaningful impact on me that has lasted to this day."
Vick was officially announced as Norfolk State's head coach Friday afternoon. He's had an impact on countless players during his playing career, including Wright. He remembered early in his career when Vick told him he would make it in the NFL shortly before being cut by the Falcons, adding the Wright belonged there.
"It was like this out of the blue shot of pure encouragement and it didn't feel like fluff," he recalled. "Mike's not a man of many words, but when he speaks, he means it. He's actually kind of soft-spoken even in his delivery, but he delivers it with power when he means it. He's an honest person to the core."
Wright said Vick's voice echoed in his head when he was cut later that week and years later, he encountered the Newport News native again. Vick was making his return to the NFL following his prison sentence for a dogfighting conviction and the two met again on the field prior to a preseason game.
"I was going to go out of my way to go up to him and thank him for the encouragement because I had never forgotten that," Wright rememebered. "I get out on the field, I'm warming up and I see him and he runs across the field to me, gives me a big hug, almost picks me up and he says 'I told you you were going to make it. Do you remember when I told you you were going to make it? I'm so proud of you.'"
Wright said Vick told him about seeing his first touchdown on ESPN and being pumped up for his former teammate. That's the sort of care he says the former quarterback will give his team.
"This is the kind of man that these guys are getting as a head coach," he said. "To this day, that was a seminal moment for me and I can only imagine the ability to have that sort of connection with him on an ongoing basis, how that's going to change men's lives."
The former Virginia Tech standout has faced his trials and tribulations both on and off the field, some of which are well-documented. He's fought through injuries during his playing career and returned to the NFL after serving 18 months in prison. After working to rebuild his image and asking for forgiveness, Vick became an animal rights activist, speaking out in favor of tougher animal cruelty laws and supporting legislation to protect animals. Wright says that test of his character has only strengthened his ability to coach.
"What he had to go through really refined that character and really brought it out prominently," Wright pointed out. "You see who he's become since then, from family to his profession and everything in between, just a life that's truly above reproach. It's really impressive and being able to show these guys that no matter where you have started and no matter what you might go through in the process, there's always another side as long as you don't give up and as long as you are willing to, at whatever point, choose to do the right things at that moment, everything will shift."
Wright feels many will benefit from Vick's presence at NSU, not only the players, but the university itself. The Newport News native has the chance to make an impact on countless individuals and help an HBCU improve on and off the field.
"The benefit to HBCU's of having Mike Vick there is that they're under-resourced relative to other universities," he noted. "Mike will draw those resources, especially as they start to have success on the field and then HBCU's, the promise of them, which they've been fulfilling for decades on a shoestring budget, gets easier and they can scale and they can have that impact on more folks, so I just think it's amazing."
Vick will be introduced at Norfolk State during a press conference on campus Monday at 10:00 AM. You can watch that event live on WTKR.
