NEWPORT NEWS, VA (WTKR)- Michael Vick was the best football player to ever walk the halls of Warwick High School. Thursday saw the Raiders of the present get to hear from the hero of the past.
The Warwick alumnus Vick addressed the 2022 football team on Thursday morning in the high school's library. Vick, a 1998 graduate of the school, gave the Raiders some words of wisdom and encouragement as they prepare for the state semifinals on Saturday.
"Attitude is everything," Vick told the team. "Preparation is everything, knowing that you guys can only win the game together is going to be everything."
The former Virginia Tech star spoke to the players about hard work, his days at Warwick and above all else, listening to the coaches around them.
"Listening is everything and a lot of times we go through life and we don't pay attention to some of the small details we get from our elders and it ends up costing us," the former number one draft pick pointed out. "I just wanted those guys to know that we're watching them and we're routing for them."
This year's Raiders have a chance to do something that Vick was never able to achieve during his high school years- win a state championship. They're 12-1 on the year and captured the Region 4A championship last Friday with a win over King's Fork. Vick hopes that his remarks can provide a boost for the team and the players were hanging on his every word.
"He's a legend around here," Warwick senior Isaiah Wallace said. "Everybody looks up to him, everybody knows his name. He started a legacy at Warwick."
"It meant a lot that someone that's come from Warwick High School supporting us like that big," added fellow senior Richard Martin. "It means a lot knowing that we could possibly go onto states next week and it feels good using that for our energy."
"Michael Vick's a big person around this school," noted senior Bryce Buchanan. "He's done great things for Warwick and just him talking to us one-on-one, it was really personal. It just felt great."
Warwick head coach Corey Hairston has helped guide the Raiders to one of their best seasons in program history. He said his team was already motivated prior the hearing Vick speak, but added his players are now likely even more motivated after hearing from the Warwick legend.
"For them to hear from someone who's gone on and done great things in the NFL, college level, who's played on the same practice field and walked these halls, that was awesome," Hairston said.
Now the head coach and his Raiders look to set the bar even higher for the school. Warwick faces Dinwiddie on Saturday in the Class 4 state semifinals, just two wins away from the program's first ever state championship.
"Mike Vick really didn't have the success we've had, so we're just trying to finish it for him and take his leadership and lead us to the next level," Wallace said.
"That would be awesome," Hairston said of getting a semifinal win come Saturday. "It's gonna happen."
