Why Andy Reid Signed Michael Vick

Now, about Reid's motivation to import Vick. It's logical to wonder whether the agonizing drug problems of Reid's two sons played a role in him acting as a Father Flanagan figure to Vick. Even Reid isn't sure how much of a role the drug problems of sons Britt and Garrett played in this story. But he learned one very important lesson from Britt's jail term; Britt Reid was in prison for drugs and weapons charges and is now out of jail. There are three phases that inmates who are successful in avoiding a return trip to jail go through. Phase one is blaming everyone else. Phase two is admitting that it's your own fault. Phase three is the vow to yourself that you hate jail, that you're going to avoid the behavior that got you in jail the first place, and you make a vow never to return.

So when Reid met with Vick as he was trying to determine whether to offer him a contract, the most important factor to him was whether Vick was in that third phase. Could he look in Vick's eyes during a couple of long meetings and be convinced that Vick would never go back to his dogfighting days. Reid knows that no one sells insurance for this, but after extensive talks with Vick and his mentor, Tony Dungy, Reid was sold.