The Atlanta Falcons almost missed Michael Vick.
In 2000, a year before Atlanta first met Vick in the NFL Draft, he almost became a member of the Colorado Rockies.
Yes, Major League Baseball’s Colorado Rockies.
Vick was walking into a Virginia Tech weight room for soccer practice when he received a call from executives at the Colorado Front Office informing him that he was drafted in the 887th election in the MLB Draft.
He hadn’t played baseball since middle school.
“I didn’t believe them when they told me,” Vick told MLB.com in 2000. I wanted to be like Deion Sanders. “
For the Rockies, Vick’s pick was a low-risk flyer.
“If you can run like him, we felt that he could do something for us out in the field,” said the Rockies’ then Scouting Director, Bill Schmidt. “I didn’t think it was a big investment at this point (30th round). If it didn’t work out, we could take a chance. Michael Jordan tried it (baseball). Maybe he wants to try.” . “
But for Vick, it had the potential to change his whole life.
“I wanted to take the money. I grew up out of nowhere, ”Vick told ESPN’s The Undefeated. “We had nothing and my family was still living in the hood … College was a fight and I was a long way from baseball, but the Rockies were coming for me.”
Vick invited Colorado executives to his family’s home in Virginia, where they inspired him to pick up a bat again. They never talked about possible amounts of money.
Vick considered the offer for four days before turning it down. He discussed it with his VT soccer coach Frank Beamer, who gave Vick his blessing to try baseball. Beamer also warned him not to be too short-sighted. Vick was nine months and a good football season away from millions of NFL dollars.
“There is too much at stake,” Vick told the Roanoke Times in June 2000. “I have to learn everything I can now to prepare for the next level.” I focus on soccer. I’m not very worried about this baseball thing. What is most important to me is that I win for my soccer team. I haven’t played baseball in six or seven years. So how can I play baseball when football is just around the corner? “
And the rest is history.
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