About 15 years ago, former NFL quarterback Michael Vick started the beginning of an 18-month prison stint after pleading guilty to dogfighting charges. Upon his release, the four-time Pro Bowler began repairing his image. Although he would never get a chance to rejoin the Falcons in the city that loved him like no other, Atalanta, he ended up signing with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he would earn the 'Comeback Player of the Year' award in 2010. Since retiring from the NFL 2017, Vick has reinvented himself as a mentor for prisoners and an NFL analyst for Fox Sports.
The 42-year-old recently sat down with NFL Hall of Fame tight end and host of Club Shay Shay, Shannon Sharpe, for a candid discussion about his life, on and off the field. He also shared his thoughts on signing the most lucrative contract in NFL history in 2004 (a $130M deal for ten years with the Falcons) before reflecting on spending millions of dollars on the infamous dogfighting ring that eventually landed him behind bars. One of the most poignant moments of the interview came when he started talking about how emotional he got his first few nights in prison. Vick reveals that when the prison doors shut on him for the first time, not only was he on suicide watch, but he cried for two weeks straight.
"After day four or five, when I realized it wasn't nobody [coming to bail me out], that's when I had to let the tears come out," Vick recalled.
"Did you ever cry?" Asked Shannon.
"I cried for two weeks straight, my wife will tell you, I cried for two weeks straight," Vick recalled. "I really cried after I got sentenced 'cause I went into my sentence not expecting to get two years."
Scroll up and skip ahead to the 36:21 mark to watch
