With various holiday travels, I didn’t get to see Virginia Tech’s bowl win over Louisville. I read about it and watched highlights – it sounded like a good game and a solid win for the Hokies.
But then I saw a video clip of Marcus Vick stomping on the leg of Louisville All-American Elvis Dumerville. You can watch it yourself here.
That was simply inexcusable. Vick should have been ejected, if not by the refs then by the Tech coaches. You may think the coaches didn’t see it, but they did.
If you don’t want to watch the clip (or can’t), what you’ll see is Vick being tackled in completely normal way. He hops up and very intentionally steps down on Dumerville’s calf and/or the back of his knee. Dumerville was simply lying on the ground. Vick then grinds his cleats in a little and uses Dumerville’s leg as a step as he walks away.
Disgraceful.
And I don’t just mean that play. I mean Vick’s whole career in Blacksburg. Everyone loved to write about how he’d grown up this year, but I think they were all wrong.
Let’s run down his transgressions, shall we?
First, he was arrested for getting a pair of fourteen-year-olds drunk and (possibly) having sex with them.
Later that same year, he was busted for reckless driving and possession of marijuana.
Those two transgressions, plus and unnamed one that got his suspended for one game, led to him being suspended from the team for a year.
Vick came back after that year off and started at quarterback all season for the Hokies. He made headlines again when he was caught by cameras giving West Virginia fans the middle finger during a game. Now, normally I don’t think flipping the bird is really that big of a deal, but considering his past and position, he should have known better.
And now this. How many strikes is Frank Beamer going to give this kid? He’s a stain on the program, and that’s saying something considering Virginia Tech’s thug reputation with most fans.
Tech AD Jim Weaver has said that he is reviewing the play and “deal with it accordingly.” The only appropriate way to deal with it is to boot Vick’s sorry ass off the team. Enough is enough.