MICHAEL VICK's PRO FOOTBALL CAREER

At his Pro Day workout, Vick ran the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds; his time has been clocked as low as 4.25, the fastest-ever for an NFL quarterback. Vick was selected first in the 2001 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, becoming the first African-American quarterback to be taken with the top pick. 

The San Diego Chargers had the number-one selection, but traded it to the Atlanta Falcons the day before the draft for the Falcons' first- and third-round picks in 2001. Vick was selected in the 30th round of the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft by the Colorado Rockies, despite not playing baseball since the eighth grade.

Vick as a member of the Atlanta Falcons in November 2006

He signed a six-year $62 million contract.
 

2001 Season:
Vick made his NFL debut against the San Francisco 49ers on September 9, 2001, and saw limited action. He completed his first NFL pass to wide receiver Tony Martin in the second quarter against the Carolina Panthers on September 23 and scored his first NFL touchdown on a two-yard rush in the fourth quarter to help the Falcons to a 24–16 victory. Vick made his first start against the Dallas Cowboys on November 11 and threw his first touchdown pass to tight end Alge Crumpler in a 20–13 victory. He accounted for 234 of Atlanta's 255 yards in the season finale against the St. Louis Rams on January 6, 2002.[38] In two starts and eight total games played that season, Vick completed 50 of 113 passes for 785 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He rushed 31 times for 289 yards (9.3 avg.) and one touchdown.
 

2002 Season:
Vick made 15 starts in 2002, missing one game against the New York Giants on October 13 with a sprained shoulder.[40] He completed 231 of 421 passes for 2,936 yards and 16 touchdowns. He had 113 carries for 777 yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Vick set numerous single-game career highs during the season, including in passes completed, pass attempts, and passing yards. Vick also set a then-NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game with 173 against the Minnesota Vikings on December 1, broken by Colin Kaepernick (181) in 2013. He tied for third in team history for the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in a season. He had a streak of 177 passes without an interception as the Falcons finished with a 9–6–1 win-loss-tie record and reached the playoffs. On January 4, 2003, Vick led the Falcons to an upset victory over the heavily favored Green Bay Packers 27–7 in the NFC Wild Card Round. The Falcons lost 20–6 to the Donovan McNabb-led Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Divisional Round the following week. Vick was named to his first Pro Bowl after the season.
 

2003 Season:
Vick suffered a fractured right fibula during a preseason game before the 2003 season against the Baltimore Ravens. He missed the first 11 games of the regular season, making his debut in week 13. Vick substituted for quarterback Doug Johnson during the third quarter in a game against the Houston Texans on November 30, completing 8 of 11 passes for 60 yards and rushing for 16 yards on three carries. He started his first game of the season against the Carolina Panthers on December 7 and amassed the third-highest rushing total by a quarterback in NFL history with 141 yards on 14 carries and one touchdown. The Falcons won the game 20–14 in overtime. Vick ended the season with a 21–14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 28 in which he completed 12 of 22 passes for 180 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception.

2004 Season:
Vick returned to form in 2004, passing for 2,313 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also added 902 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Falcons finished with an 11–5 record. On October 31, 2004, in a game against the Denver Broncos, he became the first quarterback to throw for more than 250 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game. Vick set an NFL postseason record for a quarterback with 119 rushing yards in the first round of the 2004 NFL playoffs; Atlanta beat the St. Louis Rams 47–17 in the Divisional Round, but lost the following week 27–10 to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Vick, whose single-season rushing total was the third-highest for a quarterback in NFL history, was named to his second Pro Bowl after leading Atlanta to their third division title at the end of the season. He signed a nine-year $130 million extension on December 23. Vick finished second in the NFL MVP voting earning one first place vote, preventing Peyton Manning to be a unanimous choice.

2005 Season:
Vick made his third Pro Bowl after the 2005 season, during which he passed for 2,412 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for 597 rushing yards and six touchdowns.[60][61] The Falcons, however, finished with an 8–8 record and missed the playoffs.
 

2006 Season
Vick at the 2006 Pro Bowl
In 2006, Vick became the first quarterback to ever rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season. He also set a record by rushing for 8.4 yards per carry. Vick and teammate Warrick Dunn became the first quarterback-running back duo to each surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a single season.[66] Despite Vick's record-setting season, the Falcons finished with a 7–9 record and again missed the playoffs.

Suspension:
In August 2007, hours after Vick pleaded guilty to federal charges in the Bad News Kennels dog fighting investigation, the NFL suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating its player conduct policy. In a letter to Vick, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the quarterback had admitted to conduct that was "not only illegal, but also cruel and reprehensible." While Vick was technically a first-time offender under the league's personal conduct policy, Goodell handed down a harsher suspension because Vick admitted he provided most of the money for the gambling side of the dog fighting operation. Goodell left open the possibility of reinstating Vick depending on how he cooperated with federal and state authorities. Goodell had barred Vick from reporting to training camp while the league conducted its own investigation into the matter. At his July 26 arraignment, the terms of his bail barred him from leaving Virginia before the November trial– effectively ending any realistic chance of Vick playing a down in 2007.

On August 27, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said at a press conference that the Falcons would seek to recover a portion of Vick's signing bonus. He said the team had no immediate plans to cut Vick, citing salary-cap issues. It initially appeared that Goodell had cleared the way for the Falcons to release Vick, since he ruled that Vick's involvement in gambling activity breached his contract. On August 29, the Falcons sent a letter to Vick demanding that he reimburse them for $20 million of his $37 million bonus. The case was sent to arbitration, and on October 10, an arbitrator ruled that Vick had to reimburse the Falcons for $19.97 million. The arbitrator agreed with the Falcons' contention that Vick knew he was engaging in illegal activity when he signed his new contract in 2004, and that he had used the bonus money to pay for the operation.

In February 2009, the Falcons revealed that they were considering trading Vick to another NFL team. Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff said NFL rules allowed teams to trade the contractual rights to suspended players. The Falcons released Vick in early June, however, making him an unrestricted free agent.