Michael Vick’s troubled days may be over (if you don’t count his turnover problems this season) but he’s apparently still fodder for the tabloids. The gossip site, TMZ.com blasted the Eagles quarterback with this headline: “Michael Vick: I’ve Spent $29 MILLION In Four Years.”
The inflammatory headline was meant to make readers think that Vick has been irresponsible since rejoining the NFL after doing time in federal prison on charges related to dogfighting. TMZ.com went on to report that “Vick has blown through nearly $30 million since filing for bankruptcy in 2008…”
That implies some kind of reckless spending. It would be a fun story – if it were true.
In reality, Vick is on a court-approved restructuring plan to pay back his debts, including tax obligations. Vick’s financial woes stem from behavior that predates his new lifestyle – but he’ll be making payments through 2014 to satisfy those obligations.
Despite a lucrative career as an NFL quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles (the top-ranked team in the NFC East, thank you very much), Vick isn’t living in the lap of luxury. Under the terms of his payback plan, nearly two-thirds of every dollar he earns goes to creditors and to taxes. In terms of dollars, he has paid about $10.9 million in taxes, $9.2 million to creditors, and $2.7 million to lawyers and accountants. The remainder of his paycheck is divided between child support and living expenses; the latter is restricted to $300,000 per year under the plan.
Last year, Vick signed a $100 million contract with the Eagles which means that he’ll be able to accelerate his payments and possibly pay off his creditors even sooner. That should be lauded as a good thing – hardly the kind of wasteful spending that the headlines would have you believe.
Does this somehow make Vick a saint? Hardly. But Vick could have played hardball after his release. He could have squawked about his obligations and argued that he couldn’t pay them back at all; after all, he didn’t have a job lined up, remember? But he didn’t do those things. By filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, he opted to reorganize his debts and arrange to pay his obligations, including his taxes. And he’s been working to make that happen.
So, a little accuracy – and less hype – in the media would be appreciated. This isn’t another story about thousand-dollar bottles of Cristal and brand new Bugattis. It’s a story about taking steps in the right direction. And that totally deserves a better headline.
I am a fan of Vick and sad that he’s been going through a downward spiral these past few years. When I first read about TMZ’s headline, I was pretty sure it was not true. But still, I was affected. Thanks for this post. Fellow Vick fans out there will surely appreciate this as well.