He listens—and he hears

Sporting News, The, April 9, 2001 by Paul Attner

Johnson :frets whether he will be too trusting, too indecisive, but Vick brushes off those worries. "I think things out, I do my research," he says. "I don't have a lot of friends. I don't trust everyone. I know I have to be careful about who I am and the company I keep, and I will be. I have a responsibility to a lot of people, and I won't let them down. And if I see that some of my friends change, I can change, too. In a hurry."

NFL teams are aware of where he grew up; there is concern he could be hanging with the wrong crowd. It's no wonder Bratkowski has urged him to move immediately to his new NFL city, to quickly involve himself in workouts and playbook study. Bratkowski thinks it will help his new teammates to understand Vick's work ethic. But it also will place him in a positive environment.

Sure, he needs to keep growing. But just the other day, Vick was on the Internet, doing research on another interest: .breeding pit ,bulls. His pit bull already has produced one litter and he has what he calls "a budding breeding, kennel" in the works.

"There's more to me than people might think," he says, his eyes twinkling.

But more than anything, he wants to get past the draft and put on an NFL uniform. "At Tech, when I put on my jersey, I had a feeling of dominance," he says. "I want to get back that feeling."

More on Vick just a click away

To find out more about Michael Vick and the rest of the hottest draft prospects, log on to The Sporting News online's Draft Central for in-depth player analysis at www.sportingnews.com/nfl/draft.> Senior writer Paul Attner covers the NFL for THE SPORTING NEWS.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Sporting News Publishing Co.

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