Michael Vick captivated the sports world with his amazing play this season and after a career year he finished second in The Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year Award vote to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Brady finished with 21 out of a possible 50 votes. Vick took home 11 of the votes. In a surprise, wide receiver DeSean Jackson finished tied for fifth with two votes.
Vick became just the second quarterback in NFL history to throw for 3,000-plus yards (3,018), rush for 500-plus yards (676) and tally a 100-plus passer rating (100.2) in a season. The other was Hall of Famer Steve Young.
Vick's passing yards, touchdowns (21), passer rating and rushing touchdowns (9) were all career highs.
To give you an idea of where Vick ranked this season, he was first in rushing yards by a quarterback and rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, third in fewest interceptions (6), third in fourth quarter passer rating (106.8), fourth in overall passer rating, fourth in yards per pass attempt (8.1), sixth in third down passer rating (96.9) and sixth in passing/rushing touchdowns combined (30).
Vick has already received a number of honors this season. He was the starter for the NFC Pro Bowl squad, Comeback Player of the Year (Sporting News and Pro Football Weekly, AP award not yet handed out), NFC Offensive Player of the Month for September and NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the wins over Indianapolis, Washington and New York.
For Vick to have such a successful season, he definitely needed Jackson to post big numbers. Jackson earned a second straight trip to the Pro Bowl as he topped 1,000 receiving yards for the second consecutive season. He had 47 catches for 1,056 yards (a league-best 22.5 yards per catch) and eight total touchdowns. Jackson earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in the win over the Cowboys. Jackson had a career-high 201 yards on just four receptions including the go-ahead 91-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown in that game.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 9:10 p.m., February 1
