ESPN's four-hour 30 for 30 deep dive into Michael Vick is a nuanced portrait of the QB considered a hero and villain

The A.V. Club

The documentary that airs in two parts this week and next week tackles everything from Vick's rise in the early 2000s amid doubts surrounding athletic black quarterbacks to the dog-fighting scandal that derailed his career by putting him in prison. "Perhaps most importantly for sports fans, the documentary asks whether we can be allowed to enjoy Vick’s old highlights, and to celebrate his legacy," says Noel Murray. "'Vick' takes maybe too sharp a turn into 'and then he lived happily ever after'-land after it covers the comeback years; but a closing montage of (Lamar) Jackson, (Patrick) Mahomes, Russell Wilson, and Kyler Murray is undeniably stirring, especially given that it comes nearly four hours after the episode’s earlier montages of sports broadcasters doubting the NFL futures of Black quarterbacks. During the clips of these new-wave QBs, reporters fumble for the right way to describe what they’re seeing, before settling on 'like Michael Vick.' If nothing else, this 30 for 30 explains the many things 'like Michael Vick' can mean. Remembering him as a villain—or a hero—doesn’t tell the whole story." ALSO: 30 for 30 acknowledges how difficult it is to reconcile two opposing perceptions of Vick as household name.