GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Michael Vick removed the visor from his head and ran his fingers over nearly three inches of hair. It had grown that much in just two months.
"It's getting pretty bushy," he said.
And it's going to get worse.
A year ago, Vick learned the hard way that he is not Superman. His bones break, just like yours. So with a measure of his invincibility gone, Vick has put away his super-hero persona, and his hair clippers, in favor of a Biblical hero.
Hey, it worked for Sampson.
"I said I wasn't going to cut my hair until I win the Super Bowl. That's my motivation," said Vick, lounging in the front seat of a golf cart after a recent Falcons training camp practice at Furman University. "I cut it last year and things didn't work out. So, I figure this year I'll stick to my script."
Vick, among the league's most thrilling performers, broke his right fibula last year scrambling against the Ravens during preseason and missed the first 11 games of 2003. By the time he returned to the starting lineup in Week 14, Atlanta, considered a Super Bowl contender before Vick's injury, was 2-10.
Back in contention in 2004, Vick and the Falcons have an energetic new coach, a new West Coast offense, a new 4-3 defensive scheme and a prudent approach to being mortal.
"It only takes one time to learn you're not Superman," Falcons receiver Brian Finneran said. "He learned that, the whole team learned that the hard way."
On a hot August afternoon, first-year coach Jim Mora had the Falcons moving swiftly from drill to drill. In the middle of all the motion stood Vick, a white towel over his head. Vick was not practicing. He had a blister on his thumb.
That's right, a blister.
The human highlight reel, whose ligament-defying moves leave skilled defenders looking silly, was sitting out a second day of practice because the skin on his left, throwing thumb was a tad raw. Vick and the Falcons were taking no chances. During the preseason opener, caution triumphed as Vick ducked out of the pocket hoping to make something happen, but with a defender bearing down went tamely to the turf.
Was this the new Vick?
No, no, no. This was the new preseason Vick, he assured. When the season starts today at San Francisco, Vick said he will be his old self, throwing when he can, running when he can't, juking, deking, spinning and playing on instinct.
Vick will be Vick.
Well, mostly.
Everyone in the Falcons organization, from the owner to the backup center, claims the 2004 version will be a smarter, more savvy Vick. That he will pick his spots to flash that game-breaking speed, that he will know when to step out of bounds rather than challenge one more defender, that he will get his teammates more involved.
"Michael's never had a serious injury before. In a positive way, it probably knocked a little bit of the "S' off his chest," owner Arthur Blank said. "He realizes now that he can get hurt. With the coaching he's getting, he's going to pay more attention to getting the ball out of his hands. "He's still going to run, still going to be Michael Vick because he is Michael Vick. But he's going to get rid of the ball more often and get the ball into someone else's hands. He realizes that's what he has to do to play a long time in this league."
When the Falcons hired Mora, 42, the son of retired coach Jim Mora, Vick did not wait for minicamp to start. He came in a month early and met daily with new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, whom Mora brought with him from the 49ers, to study the quick decisions that fuel the West Coast offense.
This is the type of system that made Super Bowl champions of Joe Montana and Steve Young, so Vick is willing to give it try. But can a player with Vick's dynamism really thrive with an endless play list of three-step drops and 7-yard gains?
"I'm learning to love it," Vick said. "If it moves the chains, I'll take it. Playing the game of football is not just throwing a 50-yard bomb or scrambling for 25 yards."
No, but that is what people have come to expect, and long to see, from Vick, quite possibly the most physically gifted athlete ever to play the quarterback position. Mora recognizes that. So, rather than stifle an improvisational player with a rigid system, Mora is approaching the play book from the other direction.
"Our coaches are smart enough to say, "How can we fit our offense to Mike Vick?' Not the other way around," Mora said. "We think the package we're going to give him to work with is going to be perfect for him. We're going to take the concepts that fit his style of play best.
"When you've got a guy with his abilities and his ability to throw so accurately on the run, you want to use him that way. He is at his most accurate when he's on the run and he is a very accurate passer, contrary to what people say."
So, in this version of the West Coast offense, the pocket will move left and right. And when Vick sees no better option, he will tuck the ball and run.
"Being in the West Coast system won't change me," Vick said. "It will help me get the ball out of my hands quicker, make quicker decisions and use my checkdowns more, which is a good thing. Everything happens on timing, which develops a quarterback. But when things break down in protection, it's back to Plan B, making plays and improvising."
On another hot August afternoon, Vick is rolling left, in the open field on a bootleg. He has one eye on the first-down marker, the other on Falcons defensive end Patrick Kerney. Kerney has been in this position many times on the practice field, in pursuit of Vick, so close he can almost touch him.
Almost.
"He seems just the same as he has every year," Kerney said. "You better take a good angle and floor it if you're going to catch him. If you're not used to that speed, you're going to take the wrong angle."
And Vick will be gone.
And Vick will be back.
With a new understanding that blisters take time to heal and bones will break. With a hunger to win championships. With the same passion and free spirit that made him the game's most electrifying player.
And without fear.
"I can do anything I want to do," he said. "I have a lot of belief in my skills and know how to play the game. I feel like everything is falling into place for me. "I think I'm God's child."
With shaggy hair.
IN FOCUS
IN THE HUNT: The Falcons began 2003 with high hopes, which crumbled into a heap when quarterback Michael Vick broke his leg during preseason. A miserable 5-11 season ensued. But with a new coach, new general manager and a healthy Vick, the Falcons are once-again optimistic -- and the vogue pick to win the NFC South. Though Vick's injury was devastating, the Falcons' attitude last season was abysmal, ultimately costing coach Dan Reeves his job. Enter kinetic first-year coach Jim Mora, who seems to have no use for chairs, and coordinator Greg Knapp, whose West Coast offense should allow Vick to flourish.
GM Rich McKay is flipping the formula he used to build a Super Bowl champion in Tampa Bay. With one of the league's most dynamic players, the focus in Atlanta is on offense, with defense playing a supporting role.
Key additions include free-agent receiver Dez White, backup quarterback Ty Detmer, cornerback Aaron Beasley and two first-round draft picks: cornerback DeAngelo Hall, an instant starter, and former Ohio State receiver Michael Jenkins. Look for Hall to be the next star from Virginia Tech.
GAMEs TO WATCH: The Falcons open at San Francisco in a pressure-packed homecoming for Mora, a 49ers assistant the past seven years. The only division game on the first half of the schedule is Week 4 at Carolina. Things heat up in the second half: the Bucs in Week 10 and Week 13 and the Panthers again Dec. 18 in prime time on ESPN. For some reason, Monday Night Football passed on Vick.
DID YOU KNOW: The Falcons' defense allowed an NFL-high 66 red zone drives last season resulting in 38 touchdowns and 16 field goals. Ouch! Rid of Wade Phillips' unorthodox 3-4 scheme, which did not fit the personnel, this unit should be improved in the 4-3.
QUOTABLE: "We believe in high-intensity, high-tempo workouts. We're going to implement a work ethic and intensity level that we hope others don't match. We're going to set a high standard and strive to achieve it." -- first-year coach Jim Mora.
