CORTLAND — With 13:17 left to play in the second quarter of the Jets’ preseason opener Thursday against the Colts, new quarterback Michael Vick jogged onto the MetLife Stadium field. The small crowd gave Vick the loudest ovation of the night.
Five days earlier, the public address announcer introduced the Jets one-by-one for the team’s annual Green and White Scrimmage. The crowd of about 7,000 gave its loudest cheer when they heard Vick’s name.
Every day at training camp practice, fans scream for Vick, not at him. They line up, hoping to get his autograph.
Anyone who thought Vick’s welcome to the Jets might be rough thought wrong. The fans have embraced Vick. There have been no protests here, despite an online petition in the spring against his acquisition. No one has heckled him. There has not even been a rogue sign.
When he was convicted of conspiracy and running a dog-fighting operation in 2007, Vick was one of the most hated men in America. But seven years later, it appears many fans have forgiven him, even if his crimes are not forgotten.
“I’ve been embraced all across the world,” Vick told The Post this week. “I’m thankful for that. It wasn’t just because of me being a great football player, it was because of my attitude and my approach and trying to come back and do things the right way.”
Vick, 34, spent 548 days in the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kan. When he was released in May 2009, he had no idea what his football future would be, but he wanted to show the public he had changed in prison and understood the gravity of what he had done.
Working with a team of PR consultants, Vick crafted a plan to show he truly was sorry.
“I had a plan to work with any special interest group that would allow me to show that it wasn’t just all talk and it wasn’t just a gimmick,” Vick said. “I wasn’t just trying to come back and restore my good name. It was about making amends for what I had done wrong, showing people I could do right and I wasn’t the person they thought I was.”
The Humane Society of the United States agreed to work with Vick. He began to speak to children and shine a light on the ugly world of dog fighting. Vick’s representatives say he has spoken to more than 10,000 kids. He appeared on Capitol Hill in 2010 to introduce a bill that made it a felony to bring a child to a dog fight.
“It was an opportunity to make amends and show people, ‘Listen, I made a mistake. I did wrong. If I knew better, I would have done better,’ ” Vick said.
Humane Society president and CEO Wayne Pacelle said Vick’s impact could be seen in the stories he heard from the people Vick spoke to. Pacelle said a middle-school girl in Philadelphia said her family was involved in dogfighting and no one ever had told her it was wrong before. A 19-year-old man in North Carolina said he had just bought three pit bulls to use in fights, but decided against it after hearing Vick’s story.
“Michael Vick spoke out against animal cruelty at schools and other venues for about four years in association with HSUS, and has directly reached thousands of at-risk kids,” Pacelle said through a spokesman. “It’s hard to measure the precise impact, but we know it’s significant.”
Vick also formed the Team Vick Foundation, which has a mission of “serving those who need a second chance.” On Saturday, his foundation handed out backpacks and school supplies to needy children in Virginia. Vick knows some people will scoff at his efforts as simply trying to rebuild his shattered image.
“When you first come out and you’re working with the Humane Society, it looks like it’s just PR work,” Vick said. “It took 5 ½ years to get to the point where we are now where I think people are finally saying, ‘OK, Mike’s a different guy. He’s not the same person.’ I think a lot of people have forgiven me and tried to forget about that whole situation.”
When the Eagles signed Vick three months after his release from prison, there was plenty of backlash. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals blasted the Eagles, and protesters lined up outside the team’s training center and stadium.
Eventually, it subsided, though. Vick won over teammates in Philadelphia with his work ethic and attitude.
Vick arrived in Philadelphia unsure of how the fans would react.
“There’s always that bit of doubt,” he said. “The understanding that it might not go the way you want it to go. You want everything to go right, but you understand that, you know, what if there’s a special interest group there that really doesn’t like Mike Vick? But the city of Philadelphia was so strong in its support that it would have been contested if anybody would have tried to come out and go against what I was trying to rebuild. It all started in Philadelphia. I am thankful that city gave me an opportunity. That’s why I gave so much back.”
Vick became active in the community, speaking out against animal cruelty and getting involved in other causes. Last year, Team Vick Field opened in the North Philadelphia community of Hunting Park. The youth football North Philadelphia Aztecs had not played a home game in 20 years because their field was covered in glass and needles. Vick donated $200,000 to an effort to rebuild the field.
Now, the Aztecs play on a turf field under Vick’s name.
“My ultimate give-back to the city of Philadelphia was to the kids,” Vick said. “It was a football field that needed some work. I put up my own money and they matched it. We made it work. Now the kids have a nice turf field to play on for the rest of their days. They just have to go out and play.”
Vick parted ways with Philadelphia in March, signing with the Jets as a free agent. The team did its homework on Vick before signing him — with team president Neil Glat calling Pacelle at the Humane Society before they signed him.
“We fully understand the gravity of some of his past actions, believe that he has paid his debt to society and taken advantage of his second chance,” owner Woody Johnson said in a statement the day of the signing.
Fans expressed disgust at the Vick signing initially, with some saying they would give up their ticket, but during training camp, there have been no problems for Vick with the fans.
“The people in Cortland have been great,” Vick said.
Early in camp, Vick traveled to the local Wal-Mart for supplies for his dorm room. He said people approached him for autographs and photos.
“That’s pretty cool,” he said.
Vick never will regain his image fully. The first line in his obituary will be about his conviction for dog fighting, not what he has done on the football field or in the community.
But Jets players look at Vick in awe, remembering the days Vick’s face was on the cover of video games and he had his own line of Nike shoes. Nike dropped Vick amid his legal problems in 2007, but they re-signed him as an endorser in 2011.
“I still think I can have my own shoe,” Vick said with a smile. “People still ask me all the time when my shoe’s coming out, like it’s coming out in the next couple of months. I need Nike to believe in me. That would be cool.”
For now, Vick is focused on the upcoming football season. He has accepted his role as Geno Smith’s backup and said he is ready to write the next chapter of his football career.
“I think this is going to be a great one,” Vick said. “I’m back with my offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. I have a chance to watch a young guy prosper in the offense I played in, and at the same time, I may have an opportunity to play at some point this season if Geno goes out there and gets a big lead. If we’re blowing somebody out, maybe I can go out and get some snaps.”
Vick signed a one-year deal with the Jets, and said he fully expects to be a starting quarterback somewhere in 2015.
“I’ve got a couple of years left to play some good football,” he said. “That’s what I want.”
Vick knows people are watching not only what he does with the football in his hand, but what he does away from the field as well.
“Kids watch me closely as a role model,” Vick said. “When you don’t think you’re being watched, you’re always being watched. The worst thing that can happen to you is for something to be going across the bottom of the screen on ESPN that involves negativity, and then the whole world is talking about you. I’ve been in that position too many times, and I hate it with a passion. I try [with] everything in my power to avoid it.”
When someone points out it’s been a while since he was in that situation, Vick smiles then knocks on a nearby wood table and says, “I’m trying to keep it that way.”