Michael Vick on football fieldMichael Vick (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Michael Vick has been quite busy since his playing days in the National Football League ended. Those competitive days may be over, but he still has a burning passion for competing, and he has found another game to play in the meantime.

Michael Vick explained in a recent Fox News interview that he still has one habit that has stayed in his life from the 21-month prison sentence that he served nearly two decades ago.

Vick explained that he fell in love with Chess during his time in prison and has been playing it ever since.

“I was always intrigued about it, all the pieces on the board and a lot to learn,” Vick said. “A friend of mine and I, we spent like three months learning how to play it. We took a three-month course on how to play it. After that, he was telling me I was ready to go. That’s kind of how I fell in love with it.”

“I wish I could play more,” the four-time Pro Bowler admitted. “Being able to get on the Chess.com app got me back into it. Whenever I’m traveling or moving around, I’m trying to play it and find a way to challenge myself. I love Chess, man. I really do.”

Chess.com has a BlitzChamps tournament in which Vick and several other current and former NFL players competed, and they had a $100,000 charity donation at stake.

The other athletes in the tournament include:

Former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald
Tennessee Titans cornerback Chidobe Awuzie
Indianapolis Colts guard Quenton Nelson
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill
Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Justin Reid
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Mack Hollins
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper

Vick is involved with the Humane Society of the United States as well as his own charitable organization, the Achieving Vicktory Foundation.

 

Michael Vick Was Arrested And Sentenced To Prison For Dogfighting During Prime of His Career

Michael Vick (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Michael Vick was arrested for dog fighting in 2007 when he was the franchise player for the Atlanta Falcons.

He would serve nearly two years in prison for his crimes and was indefinitely suspended by the league.

He returned to the league in 2009 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. During his second season with the team, in 2010, he won Comeback Player of the Year and was named to the Pro Bowl.

Michael Vick Says There’s One Person Who Tried To Warn Him About Dogfighting That He Regrets Not Listening To (VIDEO)

Michael Vick looks on with a cap on.ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 01: Former Atlanta Falcons player Michael Vick stands on the field prior to the game against the New Orleans Saints at the Georgia Dome on January 1, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Almost 17 years after NFL player Michael Vick was exposed for running a massive dogfighting ring, he is once again speaking out about the moment when his life would change forever.

He would speak on dogfighting ring during the latest episode of Tyreek Hill’s podcast, It Needed To Be Said.

While reflecting on the situation to the Miami Dolphins WR, Vick expressed one important piece of regret. “I wish I had a father figure or somebody in my life — and I did, too, for the most part — but not to the point where somebody was like, ‘Yo, man, you can really screw all this up,’” Vick said. “Ain’t nobody came and said, ‘Bro, you can screw all this up.’ One person [did], I won’t say his name.”

The younger version of himself actually thought he would step back into his old role with the Falcons after getting out prison.

“The whole time like I was gone I thought they was gonna wait on me, but that was wishful thinking,” Vick said. “Like, I really thought like they was gonna wait for me to get back and all this would be over and then I step back in, be the starter, and we just move on like nothing ever happened. But that’s not reality. And I was hoping for something that just couldn’t happen.”

Vick was one of the most dynamic athletes of the 2000s and has one of the most interesting careers in the history of the league.

Michael Vick pleaded guilty to a state dogfighting charge in 2008 where he received a three-year suspended sentence, which was far less than the maximum of 10 years he could have faced. It was a shocking moment for a man who once signed a 10-year, $130 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons.

The league suspended Vick indefinitely in August 2007 after he pleaded guilty to a federal charge of bankrolling a dogfighting operation at a home he owned in Virginia.

In May 2009, he was released after serving 19 months in prison.

He would go on to sign a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. Every step of the way he had protestors after him because of his actions. Even to this day, Vick still catches hell for what he did, but it has not deterred him from being a better person.

Vick played in Atlanta from 2001-06 before his conviction. And later, he did return to the NFL, from 2009-15 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.