Vick Signature Shoe Postponed

As Michael Vick heads into the upcoming NFL season with questions surrounding his involvement with animal abuse and deaths associated with dog fighting, Nike, Inc. has made it known that the shoe which would bear the player's name, the Zoom Vick V, is been held back from its release to national retailers. In light of the still blossoming story behind Vick's involvement with being federally indicted for his alleged roles in the dog-fighting that took place on his property in Virginia, it has been speculated that the Atlanta Falcons quarterback would be best served having his merchandise withheld from sale-does anyone truly care?

Just as a matter of popularity, Vick has seemed to have already peaked in his rather young career. While anticipating his involvement in the upcoming 2007 season, his seventh in professional football, the matter of his limited play in his rookie 2001 season, followed up with other seasons in 2004 and 2005 where injuries had mounted have diminished his television availability. That's not even counting minor scandals and legal issues off of the football field after his breakthrough 2002 season.

With his shoe sales gaining momentum from the sum of his first three years in the league, Vick also became a poster boy for Nike's major marketing plan towards consumers interested in athletic wear. But with the aforementioned injuries, Atlanta's habitual losing ways as a byproduct, and overall immaturity, his sales started declining. This has lead to Nike investing less time into a product of an athlete who was already on the decline (similar to the path of Vince Carter and his VC Shox series).

With sneaker aficionados admitting to paying less attention to Vick on sneaker fan sites such as NiceKicks.com and Niketalk.com and his image taking a nosedive, who's to say that the fact that his shoes are being postponed actually means anything at all? Nike had stopped putting much attention into the shoe, just from seeing the evolution of the prior Vick releases.

For example, the Air Zoom Vick I was accompanied with an entire section of Nike's web site, which displayed the Vick I designs played into manipulating the air around the foot during on-field play. The Zoom Vick II had a regional customization feature (also on Nike.com) which allowed for the customer to order special regional colors of the shoes itself, not to mention a new high-tech version of Nike's patented Air cushioning. The Zoom Vick III had with it straps that actually mirrored the look of the actual number "7" across the front of the shoes. The Vick IV, which was of a cheaper stock than the prior Vick shoes, gave special customers the opportunity to get an all-red colorway of the shoe (though with less performance features). Finally, the as-yet-unreleased Vick V was of a basic sneaker silhouette and lacked most of the featured adornments that said shoes were given.

So really, Nike had expected lower sales in Vick's product, because guess what? When injuries, losing records, and drug allegations precede your star power, it can be expected that your product will suffer, too. So whenever Nike decides to release the Zoom Vick V (probably in outlet and factory stores), don't expect digital draw-ups on how aerodynamic the shoes is when your cut across the field; don't expect white/Carolina blue color combinations that pay homage to Vick's high school alma mater; don't expect the double-stacked Zoom Air features or any mid-foot straps resembling his jersey number; heck, don't even plan to see a crimson-hued, graffiti-laser design on the leather. If anything, just expect a decently comfortable shoe that is a mere shadow of what its highlight-heavy past used to be.

Just like Michael Vick's past had been.