Vick joined the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) the same year as an undrafted free agent, but was released after appearing in only one game.

Vick grew up in Ridley Circle, a public housing project in the crime-ridden East End neighborhood of Newport News.

At Warwick, he was coached by Tommy Reamon, a former collegiate and professional football player who had been instrumental in the development of future NFL quarterbacks Aaron Brooks (his older cousin) and Marcus' brother, Michael.

[citation needed] North Carolina State, Virginia, Tennessee, and Miami all had scholarship offers on the table.

[citation needed] By September, it was clear that Marcus was considering several schools, mostly because of concerns about the Hokies' scheme and its ability to prepare him for the NFL.

In Virginia Tech's loss in the Insight Bowl to the California Golden Bears, Vick racked up 82 receiving yards, including one touchdown reception.

According to an article in The Washington Post, the convictions triggered a review by Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver under the school's Comprehensive Action Plan, which was put in place in 1997 after 22 arrests involving 19 football players during a 15-month period.

According to a report in the Washington Post, "one of the girls wept as she recounted how she and two friends met the players at a Tech women's basketball game Jan. 27 and, after sneaking out of a house during a slumber party, went in Vick's sport utility vehicle to the apartment Vick and Hill share."

The terms were a "no contest" plea to a single misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a suspended 30-day jail sentence, a fine of $100, and he was ordered to perform 24 hours of community service.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Robert Turk also prohibited Vick from contacting the teenage girls who were at the party.

Beamer initially announced that Vick would enter the 2005 season as the team's third-string quarterback, but he quickly won the starting role after impressive spring practices and scrimmages.

During the 2006 Gator Bowl on January 2, he stomped on the leg of Louisville Cardinals defensive end Elvis Dumervil.

[9] Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver issued a statement from the university on the incident: The unsportsmanlike conduct of quarterback Marcus Vick in yesterday's Gator Bowl game against Louisville is unacceptable behavior and contrary to the Hokies Respect Campaign.

[13] On January 6, 2006, Virginia Tech announced his permanent dismissal from its football program "due to a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play".

After the 2006 NFL draft, he told ESPN's Michael Smith that he considered himself a better quarterback than Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler.

[16] Despite pre-draft speculation that Vick could go as high as the third round, he went undrafted, becoming an unrestricted free agent who could sign a contract with any team.

[19] The Dolphins released him on September 2, 2006, to reach the regular season roster limit but re-signed Vick two days later, assigning him to the practice squad.

He was moved from the practice squad to the active roster for the team's Week 7 game versus the Green Bay Packers.

A police report alleged that he pointed a gun at a 17-year-old in the parking lot of a McDonald's in Suffolk after Vick's girlfriend had an argument with three people.

[23] On December 14, 2006, a 17-year-old girl from Montgomery County, Virginia, filed a civil lawsuit against Vick accusing him of molestation of a minor, fraud, and additional charges.

In the lawsuit, seeking $6.3 million,[24][25][26] the girl claimed that when she was 15 (below the legal age of consent in Virginia), she was forced into a sexual situation with Vick, who was 20 years old, over a nearly two-year-long period.

[35] In January 2013, a judge sentenced Vick to five days in jail for failing to produce adequate documentation about his financial status by a court-ordered deadline.

[37] On July 11, Vick pled guilty in Newport News, Virginia, to the resisting arrest charge and was ordered to serve one month in jail.