By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service

We have seen the future of NFL quarterbacking. That's him, leaving a vapor trail down the sideline.

Have you gotten a look at the blur that is otherwise known as Michael Vick? Don't worry. Find a highlight show. Any highlight show. He'll be there.

See him zig, see him zag. See him leave Minnesota Vikings strewn up and down the Metrodome carpet like water bottles.

See his 46-yard overtime-touchdown sprint give the Falcons a 30-24 victory over the Vikings. He could have run all the way to Iowa.

See him reinvent the position, energize his team, electrify the season.

This is the NFL, where quarterbacks stay in the pocket unless there's a crisis.

The NFL's idea of normalcy is the AFC East, where the first place team is 7-5 and the last place team is 6-6.

Ten of the 16 AFC teams, by the way, are within one game of .500. In the NFC, Green Bay clinches a division when everyone else is 3-9, Philadelphia has to win with a quarterback named A.J. Feely, and the St. Louis Rams' former hit show locks its doors because Kurt Warner can't win a game.

Meanwhile, all is sunny in Atlanta.

The Falcons are 7-0-1 since early October, and Vick plays his position like a roadrunner surrounded by coyotes.

The NFL markets itself by bashing heads, but he is the best show in the sport because nobody can lay a hand on him. On some plays, Vick is but a rumor.

See him do things an NFL quarterback isn't supposed to do.

He isn't supposed to leave cornerbacks behind as if they were loaded school buses.

He isn't supposed to have an awful 11-of-28 passing day and still be the star of the weekend.

He isn't supposed to run for 173 yards in the same game he passes for 173 yards, as he did Sunday.

Joe Montana had only two seasons where he rushed for that many. Dan Marino didn't run for 173 yards his entire career.

Vick is spectacular. He is sensational. He is unique.

And he is only 22.

Remember, he could still be a senior at Virginia Tech. He could, in fact, be leading the Hokies against Miami this very Saturday.

And wouldn't that have the Hurricanes and their 33-game winning streak squirming?

So see him astound his coaches, torment his opponents, and run his teammates out of adjectives.

And think what will happen when he learns how to stay in the pocket and pass.

Vick has thrown for fewer touchdowns this season than Jon Kitna, who starts for the 1-11 Bengals.

But that will come.

It must come. His arm is a bazooka, and needs only refinement. He will learn some discretion, for his good health if no other reason. Malicious linebackers roam the land, and Vick's bones break like anyone else's. Presumably.

"I think my body is built for taking some hits," he said. "I'm not some scrawny little quarterback."

No, Vick is an especially gifted athlete. The Colorado Rockies took him in the 30th round of the baseball draft, when he hadn't played the sport since eighth grade.

See him run. See him pass. See Vick bloom as the sport's next megastar. It is always fascinating, watching fresh greatness come onto the field.

Vick's statistics

Passing yards	Rushing	Total TDs
1,994	648	18

Vick has an 87.1 passer rating, fifth best in the NFC. He has thrown 10 TD passes and only three interceptions. He's also rushed for eight touchdowns, averaging 8.1 yards per carry on the ground.

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