By Brad Ramsey
Intern

What goes around, comes around. Michael Dwayne Vick took the back seat in the quarterback sedan for four years. He wasn't even considered the best high school quarterback in his own hometown, much less the state of Virginia.

Ronald Curry, a graduate of Hampton [Va.] High School, just miles down the road from Vick's Warwick High (both graduated in 1998), is a sophomore two-sport star at the University of North Carolina. Curry is expected to miss the entire 1999-2000 basketball season after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the Tar Heels' Oct. 9th football game at Georgia Tech.

Curry was named the Parade, Gatorade, and Atlanta Touchdown Club national football player of the year following his senior season at Hampton. He led Hampton to three consecutive state football titles and was named the 1997 national high school football player of the year on offense by USA Today. Curry was also a first-team, All-Group AAA quarterback all four years of his high school career, casting an incredible shadow on Michael Vick.

Meanwhile, Vick was just down the street, passing for 4,846 yards and 43 touchdowns in his career at Warwick. He also rushed for 1,048 yards and 18 touchdowns.

"It never really bothered me," Vick said of all the attention Curry received in high school. "I just tried to go out and play my game."

Vick, who was named a finalist for the 1999 Heisman Trophy - college football's most prestigious award - was recruited heavily by two schools, Syracuse and Virginia Tech. He made the decision to play for the Hokies for two reasons: Virginia Tech is closer to his Newport News, Va. home and he did not want to be compared to former Syracuse quarterback and four-time, All Big East first-teamer Donovan McNabb.

McNabb, who graduated from Syracuse last year and now plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, was never a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.

"I'd like to go in a couple of years," Vick said of the Heisman ceremony, just minutes after Virginia Tech's date with Florida State was announced. "I'd be excited if I got some votes [this year]. I'd feel good about myself."

Well, if Vick did not feel good already, he can now. Vick finished third in the voting behind winner Ron Dayne and runner-up Joe Hamilton and received 25 first-place votes. The redshirt freshman now prepares for Virginia Tech's showdown with Florida State for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl on January 4th.

"It's amazing," Vick said. "It's a dream come true for everybody to have a chance to play for the national championship. I never thought I would be in this situation as a freshman. This atmosphere and being a part of this team has made it even better."

Last week, Vick was named Big East offensive player of the year and Big East rookie of the year. He became the first player in Division I college football history to win both awards in the same season.

Vick set an NCAA freshman record for passing efficiency with a 180.4 rating and became the first freshman to be invited to the Heisman ceremony since the event was first televised in 1981.

"I can't thank these guys enough," Vick said. "From the coaching staff and all the players, all the hard work we've put in has been great. I hope I can continue to have success."

"He's a special guy," said Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer. "And Michael will be the first one to tell you, he has a lot to work on."

He may have some work to do, but Vick is no longer in Ronald Curry's shadow. The irony of the path the two superstars have taken continues to mount.

Curry originally made a verbal commitment to the University of Virginia, Tech's biggest rival, during his senior year of high school. He later withdrew that commitment and went on to sign with UNC.

It was at the University of North Carolina where a freshman once carried his team all the way to the national title. Not on the field; on the court.

Ever hear of a guy named Michael Jordan? He hit the last shot of the 1982 NCAA men's basketball championship, as a freshman, to give North Carolina the win over Georgetown and give Dean Smith his first national championship.

"I remember reading an article my Mom showed me back in the summer," Vick said. "A guy said if Virginia Tech was expecting to go to the national championship with a freshman quarterback, they were in for a wreck.

"I think that a lot of people think that Florida State is just going to run all over top of us. We have to come out and play and make a statement at the beginning of the game to show them that they can't run all over top of us."

The irony gets better.

North Carolina's opening round opponent in the 1982 NCAA basketball tournament was James Madison University, the team Virginia Tech played to open their 1999 football season.

Critics hounded Virginia Tech's weak schedule throughout this football regular season, saying that a win over Division I-AA James Madison would only hurt the Hokies' chances of playing for the national title. Turns out the win over the Dukes of JMU was the jumpstart Tech needed to strut into the Big Easy Jan. 4 and play for all the marbles, just like Jordan and the Heels catapulted from a win over the Dukes in 1982.

Interestingly enough, the Heels won the national championship in the Louisiana Superdome in 1982, which is where Vick and the Hokies will be playing Florida State.

Michael Vick was the tender age of one when the Tar Heels ruled the world of college basketball. He was years from roaming the playgrounds of Newport News wanting to 'Be Like Mike.'

It won't be long before everybody wants to be like Mike again.

Vick, that is.