The plot thickens.
Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy told reporters on Monday that quarterback Michael Vick cheated to beat him in a 40-yard dash earlier this month.
LeSean McCoy said (again) that Michael Vick jumped early in their race. He said he has video proof.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) May 13, 2013
As previously reported by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk, the race came about because the 24-year-old McCoy was calling Vick an "old man." Vick, 32, touted his footrace win via Twitter on May 2. His account of the race was backed up by Eagles safety Colt Anderson. The race was even covered by the team's official website.
So today at the field 1 of my teammates called me old & bagged to race me in the 40yd dash. Anybody want to guess which player? #BirdGang
— Mike Vick (@MikeVick) May 2, 2013
Beat him by a few yards too lol #SpeedKILLS
— Mike Vick (@MikeVick) May 2, 2013
Vick just beat Shady in a 40 yard race. @mikevick
— Colt Anderson (@AndersonColt) May 2, 2013
But McCoy was quick to assert that Vick took off too soon.
U know me he cheated n by one step RT @jasonpinkstonol: @cutondime25 I know he ain't get you by 5 yards
— Lesean McCoy (@CutonDime25) May 2, 2013
Vick has already denied that he had an unfair advantage but now McCoy claims to have video evidence.
False statement. RT @mpolito_23: @mikevick I heard you had a head start when you and Shady raced, any truth to that?
— Mike Vick (@MikeVick) May 7, 2013
Discussing the race with Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, Vick talked about his pre-dash doubts, his reasons for initially avoiding it and the crowd that watched.
"It was an enormous crowd," Vick told Cole. "Yeah, there was a wager … lunch, dinner, here and there. The build-up has been going on since the beginning of April. We was going to do it about three weeks ago, but a couple of my teammates called it off. Then, I was conservative about it because I didn't want something to happen. Just the fact of it being sort of immature and then if I tore a hamstring or LeSean tore up a hamstring, Chip's going to be mad at me, so I didn't want that. (But) it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore."
Thanks to the accustations of cheating at the start, the possibility of a rematch and the simmering trash talk, Mike Garafolo of USA Today Sports noted the similarity of this incident to a popular episode of "Seinfeld."
McCoy said Vick jumped the gun on his 40-yard dash. Cue the Seinfeld references.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) May 13, 2013
As predicted, the references came.
Life imitates Seinfeld for LeSean McCoy twice wp.me/p14QSB-8VlQ
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 13, 2013
For anyone who is unaware of "The Race" between Jerry and Duncan Meyer, here you go.
If Vick is anything like Jerry, he will "choose not to run" rather than risk losing the rematch.
