Eagles quarterback Michael Vick returned to Atlanta, the scene of his greatest moments in the NFL, on Sunday. The result: Two touchdowns and a Dome full of fans cheering him on.

Vick ran for a touchdown and passed for another to help the Eagles to a 34-7 victory over the Falcons in the Georgia Dome.

Vick said he had tears in his eyes on the ride to the Dome, where he became a three-time Pro Bowler for the Falcons before legal trouble forced him from the game for two years. After he scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter, Vick heard the cheers and chants of the crowd.

“It was as loud as it gets in the Dome,” he said. “I heard the chants all through the stadium and it sent chills down my spine. They were just letting me know that people still appreciate what I’ve done.”

Vick added a 5-yard TD pass to tight end Brent Celek in the fourth quarter as the Eagles (8-4) tied the Cowboys for first place in the NFC East. For the game, Vick completed both of his passes for 48 yards, including a 43-yarder to Reggie Brown, and rushed four times for 17 yards. The TD pass was Vick’s first since 2006, when he was with the Falcons.

The fans, many of whom wore No. 7 Vick jerseys, broke into chants of “We want Vick!” sporadically throughout the second half.

Vick sponsors the Michael Vick Foundation, which helps inner-city youth with tutoring and after-school programs.

With his legal trouble behind him, Michael Vick now is ready to move forward with the two things that mean the most to him: Playing quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles and helping young people to avoid the problems that caused Vick to spend time in prison.

 

Vick resumed his football career in Week 3 on Sept. 27, when the Eagles beat Kansas City, 34-14. After a two-year absence from the game he loves, Vick took 10 snaps behind center that day and had one carry for seven yards. He also threw two incomplete passes.

“Go out and make the plays positive plays,” Vick said after the game. “If I only get five or six plays the rest of the season, then I’m content with that, but like I said, my objective is to win.”

When he’s not on the field, Vick is spreading a simple, but effective, message to kids: Don’t do what I did.

“I think it’s important to show our youth and our kids that you face adversity but you’re not responsible for falling, you’re responsible for getting up,” Vick said. “I’m very remorseful about what happened and what I did. I just don’t want other people to go down that path. I’m trying to make it right and repair past damages.”

Vick spoke to children at a high school in Philadelphia and told them not to give in to peer pressure and to make the right choices on their own. He said people, even friends, don’t always have your best interests at heart, and that he knew he made bad choices and that he listened to the wrong people, and he ended up in jail.

 

“For what reason, I don’t know to this day,” he told a crowd at a church in Washington, D.C. “Something so pointless.”

 

Vick sponsors the Michael Vick Foundation, which helps inner-city youth with tutoring and after-school programs.