Eagles’ Vick to star in 8-part TV series

NEW YORK — Michael Vick will be giving the public an inside look at his life during an eight-part television series scheduled to debut on BET next year.

Tentatively titled “The Michael Vick Project,” the cable show will follow the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback as he tries to redeem himself after going to prison for 18 months for his role in operating a dogfighting ring. DuBose Entertainment, which is co-producing the series, and BET officially announced the show Friday.

“I think its 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 earlier this week. “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. That’s all I want to show.”

The show is part reality TV, part documentary, chronicling Vick’s rise from a difficult childhood to becoming a star at Virginia Tech, the No. 1 overall draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in 2001, and at the time the highest paid player in the NFL.

Its producers also are promising a stark, candid look at Vick’s precipitous fall, which culminated in his prison term and bankruptcy, and his return to the NFL this season.

Vick signed a $1.6 million deal with the Eagles on Aug. 13, with a team option for next year worth $5.2 million. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave Vick his full reinstatement Sept. 3 and allowed him to return to the field in Week 3.

Vick has played sparingly his first two games, completing 11 of 15 passes for 45 yards with one interception, and running eight times for 36 yards and a score.

“Michael Vick’s story is about second chances, and we are excited to have the opportunity to tell his complete story,” BET president Loretha Jones said in a statement.

Vick said he began filming the show with his own crew when he was sent to prison, long before BET got involved. He said he wanted the cameras to see “the ugly results of my decisions” so that other people won’t make the same mistakes.

“We started filming that a long time ago, not with BET but just on my own. My own film crew,” Vick said. “We haven’t been shooting lately, but it’s something we’ve been doing since I was in prison and through the bankruptcy.

“It was all out then and I was doing it. I think as the season goes on I won’t have time for it. Maybe some time in 2010 we can pick up where we left off.”

AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed to this report.