From Sitting to Sitting Pretty

HOUSTON -- It was yet another task in a world Matt Schaub always wanted and yet never knew until now. A public relations official from the Houston Texans led him out of the locker room at Reliant Stadium, across the hall where a small crowd of people waved and called his name, into another room where he could sit and talk about the life lessons learned from a man who is about to go to prison.

They were always coming for Michael Vick in those days, long before there were federal agents and prosecutors and a line of cameras in front of courthouses. This was back when Vick was still on good relations with society, when the talk was only about football and the star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons was besieged daily about more mundane matters like completion percentage and scrambles out of the pocket. His was the voice everyone wanted to hear.

And Schaub watched because this is what a young backup quarterback does in the NFL when his locker is placed next to the most important player on the team. He observes. He takes notes. He sees how the man answers the questions that fly every day and he wonders if he will be able to handle the heat when it arrives in front of him.

"He was very well scrutinized positively and negatively," Schaub said of Vick as he sat in the empty room at Reliant Stadium. "You can definitely see that he's talked about in-season and after the season. You realize the fishbowl you are in as an NFL player and you always have to remember that."

As Vick's story rolled through the summer in Richmond and Atlanta, Schaub became the odd side note, the player who could have benefited the most from Vick's guilty plea on dogfighting charges and subsequent suspension, if only the Falcons had held onto him. For three years Schaub waited patiently for the shot that never seemed to come in the NFL, the chance to have his own team. Then in the early spring, just weeks before police stormed the Smithfield, Va., house Vick owned, Atlanta gave him his wish, trading him here.

It was a move the Falcons would soon regret.

But for Schaub it's probably the best thing that could have happened. In Atlanta the stain of Vick's guilty plea will linger for months. The team has a new coach and a new offense that Schaub would have had to learn. And while he might have mastered it in half a season, the first few months would have been a struggle and he forever would have been judged against the ghost of Vick. In Houston he replaces David Carr. There are no ghosts here.

When the rumors of this opportunity began to rise last winter, Schaub hoped the Texans would call. He saw promise in the coach, Gary Kubiak, who worked with both John Elway and Steve Young and is a master of the passer-driven West Coast offense. It's a system Schaub learned from Bill Musgrave, the offensive coordinator during his senior year at Virginia, and Schaub was sure that, with Kubiak, he could thrive.

So when the trade did come and the Texans gave him a contract that can pay him $48 million over six years based on nothing but potential, he was ecstatic. Immediately he thought about everything he learned from watching Vick. And his first act as the Texans quarterback was to get a list of about 50 phone numbers of key teammates -- almost all the offensive players and also a few defensive stars. Then he sat on his couch at home in Atlanta and for two days called every one of them.

"I probably burned up all of my minutes," he said with a laugh.

But it made an impression.

"I don't think it's something a new quarterback normally does," said tight end Mark Bruener, who has played 13 years in the NFL. "It showed his personality. Matt was very eager to get started. He has a quiet confidence and he exudes that."

There were other things he learned in Atlanta that he brought with him here. He needed to make sure he had a presence, especially in the huddle. While he admits that he was sometimes frustrated about being stuck behind a superstar, worrying that it might be years before he became a starter, he also had a rare opportunity to learn how to be a starting quarterback, and that lesson might turn out to be more valuable than the playing time he never got.

"I was fortunate to watch one of the most visible athletes in the world and see what it entailed to be him," Schaub said.

He has talked little about Vick since he arrived, much the way most NFL players shy from discussing controversy. His general comment is that he found Vick to be a good person and a good teammate and was surprised to learn about the dogfighting charges. There's little else he will offer. Atlanta was another time. He has the chance to build a career here.

"One thing I really like about him is that he's a very human kid," Kubiak said. "He makes mistakes. He'll sit there and take a mistake right in the chops, say, 'Hey that's me guys, let's get this fixed,' I just like the way he operates in there."

For much of the last year, as Vick began to stumble on the field, a fascination with Schaub in Atlanta grew. He had just two NFL starts to his name, both losses, but played well. There were glimpses of something bigger, a hint of poise, a strong passing arm and accuracy. Just enough to tease, to make fans wonder if maybe the wrong man was quarterbacking the Falcons.

They were right, but for different reasons. Through the years of waiting, Schaub said little, stayed in the background and watched Vick. He knew a chance would someday come, and at last it has at age 26.

"It was a great opportunity to learn from a [high-profile] guy like Vick," Schaub said. "I appreciate everything. The thing is, at that point of time, [the starting quarterback job] was a decision not up to myself. If it was going to happen it was something that wasn't up to me."

Then he smiled.

"There's also the fact it was another year that I didn't get dinged up," he said.

Which might be the greatest gift Vick could have bestowed upon his former understudy. By keeping Schaub off the field, the backup was able to watch and learn, understand what it takes to be a starting quarterback in the NFL without having to take a hit in the back he never saw coming.

Soon Vick will head to prison and there is a chance he may never play another game in the NFL, while Schaub might just be the quarterback who finally makes the Houston Texans good.

And if that happens, he could become Vick's best legacy in professional football.