Just a couple of months ago, old mentor James “Poo” Johnson called Vick to ask if he could get some equipment for a Boys & Girls Club tournament. No. 7 sent the stuff right along and said he would try to attend the event.

“He’s being portrayed now sort of like a monster, but that’s not him,” said Johnson, who first met Vick two decades ago. “I know his heart.”

After being drafted by the Falcons, Vick spent one season as a backup and took over as the starter in 2002, leading Atlanta to the playoffs for the first time in four years. They made it all the way to the NFC championship game two seasons later.

“Mike did everything we asked him to do,” said Dan Reeves, Vick’s first pro coach. “He was never any trouble, and he had a great attitude, particularly for a young player drafted as high as he was.”

Vick was hardly a dominating presence in the locker room, largely keeping to himself and a close circle of friends.

“It seems like he’s had the same circle of friends he had as a kid,” said Reeves, who was fired during a dismal ’03 season that fell apart when Vick broke his leg in the preseason. “Maybe that’s because he kept hanging out with a few guys he grew up with instead of making more friends on the team.”

Colwell, the sociology professor, said it’s not unusual for someone coming from a poor neighborhood to stick with those he grew up with, even after going on to fame and fortune. If anything, the bonds to the past are especially comforting when one is suddenly faced with a drastic change in lifestyle.

“You’re asking a lot out of a person to divorce themselves from their background,” Colwell said. “Your identity is rooted in actual people. You’re asking someone to be someone else, to essentially say, ’Ignore everyone that cares for you and you’ve come to know.’ It can feel a little like jumping off into an abyss.”

Last year, as Marcus Vick prepared for the NFL draft after getting kicked out of Virginia Tech for repeated misbehavior, his big brother seemed to be stable influence. Michael admonished his little brother, telling him to clean up his act and start taking responsibility for his actions.

“He needs to realize that he’s a grown man now,” Vick said at the time. “This is his livelihood.”

Maybe Vick should have heeded his own advice.

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