Virginia Is For Hustlers… And Cultural/ Video Game Icons

While I’m a proud and true Texan, I also have Virginia roots. Growing up, my favorite sports were football and basketball. With growing up as a Michael Jordan fan and my love for playing quarterback in football, I grew to love two other athletes in the early 2000s. Those two athletes: Michael Vick and Allen Iverson. Both Michael Vick and Allen Iverson grew up in the 757 area code of Virginia. They attended different high schools and those high schools were actually rivals. While they didn’t compete against each other due to age difference, Iverson graduating in ‘94 and Vick graduating in ‘98, the area they hail from were granted some of the best entertainment for years to see both play at such elite levels. Somewhat staying in the area for college, both Iverson and Vick would go to Georgetown University and Virginia Tech respectively. Both ended up having great college careers that led them to their respective leagues and first round draft picks. 

Michael Vick was drafted as the number one pick in the 2001 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. A Black Mecca of arts, entertainment, politics and business, Vick was ready to make the city his own. Michael Vick had an impressive career with Atlanta, even becoming the cover athlete to Electronic Arts’ Madden 2004 cover. During the early 2000s, there was a curse associated with being on the cover of Madden. This even hit Michael Vick during that year as he broke his leg at the beginning of the season and ended up missing 11 games of the season due to the injury. Although the curse kept him on the sidelines in real life, the video game universe experienced Vick in an unworldly way. Michael Vick was a synonymous cheat code in the Madden 2004 video game. Compared to now, the Madden series didn’t have any fatigue for their players in the video games back then. Meaning, your players could stay in the whole time and not get tired (not like your starting QB was coming out of the game anyways in real life). With incredible throwing power and some good accuracy, on top of speed, agility and quickness. Michael Vick would be the last elite player you could have that would transform any team on a Madden video game immediately. Two years later, to balance the ability Vick had in his dominance in Madden 2004, the QB Vision effect was placed in Madden. Ultimately, making him not as useful with an underwhelming  range for a player who could see the field well. Recently, during the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Madden, Michael Vick was a player you could use in the Madden 2024 Ultimate Team bringing back excitement for Madden users who played the 2004  installment. 

Similarly to Vick, Allen Iverson has had a great career as well producing iconic moments in multimedia as well as on the court. Iverson was the last Philadelphia 76’er to win the MVP (prior to Joel Embiid in the 2022-’23 season). Iverson won the MVP  a little bit over a decade ago in the 2000-’01 season and led his team to the NBA finals where they lost 4-1 to the Shaq and Kobe led Lakers. The success of Allen Iverson, was not only seen on the court, but also throughout Black culture. Braids, tattoos, baggy clothing, and extravagant jewelry, Allen Iverson had it all including a look that women loved. Iverson became the trendsetter and the face of the league. While he became the face of the league, Iverson also became the face of 2K basketball. Allen Iverson was the cover athlete for the first four 2K video games, starting in 1999 and continuing through 2002. He also became the cover athlete for 2K4 as it was sponsored by ESPN (we’ll get more into ESPN in a post later down the line). Iverson being the sustainable face and the cornerstone of the franchise of 2K in the beginning and for years to come. His presence can still be felt in today’s NBA with added equipment and clothing to video games to come as children mimicked cutting up socks and shirts to get their own compression sleeves, and wearing headbands and du rags, incorporating all into their everyday lives. 

While Iverson and Vick took their lives center stage in their respective professions, they also had a huge impact on culture and footwear. Entertainers, sneakerheads, and  kids adorned his shoes, and kids mimicked his playing style, making him more popular than ever and why you see so many scrambling quarterbacks in the league now. Vick was even in an episode of the tv hit series “Atlanta"  towards the end of an episode racing one of the main protagonists played by Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino. While Michael Vick was the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, he got a shoe of his own by Nike called the Nike Zoom Vick. These shoes would go on to be a classic in the football arenas as he played in the Georgia Dome. As we’ve seen older shoes being brought back out by Nike and even included in games like Madden or College Football ‘25, I wonder if either gaming series will allow you to have the Nike Zoom Vick in the game anytime soon. Possibly better though would be a re-release of the Nike Zoom Vicks could be coming soon. Although Iverson has had his “Question” shoes by Reebok constantly in rotation throughout the years and even in games like NBA 2K’s series, we haven’t seen the “Answer” series by Reebok anywhere near as often. I think that it’s time for those to make another appearance, if not in real life then at least in the video games. 

Although Iverson’s appearance was shunned at the time because of his hip-hop persona, and yes hip hop and rap are for Black people, we see the benefits of being your authentic self can do for generations. Iverson, the reason for a dress code in the early 2000s, is also the reason you have so much attention on pre-game outfits in the NFL, NBA, and WNBA. Without his contribution to style and inspiring the masses, we wouldn’t care anything about what athletes are wearing in any of those tunnels or before getting on any planes.  Hope you enjoy the inspiration that Virginia can bring you between both of these men. Respect your roots, stay grounded and keep inspiring