Untold: The Fall of Favre is the most recent chapter within the sports-centric docuseries (which is streamable with a Netflix subscription). Directed by Rebecca Gitlitz, the doc focuses on famend quarterback Brett Favre’s stellar NFL profession in addition to the controversies he’s been wrapped up in. Gitlitz spoke to quite a few individuals for the manufacturing, together with Favre accuser Jenn Sterger. The filmmaker additionally spoke to ex-QB Michael Vick, and Gitlitz defined to CinemaBlend simply why she needed him to be concerned.
In the course of the early 2000s, Michael Vick was heralded as one of the crucial gifted quarterbacks within the NFL. The Virginia native rose to prominence because the chief of the Atlanta Falcons, making three Professional Bowl appearances whereas with the staff and turning into a family identify. Like Brett Favre, Vick discovered himself in rarified air forward of the authorized points he turned embroiled in 2007. Once I spoke to Rebecca Gitlitz about The Fall of Favre, she defined to me that Vick’s involvement was about far more than having a significant identify:
I feel that there was the Brett Favre story that has been instructed by a really singular voice [or] perspective for a really very long time. And I needed to kind of flip that on its head and possibly in smaller methods, name out issues that are not blatantly stated. And that’s the double requirements that some individuals face, that’s the privilege that some individuals face. And so I feel that what I needed to do was inform these items in very nuanced methods, and that’s the reason we had a really totally different crop of voices, and Michael Vick evokes one thing in individuals.
So the School Soccer Corridor of Fame inductee’s involvement on this 2025 TV schedule entry was in nice half because of the director’s need to have somebody who may present a novel perspective and supply mandatory nuance. In the course of the doc, the previous Philadelphia Eagle does certainly present some eager perception into what it’s prefer to be a star soccer participant and the way the general public perceives such an athlete.
The trajectory of Michael Vick’s profession modified dramatically after he pleaded responsible to felony costs involving the Dangerous Newz Kennels dog-fighting ring. Vick finally spent 21 months in federal jail and was launched by the Falcons in June 2009, shortly earlier than his launch. Whereas he later performed a number of seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and signed with different groups earlier than retiring, Vick’s profession was arguably by no means the identical. Throughout our interview, Rebecca Gitlitz contemplated Vick’s state of affairs compared to Brett Favre’s:
I used to be questioning, and to not examine Brett Favre’s story to Michael Vick’s story, however Michael Vick’s story was in all places, proper? It touched every bit and each nook of this nation. Individuals that do not know something about sports activities had been like, ‘Oh properly, Michael Vick and the canines.’ And I did not perceive that in reference to this story, and so I needed individuals to kind of be provoked proper by Michael Vick and like, it is a star quarterback, and he can communicate to being a star quarterback and the privilege and the autumn higher than anyone. So Michael Vick was… yeah, he was somebody that I actually needed part of, and I used to be actually, actually grateful that he agreed.
Rebecca Gitlitz later stated that Vick has been “totally accountable” for his previous offenses and that he’s “at peace” with that. Right this moment, his life is loads totally different, although he’s nonetheless concerned in sports activities, given he’s the pinnacle coach of Norfolk State’s soccer staff. Some nonetheless make notice of Vick’s heroics on the gridiron, together with Jamie Foxx, who honored him on Black Historical past Month earlier this yr. Vick can be an athlete who’s headlined his personal documentary, as he was the topic of ESPN’s two-part doc 30 for 30: VICK.
The previous Pittsburgh Steeler isn’t the one notable particular person interviewed for The Fall of Favre, with the aforementioned Jenn Sterger being one other main contributor. Sterger’s claims about Brett Favre sending her inappropriate textual content messages and voicemails are closely highlighted in the course of the present. Rebecca Gitlitz additionally spoke to me about convincing Sterger to inform her story, explaining that she “listened” to the previous sports activities journalist to be able to deal with her story with care.
Untold has lined a myriad of subjects because it started in 2021, together with Manti Te’o’s catfishing scandal and the BALCO steroid scandal. The Fall of Favre stands as yet one more fascinating look right into a closely mentioned story from inside the sports activities world. I’d argue that Michael Vick’s function is what provides to the intrigue of this newest documentary. You possibly can see Vick share his ideas alongside others by testing the present on Netflix now.