Michael Vick is AP’s NFL Comeback Player of the Year

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick takes a question during a broadcast interview, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011, in Dallas.

*The Associated Press’ 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year was awarded to Michael Vick on Saturday night – marking the first time in the award’s 12-year history that a player has returned from jail to win it.

After missing two seasons while serving a federal sentence for dogfighting, then spending most of the previous year as a seldom-used backup in Philadelphia, Vick was back at his best in 2010. Taking over as starter in Week 2 after Kevin Kolb sustained a concussion, Vick ran and passed the Eagles to the NFC East title and a 10-6 record.

Vick also displayed the kind of reformation away from the game that impressed a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. Vick received 29½ votes for the award, easily beating Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Mike Williams, who got eight.

“It’s unbelievable,” Vick said Saturday on NFL Network’s “NFL Total Access,” which exclusively revealed the award, in conjunction with The AP. “I have to give all glory to God and thank my coaches and my teammates. They put me in this position, they got me better as an NFL player, as a quarterback. They took advantage of my talents.”