No, Michael Vick Did Not Break His Legs In a Car Accident

Monday’s social media stream includes some posts about Eagles quarterback Michael Vick breaking his legs in a car accident. But as much as some dog lovers out there might wish ill will on Vick, who spent time in prison thanks to his unfortunate affinity for dogfighting, Vick did not, in fact, break his legs in a car accident.

The hoax appeared on Monday on the Global Associated News website:

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia highway safety authority (HSA) has confirmed that Michael Vick has broken both of his legs in a traffic altercation. He has been transported via ambulance to a local Philadelphia hospital for treatment, and the full extent of his injuries are not known at this time, however, both of his legs were visibly broken and not life threatening according to sources.

The accident involved a 2012 BMW driven by Michael Vick and a 76 year old female driver in a 2010 Audi. The driver of the Audi was issued a citation for failing to stop at a red light before striking the vehicle driven by Michael Vick at a high rate of speed.

Team spokespersons could not be reached for comment at this time.

Of course, if you scroll way, way down on the page to the fine print at the bottom, this is what you will find:

About this web site. FAKE… THIS STORY IS 100% FAKE! this is an entertainment website, and this is a totally fake article based on zero truth and is a complete work of fiction for entertainment purposes! this story was dynamically generated using a generic ‘template’ and is not factual. Any reference to specific individuals has been 100% fabricated by web site visitors who have created fake stories by entering a name into a blank ‘non-specific’ template for the purpose of entertainment.

Vick has been the, er, victim of Internet hoaxes in the past, and we’re sure this won’t be the last time. As of 1 p.m. on Monday, over 19,000 readers “liked” the story on Facebook and several hundred retweeted it.