JOEY HARRINGTON

'John Joseph "Joey" Harrington Jr' (born October 21, 1978 in Portland, Oregon) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. He was recently signed to be a backup to Michael Vick following the trade of Matt Schaub. Harrington enters the season as starting quarterback following the indefinite suspension of Michael Vick from the NFL.^[1]

Contents

Early Days

College career

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Trade

Miami Dolphins

Atlanta Falcons

Controversy

References

External links

Early Days

Joey Harrington was born and raised in Oregon, where he has resided his entire life. He is Roman Catholic. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in Portland, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, and finished his high school career with more than 4,200 yards and 50 TDs rushing and passing. On March 10, 2007, he married Emily Louise Hatten. Joey and Emily met in high school but did not date until much later.
His grandfather and father both played quarterback for the Universities of Portland and Oregon, respectively, and upon hearing of Joey's birth, legendary Oregon Ducks' coach Len Casanova jokingly sent his parents a letter-of-intent.
Joey is of Irish descent, and is a distant cousin of professional golfer Padraig Harrington. He is also a cousin of 1995 World Series of Poker main event champion Dan Harrington.

College career

Harrington is a graduate of the University of Oregon, and was a three-year starter on the Oregon Ducks football team. In his senior season at Oregon, he threw for 2,415 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he finished his college career with a 25-3 record (including bowl wins against 12th-ranked Texas and 3rd-ranked Colorado), 512 completions in 928 attempts (55.2%), 6911 passing yards, 59 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and 210 rushing yards and 18 scores on 145 carries. A Business Administration major with a 3.23 GPA (twice earning honors with a 3.34 GPA,^[2][3] Harrington's 7,121 yards of total offense rank third in University of Oregon history.
Harrington's worst game came during the 2000 Civil War game against the Oregon State Beavers, Oregon's archrival. Harrington threw 5 interceptions (and fumbled once), costing the Ducks a 23-13 defeat and costing them a trip to the Rose Bowl. The game marred an otherwise very good junior season.
Harrington finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 2001, following a campaign for the award that included a billboard in Times Square promoting him as "Joey Heisman." He earned numerous honors, including first-team All-American, Pac 10 Offensive Player of the Year, and second-team honors from The Sporting News. He was one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 2001. He was also known for his 2001 appearance on a ten-story billboard in Times Square.^[4] EA Sports selected him for the cover of the 2003 edition of their NCAA Football video game series.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Harrington was picked by the Detroit Lions with the third overall draft pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, after QB David Carr and DE Julius Peppers. Harrington immediately became the Lions' starting quarterback during his rookie season, finishing that year with a 50.1 completion percentage, a ratio of 12 touchdowns to 16 interceptions, and a decidedly subpar 59.9 quarterback rating; the Lions finished the season with a 3-13 record. In part because of the Lions' lack of offensive weapons -- but also very much because of his own shortcomings as a quarterback -- Harrington would go on to post a number of the worst yards per attempt seasons ''ever'' by a regular QB during his tenure with the Lions. Among those dismal performances were his 2002 and 2003 campaigns, the two worst YPA showings in the NFL or AFL since 1960 among QBs with 425 or more attempts in a season.^[5]
On October 23, 2005, Lions coach Steve Mariucci chose to bench Harrington in favor of Jeff Garcia for the team's game against the Cleveland Browns to try and provide a spark to the team's 2-3 start. The Lions won 13-10, and Garcia rushed for Detroit's only touchdown. After yet another dismal offensive performance, Coach Mariucci declared that Garcia would remain the starter. This marked the first time since the 2002 season that Harrington did not appear in a Lions' game, breaking a string of 37 consecutive appearances. Harrington regained the starting role the week after Garcia threw a game ending interception returned for a touchdown in overtime against Chicago. Harrington started again for Detroit on November 13, 2005, against the Arizona Cardinals, throwing for three touchdowns without an interception in the Lions' 29-21 win. Harrington was voted by Lions fans as their Offensive Player of the Year, according to the Lions' official website.

Trade

On March 16, 2006, the Detroit Lions signed former Arizona quarterback Josh McCown, and shortly afterward signed quarterback Jon Kitna as well, fueling speculation that Harrington would be cut or traded. He was due a $4 million roster bonus on June 15.^[6] On March 20, 2006, Lions coach Rod Marinelli stated to the media that the Lions had "moved on," indicating the team's intention to release or trade Harrington.^[7] On April 19, ESPN reported that Harrington had agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins, and asked Lions GM Matt Millen to release him or to trade him to the Dolphins.^[8]
On May 12, 2006, a trade was finalized between the Miami Dolphins and the Detroit Lions. Reportedly, the Lions were given a 6th round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft, but if Harrington met certain playing time conditions with the Dolphins, the pick would be upgraded to the 5th round. Harrington started the 2006 season as a backup behind new Dolphins quarterback Daunte Culpepper. During his tenure with the Lions, Harrington started 55 games and had a record of 18 wins and 37 losses.^[9]

Miami Dolphins

In 2006, Harrington did not play in the Dolphins' first four games, backing up Culpepper. Culpepper injured his shoulder prior to Miami's fifth game against the New England Patriots, forcing Harrington into the starting role. Harrington lost his first three starts, before leading Miami to a stunning 31-13 upset of the previously unbeaten (7-0 at the time) Chicago Bears. Harrington followed that game with three consecutive victories, capped by a 27-10 Thanksgiving Day win at Ford Field against his former team, the Detroit Lions. Harrington passed for 3 touchdowns and 213 yards against Detroit, compiling a quarterback rating of 107.4, his highest single game rating for 2006. Harrington struggled after the Lions' game. Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, Harrington went 5-for-17 for a mere 20 yards, throwing 2 interceptions. His quarterback rating for the game was 0.0, the minimum possible under the complex NFL formula. Harrington was pulled midway through Miami's next game against the New York Jets, replaced in the 13-10 Christmas night loss by Cleo Lemon. Harrington did not appear in Miami's Week 17 finale against the Indianapolis Colts. Overall, Harrington played in and started eleven games, leading Miami to a 5-6 record (Miami finished 6-10 for the season as a whole).
For the 2006 season, Harrington completed 223 of 388 passes (57.5 percent completion percentage) for 2,236 yards with 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. His quarterback rating was 68.2, lower than each of his last two seasons with Detroit. Because of a high salary cap number, the Dolphins released Harrington on March 5, 2007.

Atlanta Falcons

On April 9, 2007 Harrington agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons to compete with D. J. Shockley and Chris Redman to back up Michael Vick. ^[10]
However, due to recent allegations involving Michael Vick's association with a dogfighting ring, the NFL has imposed an indefinite suspension on him, allowing Harrington to be elevated to the starting QB for the 2007 season.

Controversy

Harrington was first given the label of "Savior" by fans and media in Detroit - then deemed a "bust" when he did not meet high expectations. Many speculate that his premature start in the NFL, along with lack of surrounding talent, poor coaching, and horrible offensive lines have affected his performance severely. Many other quarterbacks have come under the same scrutiny, such as Tim Couch and David Carr, who also eventually lost their starting jobs.
Fellow quarterbacks have come to his defense. In 2005, NFL analyst and Hall Of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman wrote that Harrington "can still be a really good quarterback in this league" and does not deserve the blame for what happened in Detroit: "The focus on Joey's play has given every other player a hall pass, and that's not right".^[11]
Phil Simms, a CBS Sports analyst and Super Bowl MVP, said in 2006 that Harrington got a bad rap in Detroit. "I am not a Joey Harrington basher", "The quarterback can't overcome bad coaching and bad players".^[12] - Former Miami Dolphins quarterback and television analyst Dan Marino said that he did not believe that Harrington had the necessary pieces around him in Detroit to be successful, but that he might be OK in a different place.
When Lions head coach Steve Mariucci was fired by general manager Matt Millen, Lions cornerback Dré Bly told Rich Eisen in an NFL Total Access interview that he blamed Harrington for the dismissal of head coach Steve Mariucci. (Bly later apologized to the Lions, but not to Harrington.)
Some fingers were also pointed at the Lions' management and coaching staff. Jeff Garcia publicly questioned the Lions' front office, saying on WXYT that "You start to question whether the organization has the people in place who can go about making the proper selections."^[13] Howie Long, analyst for FOX Sports said that Matt Millen made a mistake by drafting Harrington, and then again in the offseason before the 2005 season by signing Garcia instead of Brad Johnson.

References

1. Joey Harrington: Atlanta's Starter ... For Now
2. Superior Student Athletes
3. Joey Harrington, QB - Oregon
4. Detroit Lions Site: Joey Harrington
5. Joey Harrington
6. Lions ink free agent QB McCown
7. Marinelli: Lions will 'move on' without QB Harrington
8. Harrington picks Dolphins, awaits Millen's move
9. Harrington sent to Dolphins for draft pick
10. Former No. 1 pick Harrington agrees to Falcons deal
11. Harrington doesn't deserve all the blame
12. Simms sounds off
13. Bly points finger for firing at Harrington

External links

★ Detroit Lions Bio

★ Miami Dolphins Bio

★ The Harrington Family Foundation