Joey Harrington

John Joseph Harrington Jr. (born October 21, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Detroit Lions.

He played college football for the Oregon Ducks, earning Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors as a senior.

Harrington's worst game was arguably the 2000 Civil War game in which he passed 24–36 for 333 yards, but threw five interceptions.

Three of those interceptions were by Oregon State defensive back Jake Cookus.

#8 Oregon State ultimately won 23–13 over then-#6 Oregon.

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.

Harrington was selected third overall by the Lions in the 2002 NFL Draft.

Unable to duplicate his collegiate success, he left the Lions after four seasons.

He spent his final three seasons as the primary starter for the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons and a backup with the New Orleans Saints.

Harrington was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.

He graduated from Central Catholic High School in Portland, and finished his high school career with more than 4,200 yards and 50 touchdowns rushing and passing.

Harrington's grandfather and father 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.

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 #12 Texas and #3 Colorado), 512 completions in 928 attempts (55.2%), 6,911 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), Harrington's 7,121 yards of total offense rank sixth in University of Oregon history.

Harrington's best collegiate game was arguably the 2002 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona when he threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns and helped lead the Ducks to a 38–16 victory over Colorado.

Harrington was named offensive player of the game.

Harrington was selected by the Detroit Lions with the third pick overall in the 2002 NFL Draft.

Harrington took over for incumbent Mike McMahon late in the Lions' Week 1 loss against the Miami Dolphins and became the Lions' starting quarterback shortly thereafter, finishing that year with a 50.1 completion percentage, a ratio of 12 touchdowns to 16 interceptions, and a 59.9 quarterback rating; the Lions finished the season with a 3–13 record.

He was named the 2002 recipient of the Detroit Lions/Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association Rookie of the Year Award.

Harrington's career in Detroit was largely unsuccessful.

Front office mismanagement, woeful offensive line protection, lack of talent at other skill positions, and an erratic philosophical change in the team's identity to a conservative West Coast offense-oriented attack under head coach Steve Mariucci may have played a factor in Harrington not realizing his potential professionally, as well as his own play and lack of talent.

That 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.

EA Sports selected him for the cover of the 2003 edition of their NCAA Football video game series.

Harrington was given the nickname "Captain Comeback" among fans for his ability to lead Oregon to victory in late game situations, accumulating a record of 11–2 in games in which the Ducks trailed or were tied in the fourth quarter.

During the 2003 season, Harrington joked that being "the quarterback of the Lions and the goalie of the Red Wings" were the hardest jobs in Detroit.

Harrington's best season as a Lion came in 2004, when he threw for 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

The Lions started the season with a 4–2 record, but Harrington led the team to only two more wins the rest of the season.

The Lions finished 6–10 and missed the playoffs for the fifth season in a row.

On October 23, 2005, Mariucci chose to bench Harrington in favor of veteran Jeff Garcia for the team's game against the Cleveland Browns to try to 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, Mariucci declared that Garcia would remain the starter.

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.

Despite his difficult times in Detroit, he remained unwaveringly optimistic.

In response, sarcastic Lions' fans and beat writers, who were critical of his predictable and upbeat post-game commentary as the losses continued to mount, dubbed him "Joey Blue Skies" and "Joey Sunshine".

After the 2005 season, Detroit signed free agents Jon Kitna and Josh McCown, and traded Harrington to the Miami Dolphins on May 12, 2006, for a fifth-round draft pick in 2007, after meeting performance stipulations in Miami (the pick was later traded to the New Orleans Saints).