Joey Harrington
John Joseph "Joey" Harrington Jr. (born October 21, 1978 in Portland, Oregon) is the backup quarterback for the Detroit Lions. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon, and was a three-year starter on the Oregon Ducks football team.
Joey's paternal grandfather, Bernie Harrington, was an All-American at the University of Portland in the early 1940s, and went to all of Joey's games until his death in 2002. Joey's father, John Harrington, played quarterback for the University of Oregon from 1967 to 1969 for legendary coach Len Cassanova. After hearing about Joey's birth, Cassanova jokingly sent his parents a letter-of-intent. Joey is also a gifted piano player; while he has yet to appear on a regular season Monday Night Football telecast as a football player, he competed in "Monday Night at the Mic" in 2003.
Professional Career
As the third overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, Harrington replaced former starting quarterback Mike McMahon. Harrington finished the season with a 59.9 quarterback rating and a 50.1 completion percentage with 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, and the Lions finished the season with a 3-13 record.
Harrington's statistics in the NFL have been sub-par; he ranked 30th out of 32 quarterbacks in quarterback rating in 2003, 22nd out of 33 in 2004, and through five games in 2005, he ranks last out of 32 qualifiers. His career completion percentage of 54% is the lowest of any current NFL quarterback with at least two years of experience in the league.
The Lions signed three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Garcia as a free agent before the 2005 season. Garcia broke a leg in the team's final preseason game, allowing Harrington to remain the starter for the season's first five games. On October 23, 2005, Lions coach Steve Mariucci chose to bench Harrington in favor of Garcia for the team's game against the Cleveland Browns and declared afterward that Garcia would remain the starter. The Lions won 13-10, and Garcia rushed for Detroit's only touchdown. 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. Two games later, Harrington regained the starting role after Garcia admitted to downplaying his injuries and that he did not feel ready to play. Detroit lost to the Minnesota Vikings 27-14 where Harrington completed 28 of 48 passes for 263 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and lost a fumble. Interestingly he was the Lions leading rusher in that game, with 17 yards. With Garcia still recovering from injury, Harrington is expected to start November 13, 2005, against the Arizona Cardinals.