Joey Harrington facts for kids
Harrington with the New Orleans Saints in 2008
|
|||||||
| No. 3, 13 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born: | October 21, 1978 Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Central Catholic (Portland) | ||||||
| College: | Oregon (1998–2001) | ||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Player stats at PFR | |||||||
John Joseph Harrington (born October 21, 1978) is an American former professional football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons.
Joey played college football for the Oregon Ducks. In his final year, he was named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. The Detroit Lions picked him third overall in the 2002 NFL draft. After four seasons with the Lions, he played for the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons, and was a backup for the New Orleans Saints.
Contents
Early Life and Family History
Joey Harrington was born and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He went to Central Catholic High School in Portland. By the end of his high school career, he had over 4,200 yards and 50 touchdowns from running and passing.
Football was in Joey's family! His grandfather played quarterback for the University of Portland. His father played quarterback for the University of Oregon. When Joey was born, the famous Oregon Ducks coach Len Casanova even sent his parents a funny letter-of-intent, like a joke offer to play for the team.
College Football Career
Joey Harrington went to the University of Oregon. He was the starting quarterback for three years on the Oregon Ducks football team. In his last year at Oregon, he threw for 2,415 yards and 23 touchdowns.
He finished his college career with an amazing 25–3 record. This included big wins in bowl games against #12 Texas and #3 Colorado. Overall, he completed 512 passes for 6,911 yards and 59 touchdowns. He also ran for 210 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Joey was a smart student, studying business administration. He had a 3.23 GPA. His total offense yards (7,121) rank sixth in the history of the University of Oregon.
In 2001, Joey finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. This award goes to the best college football player. His campaign for the award even included a billboard in Times Square that called him "Joey Heisman." He received many awards, like first-team All-American and Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. Fans called him "Captain Comeback" because he often led Oregon to win games when they were behind in the fourth quarter. He had a record of 11–2 in these exciting games.
Best College Game
One of Joey's best college games was the 2002 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. This game was played in Tempe, Arizona. He threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns. He helped the Ducks win 38–16 against Colorado. Joey was named the offensive player of the game.
College Statistics
| Oregon Ducks | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | Passing | Rushing | |||||||
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Yds | TD | ||
| 1998 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | 8 | 84 | 158 | 53.2 | 1,180 | 10 | 3 | 133.0 | 30 | 4 |
| 2000 | 12 | 214 | 405 | 52.8 | 2,967 | 22 | 14 | 125.4 | 124 | 7 |
| 2001 | 12 | 214 | 364 | 58.8 | 2,764 | 27 | 6 | 143.8 | 56 | 7 |
| Totals | 34 | 512 | 928 | 55.2 | 6,911 | 59 | 23 | 133.8 | 210 | 18 |
Professional NFL Career
The Detroit Lions picked Joey Harrington as the third player overall in the 2002 NFL draft. He became the Lions' starting quarterback early in his first year. That year, he completed 50.1% of his passes, threw 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. The Lions finished the season with a 3–13 record. He was named the Lions' Rookie of the Year for 2002.
Joey's time in Detroit was challenging. In 2004, he had his best season as a Lion. He threw for 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Lions started strong with a 4–2 record, but only won two more games that season. They finished 6–10 and missed the playoffs.
In 2005, the Lions' coach decided to try a different quarterback. Joey later got his starting job back and played well in some games. Lions fans even voted him their Offensive Player of the Year that season. Even though things were tough, Joey always stayed positive. Because of his upbeat attitude after losses, some fans and writers jokingly called him "Joey Blue Skies" or "Joey Sunshine."
Playing for the Miami Dolphins
After the 2005 season, the Lions traded Joey to the Miami Dolphins in May 2006. He started the 2006 season as a backup quarterback. When the Dolphins' starting quarterback got hurt, Joey became the starter.
He lost his first three games as a starter. But then, he led Miami to a big 31–13 win over the Chicago Bears, who had been undefeated (7–0) at the time! Joey then led the Dolphins to four more wins in a row. This winning streak included a special game on Thanksgiving Day against his old team, the Detroit Lions. He threw for 3 touchdowns and 213 yards in that 27–10 victory. Overall, Joey started eleven games for the Dolphins in 2006, leading them to a 5–6 record.
Time with the Atlanta Falcons
In April 2007, Joey signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He was brought in to compete for the backup quarterback spot.
Joey became the starting quarterback for the Falcons after their main quarterback was suspended for the 2007 NFL season. He played well in the preseason. In Week 4, he completed 23 of 29 passes for two touchdowns with no interceptions. This helped the Falcons get their first win of the 2007 season. The Falcons released Joey in March 2008, but then re-signed him a week later. He was released again in August after the preseason.
With the New Orleans Saints
Joey signed with the New Orleans Saints in September 2008. He was the third-string quarterback for a short time. He was released and re-signed a few times that season as the team dealt with injuries.
After being cut by the Saints in September 2009, Joey did not sign with another NFL team.
NFL Career Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | ||||||||||
| 2002 | DET | 14 | 12 | 215 | 429 | 50.1 | 2,294 | 5.3 | 12 | 16 | 59.9 | ||||||||
| 2003 | DET | 16 | 16 | 309 | 554 | 55.8 | 2,880 | 5.2 | 17 | 22 | 63.9 | ||||||||
| 2004 | DET | 16 | 16 | 274 | 489 | 56.0 | 3,047 | 6.2 | 19 | 12 | 77.5 | ||||||||
| 2005 | DET | 12 | 11 | 188 | 330 | 57.0 | 2,021 | 6.1 | 12 | 12 | 72.0 | ||||||||
| 2006 | MIA | 11 | 11 | 223 | 388 | 57.5 | 2,236 | 5.8 | 12 | 15 | 68.2 | ||||||||
| 2007 | ATL | 12 | 10 | 215 | 348 | 61.8 | 2,215 | 6.4 | 7 | 8 | 77.2 | ||||||||
| 2008 | NO | 0 | 0 | DNP | |||||||||||||||
| Career | 81 | 76 | 1,424 | 2,538 | 56.1 | 14,693 | 5.8 | 79 | 85 | 69.4 | |||||||||
NFL Awards
- FedEx Air Player of the Week – Week 1, 2003
Life After Football
Joey Harrington married Emily Hatten on March 10, 2007. They have two sons. Emily is a nurse, and Joey has talked about opening a medical clinic to help homeless people in Portland.
Joey is also a talented jazz pianist. He has even performed with famous musicians like Jason Mraz. In 2008, he appeared as a guest chef on The Rachael Ray Show. He is a distant cousin of professional golfer Pádraig Harrington.
In 2009, Joey started working as a football commentator for Fox Sports Radio. In 2010, he was a color analyst for Oregon Ducks football games. Today, he is a college football analyst for Fox College Football on FX and Fox. He also works part-time as a reporter for KGW Television in Portland.
Helping Others: Philanthropy
In 2003, Joey started the Harrington Family Foundation. This is a nonprofit group that helps youth education and activities. Joey's parents, John and Valerie Harrington, help run the foundation.
The foundation began with some of the money Joey received when he signed with the Detroit Lions. They also raise money by selling sports items and hosting events. After a "Joey Heisman" billboard was put up in New York's Times Square, Joey had it cut into pieces. He then sold the pieces for charity. All the money raised went towards scholarships for the University of Oregon.
