Harrington's "interesting" personality...

[jac3477]

First of all, I dont know much about Joey Harrington and to be honest (unlike many of the HOMERS on this board) I was not thrilled by his play during his years with the lions. In fact, ive basically always thught he was a bust. This particular opinion however, has changed upon seeing some more in depth highlights and reading some lions fans opinions.

what i dont like about harrington is tat he seems to be very fickle, naive, and somewhat of a bit of a cry baby. i say this because of that harrinton interview people just posted in which he talks about detroit in detail. He seems so stunned that the team started questioning his quarterbacking after 4 mediocre years???? in the nfl hes lucky to have survived that long, and onlya team like the lions (and wanny's fins) would have allowed this poor quarterbacking for that long. The guy always showed great potential (which i saw in the highlights) but was quick to fall apart. Joey is a little naive in that he expected everyone to just smile at him all the time. Also, before Marinelli came in, Joey said he was more than wlling to be the qb of their team...when joey found out that he will simply have some competition (Mccown, kitna) he got all sentimental and came back from his vacation grumpy, and uncooperative just bc martz has a different style of coaching and bc he didnt like the heat on his back from the competition.

I understand that the lions organization is in bad shape and that his coming here shows he might not have issues with competition..I am also aware that you cannot understand a person just from a short interview. Yet Joey seems naive in being surprised at people turning their back because of poor play. Us phins fans were up in arms after wanny kept giving fiedler the nod, because we couldnt believe noone was adressing the mediocre qbing of our team. its the same situation in detroit except joey seems to think he had a career long pass to play however he wanted. We also critisized Frerotte because he was bitter and wanted to leave after we got him some competition, yet harrington did the same in detroit.

I believe Harrington has the qualities to be a good qb. He is def. a thoughtful, intelligent guy. I do not, however, think that detroit screwed him over or any of the other homer comments on this board (I swear you all sway like the wind, if saban wanted to hire osama bin laden you would find a way to make it look good). Harrington didnt produce on the field, and he was grumpy about it. Obviously Saban sees a way into enacting a new attitude with this kid, because so far, his character traits have been anything but saban-like.

 

[PhinsRock]

Just give the kid a chance, why can't we be a little optimistic and hopeful? The 49ers were hopeful when they brought in Steve Young after he SUCKED and WHINED in Tampa Bay for years.

In Saban We Trust!

 

[JepheryRoss]

plus you have to look at it from the management side of the team, not just purely based on joey

our current starting qb is rehab'ing an knee injury and our backup is cleo lemon

we now get a young , unproven, 1st round qb for a mere 7th round pick.... its great... sure, he may continue to be a bust... but (a) his play wasn't much better/worse than frerotte and we did ok with him (b) if he were to develope he's a great trade value to the team next year when we'll most definately be looking to bring in a lot of young defensive talent in the draft

 

[tcdrover]

I've watched a few Lions games where he played and honestly thought that he played well.

The lions lost those games though because of special teams errors and missed FG's.

I think he was under too much pressure in Detroit. There seems to have been too many people there expecting the QB to magically make that team win and play much better than it really was.

That team bit, they made mistakes on both sides of the ball and their special teams play was horrible. Their kicker lost a few games for them as well.

He played well in college, he won the 3 bowl games that he started in. This is a MUCH more structered team that we have in every sense.

Coach Saban is large and in charge. He either will play well or play badly, he'll stand on his own merit while he's here. I don't see Saban or anyone on this team blaming him if the rest of the team plays badly, and I don't see that happening...

 

[eric-in-tx]

if saban wanted to hire osama bin laden you would find a way to make it look good.

you may be on to something there
he does have the ideal size and leadership qualities you look for in a QB..
isnt he like 6.5 he has a winning track record ralying the Afganies to victory over the soviat Union.
i'm telling you that he may have had a bad run the last couple of years but he has the measureables you look for and could resurect a career for the dolphins.:tantrum:

 

[EBMisfit]

what i dont like about harrington is tat he seems to be very fickle, naive, and somewhat of a bit of a cry baby.

Sounds like a good description of some of his detractors as well. Before people go on wah-wahing that he isn't perfect, they should realize that there weren't any clearly better options.

(I'm not necessarily saying you, but as for anyone else, if the shoe fits....)

 

[DoggPhin]

I think its hard to understand that Interview, without knowing the time line and some of the background. Mitch Albom did that story for readers in Detroit who follow the team and were begging to hear Joey's "side" of the story. You know how things are in the media.

>> He seems so stunned that the team started questioning his quarterbacking after 4 mediocre years???

Look, the main problem there was coaching. He took blame for his QB play - but he's still running the plays given to him. This is the NFL not high school football. Most of the time, he executed the offense. It was a horribly conservative offense. He talks about that in the Interview.

If you understand the game of football, a team needs decent blocking and WR's to run their routes correctly, in order for the Quarterback to produce. You can't just dump everything as the QB's fault. Fact is, Harrington was mostly playing better than the other guys on Offense.

>> When Joey found out that he will simply have some competition (Mccown, Kitna) he got all sentimental and came back from his vacation grumpy, and uncooperative

First - you have to understand the soap opera of 2005, that ended with Mariucci getting fired in the middle of a season. It was ridiculous - did you watch the Thanksgiving game? Troy Aikman wondered out loud, on national TV - what is going on here. Joey Harrington was playing fine, why is he getting benched? It's the WR's dropping passes. He's putting the ball right on the money.

From the Interview I get - he was looking for some assurances from the new coach, Marinelli. He wants to play for a winner. Its not all about the money anymore. He'll be fine here as the underdog. In Detroit - let Kitna and McCown and Orlovsky battle it out, maybe they'll rotate all 3 QB's there, who knows?

 

[DolphinzD]

If he were going to be the permanent starter, I would be concerned. But since he'll be the back-up once Culpepper is healthy, I'm not too worried. I honestly would rather have had Frerotte back to start the season (if Culpepper isn't ready), since he's so familiar with the players and offense, but whatever. This should be fine.

 

[miaD5499]

Just give the kid a chance, why can't we be a little optimistic and hopeful? The 49ers were hopeful when they brought in Steve Young after he SUCKED and WHINED in Tampa Bay for years.

In Saban We Trust!

exactly give the guy a chance and the bennefit of doubt i mean some qbs just dont mesh well with certain teams, harrington showed a lot of potential in college and thats why he was drafted so high but there was a reason the lions were picking at number 3, because they are horrible.....here on the dolphins joey isnt expected to do as much as he was in detriot so i think under less pressure he will succeed if needed because for the most part he is dauntes back up unless daunte is not ready to start the season (joey had very good numbers against the steelers last year)...i like the move and i think joey will develope into a solid qb under the dolphins coaches

 

[hestar]

I think its hard to understand that Interview, without knowing the time line and some of the background. Mitch Albom did that story for readers in Detroit who follow the team and were begging to hear Joey's "side" of the story. You know how things are in the media.

>> He seems so stunned that the team started questioning his quarterbacking after 4 mediocre years???

Look, the main problem there was coaching. He took blame for his QB play - but he's still running the plays given to him. This is the NFL not high school football. Most of the time, he executed the offense. It was a horribly conservative offense. He talks about that in the Interview.

If you understand the game of football, a team needs decent blocking and WR's to run their routes correctly, in order for the Quarterback to produce. You can't just dump everything as the QB's fault. Fact is, Harrington was mostly playing better than the other guys on Offense.

>> When Joey found out that he will simply have some competition (Mccown, Kitna) he got all sentimental and came back from his vacation grumpy, and uncooperative

First - you have to understand the soap opera of 2005, that ended with Mariucci getting fired in the middle of a season. It was ridiculous - did you watch the Thanksgiving game? Troy Aikman wondered out loud, on national TV - what is going on here. Joey Harrington was playing fine, why is he getting benched? It's the WR's dropping passes. He's putting the ball right on the money.

From the Interview I get - he was looking for some assurances from the new coach, Marinelli. He wants to play for a winner. Its not all about the money anymore. He'll be fine here as the underdog. In Detroit - let Kitna and McCown and Orlovsky battle it out, maybe they'll rotate all 3 QB's there, who knows?

http://www.detroitlions.com/photos/Harrington_Review06.jpg

:yeahthat:...Not saying he's gonna be the next marino,but I'm hoping he does good and proves people wrong.

 

[rvicious]

you may be on to something there
he does have the ideal size and leadership qualities you look for in a QB..
isnt he like 6.5 he has a winning track record ralying the Afganies to victory over the soviat Union.
i'm telling you that he may have had a bad run the last couple of years but he has the measureables you look for and could resurect a career for the dolphins.:tantrum:

:sidelol: :sidelol: :sidelol:

 

[killakimo]

someone needs to light a fire under his @$$ though. he's too nice, always smiling and stuff. kinda like andruw jones of the braves...always got a smirk on his face. we need some Marino emotion dammit!

 

[endorphin]

Funny how different people can read the same article and get completely different perspectives...

 

[MoTown Finman]

I live in the Detroit area and I have seen most of his games. He has had difficulty no doubt about it. Detroit ruins players. They expected him to come in and save the organization. It is way too much pressure. Barry Sanders got the hell out because they are not committed to winning. They never have been and probably never will. I have been a fan of the fins since the early 70's. My children are not even fans. It is by far the worst run team in the league!! Joey needs a good coach who will teach him and not put all responsibility on him. When Ricky came here he was happy there were other great players. In Detroit Joey had no one. I will also say he is a stand up, class act. He never, until this article, said one word about his teammates or caoches, even though they said things about him! I truly respect him. Bottom line he has potential. He can lean on others. He can get Chambers, Brown, Booker, McMike the ball. On defense we have Taylor, Zach and Seau was there. He never had that in Detroit. Only Roy Williams has kind of panned out. Rogers is a punk, does drugs and is always injured. M. Williams has done nothing. The line sucks need I go on?

 

[cs2p]

He played 4 years for Lions. Four! He`s not rookie anymore, he had many chances there. O.K., maybe he didn`t have support from his teammates, maybe he was coached wrong.. And maybe he`ll do better here. But you`re talking like that`s sure thing and we`re in play-offs 100%, with or without C-pepp. A little too ambitious, I think.

Obviously Saban sees a way into enacting a new attitude with this kid, because so far, his character traits have been anything but saban-like.

I disagree. He actually didn`t look like a crybaby. He was critisized, but he didn`t strike back. Instead he worked harder and tried to respond on the field. He didn`t say anything before he left Detroit, because he didn`t want to ruin team spirit. That`s Saban-like.

edit:
I will also say he is a stand up, class act. He never, until this article, said one word about his teammates or caoches, even though they said things about him! I truly respect him.

Exactley what I was trying to say. Thank you.