"I hate everybody on this team and everybody hates me."
Source: Joey Harrington, one or two weeks ago
That’s not really news, but still, wow. The Lions signed two quarterbacks this week, Jon Kitna and Josh McCown and now we know why.
The Lions new coaching staff has been very careful in the media these past couple months to do nothing but heap praise on Harrington’s potential. New OC Mike Martz then brought in all the QBs to a QB school two weeks ago. Harrington was supposed to be available to the media by Friday. On Wednesday they sent word that he would not be. Then there were rumors (probably true) that he had left town for Thailand last week.
I’ve been soaking this all in this week. When Kitna was signed I figured, “hey, they needed an en experienced QB be it backup or starter.” But then the rumor-mill reported that the Lions were still chasing McCown. At that point you knew something was up, but evidently it’s not the Lions saving face. The more the Detroit media reports the clearer it is that it’s Harrington who wants out of Detroit and not Detroit going out of its way to dump Harrington.
And you can’t really blame the guy. He’s been treated like dirt the last four years in Detroit and a lot of it isn’t deserved. Today the Detroit media is talking all about how he “endured” and “held his head high” despite a coaching staff that hardly spoke to him, an offensive gameplan out of the Paleozoic era, and players lambasting him in the media. Funny, that’s not what they were saying about him when it was actually happening.
All that said, that quote (the title for this post) is just shocking for it’s bluntness. (Bear in mind it’s being reported second-hand and is not something Harrington said to the Detroit media. I mean I knew it was bad, but I didn’t think it was on the level of mutual “hate.” Evidently, last week Harrington went so far as to tank himself at the QB school refusing to take notes, responding slowly to questions asked, etc. Finally he left and told management he’d restructure his contract however he had to so long as it got him out of Detroit. Well, Joe, you’re gonna get your wish. Best of luck to you.
My instinct is to resent a player who goes to these lengths to get out of dodge, but the Lions took a promising talent and basically broke him, so it’s probably best to just wave goodbye and wish him good luck. I really hope he can salvage his career elsewhere because there’s no doubt in my mind he’d have been a better QB had a team more capable than Detroit (at the time) drafted him.
This leaves the Lions with Kitna and McCown as the possible starters next year. I still haven’t decided how to feel about that. Kitna was solid the last full season he started in Cincy and he had an okay year or two in Seattle. McCown can sling the ball and take a beating, which may make him a good fit in a Mike Martz offense. It’s hard to judge the quality of a QB whose career has thus far been based in Arizona, which is probably how potential suitors will view Harrington’s tenure in Detroit too. I still expect that it will be a rocky start to the season, maybe even as bad as 2-6, that will follow-up with a good run to end the year and hopefully lead to something worth watching in 2007. Hey, a guy can dream.