People wonder about Joey Harrington.
When the Lions drafted him in the first round in 2002, then-Lions scout Bill Tobin thought he displayed John Elway-like qualities after watching him routinely make comebacks at Oregon.
But in two seasons, Harrington’s main achievement is survival, no small accomplishment on the least-accomplished team in football. Harrington has been given a pass for his errant passes.
Better known as that accomplished piano player on “Monday Night Football at the Mic,” Harrington would someday like to play on Monday night, something the Lions haven’t done since 2001 when they were embarrassed 35-0 at home against St. Louis.
It was one of many reasons the Lions made Harrington the highest-drafted quarterback (third overall) in the history of the current NFC North Division teams. The Bears, Packers and Vikings never have drafted a quarterback that high.
Benched briefly last season by coach Steve Mariucci for trying to force things, Harrington completed 58.7 percent of his passes in the last 10 games compared to 51 percent in the first six.
One thing Harrington has done better than anyone is avoid sacks. In 30 starts, he has been sacked only 17 times in 983 pass attempts, the lowest ratio in NFL history.
But even that impressive statistic comes with a question mark attached. Is he getting rid of the ball too quickly, throwing it up for grabs and leading the league in interceptions when a sack might be the lesser of two evils?
Another impressive thing about Harrington: He has seemed patient, refusing to complain about the woeful support around him. Others do it for him; nevertheless, he has shown admirable restraint.
“I’ll never insult my teammates like that,” he said. “Everybody I step on the field with I believe is going to make a play for me. I don’t care who it is. I’ll never fall into that.
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“We had 15 guys on injured reserve last year. We didn’t know who was lining up from week to week, and that was the big question.”
Now that the Lions have surrounded him with more talent, Harrington can answer a bigger question.