Dec 21st 2008 3:30PM by Tom Mantzouranis (author feed)
Filed under: Lions, Saints

Joey Harrington, the one-time Lions quarterback of the future and third overall pick, had a rough go of it in Detroit. The on-field product was pretty lousy, and eventually the media, fans, and even his teammates (not to mention Tony Siragusa) turned against him. The Joey Harrington days in Detroit could hardly be described as halcyon.

Since, Harrington has populated the depth chart in Miami, Atlanta, and now New Orleans, where he’s the third quarterback for the Saints and, thus, standing on the sideline opposite of the one he owned when the Fords handed him a chunk of their auto empire earnings. But it’s funny how time changes perception.

In a display of exactly how pitiful the Lions are this year, fans in attendance at today’s Saints-Lions game began chanting Harrington’s name with nary a trace of irony (this was sincere longing). The entire city of Detroit was desperate to rid itself of Harrington not too long ago, but if you offered them the trade-off of the simply below-average Harrington-led Lions or the 0-fer bound Lions of 2008, well, it’s obvious their choice. You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone, indeed.