MARTZ ON BOARD IN DETROIT; HARRINGTON SET TO START; LIONS ON THE CLOCK FOR 2007 DRAFT
Citizens of Detroit: we hope you enjoyed hosting the Super Bowl. Make sure you appreciate the success of native Jerome Bettis. Find something to keep you occupied on Sundays in the fall.
Now that Mike Martz is your offensive coordinator and Joey Harrington is apparently STILL your starting quarterback, you should already be looking ahead to the 2007 NFL Draft.
Stoked that fans were chanting his name last season - and unaware that they preceded it with the command “fire!” - Detroit President Matt Millen has decided to stick with Harrington, the complete bust of a former third overall pick. He told the Detroit Free Press this week:
“I think we have our starter, wouldn’t you say?” asked Millen, turning to new coach, Rod Marinelli.
During the offseason, Millen added, the Lions will seek the best backup quarterback they can get by trade, free agency or the draft. The backup would compete with Harrington, but the job is Harrington’s to lose. Somehow, a lifetime QB rating of 68.1 and 62 interceptions against only 60 touchdowns has not been enough to guarantee this loss already.
“We’re going to approach it that Harrington’s our starter,” Millen said. “We move forward on that, and we coach the heck out of him, and we get him into the system, and we start the process.”
Harrington is 18-37 as a starter. While Martz may have won a Super Bowl with the Rams in 1999, turning Kurt Warner into an MVP in the process, he’s still an arrogant jerk. And wasn’t Steve Mariucci brought in to rescue Harrington already? That sure went well.
