The Harrington Family Foundation

DETROIT -- Well, that had to feel good.

''Is that a question?'' asked Joey Harrington, current Dolphins quarterback and former Detroit quarterback hope. After confirmation, Harrington's face went through some mini-contortions around happiness.

"Pretty good. Really good.''

Verbose describes Harrington's speech pattern, but in all the words he will pour into a well-thought answer, there's not much trash. On Thursday he earned the right to talk stuff as fiercely as he wanted on this day.

Instead, Harrington stayed the course. He endorsed Detroit coach Rod Marinelli, who decided Harrington could best serve the Lions organization by being traded. He wouldn't talk a touchdown dance on the grave of the Lions or cornerback Dré Bly, who fingered Harrington's play for coach Steve Mariucci's firing a year ago.

He focused on the good, team and personal: 27-10, Dolphins and 19 of 29 for 213 yards passing, three touchdowns, one interception, one game ball and one skillet of blackberry cobbler with which Harrington joyously ran off the field.

AWARD-WINNER

That last one came from CBS broadcaster Phil Simms, who awards the dessert made by his mother, to the game's stars. Bet that sometime last night, Harrington, perceived as soft in parts of the Lions locker room and most of the city, chuckled to himself that he got such an honor from Simms, a player known for having the mental and physical toughness to play for Bill Parcells and in New York.

And he got it for a game in Detroit.

''It was nice to have that feeling in this building,'' Harrington said. "For as much as I tried to downplay it, for as much as I needed to downplay it for the sake of the team and what we were trying to accomplish, there was still a lot of emotion coming back.

''I haven't forgotten what had happened,'' he continued. "I've moved on beyond it.''

Harrington wouldn't even call the game ''payback'' for the harassment he took when he turned out to be just another quarterback who failed to turn around a Ford-owned franchise that has won one playoff game since 1957. (The Curse of The Edsel?)

''No, no I don't because that would indicate some sort of vengeance. It's more of just a good feeling,'' Harrington said. "I don't know how to describe it; I just felt great. I'm so happy to be part of a team that plays like that. A team that plays hard, a team that plays together. A team that I can be proud of and a place I'm appreciated. It's not payback.''

Harrington notices there's a backlashing minority in Detroit

''I've had more well-wishers from Detroit than I ever expected,'' he said. 'I had two or three come up to me last night and say, `I'm a diehard Lions fan, and I hope you beat them tomorrow.' ''

That group definitely was in the minority Thursday. About 60,000 people came to Ford Field, a giant hangar-shaped construct that's one of America's most beautiful places folks gather to express their discontent, ready to boo Harrington.

SLIGHT DIG

For the first time in an NFL stadium that anyone could remember, the pregame introductions included three units -- Detroit offense, Dolphins defense and Harrington. The latter two entered the stadium to Billy Joel's Piano Man, a reference to Harrington's ability to play the piano, a skill the locals found effeté once the Lions kept losing.

''I didn't hear it,'' Harrington laughed. ``[Tight end] Justin [Peele] actually was laughing and told me about it when we got to the sidelines. It was clever. There's no sense in beating around the bush. If you're going to go for it, you might as well do something unique.''

After the Lions took a 10-0 lead, Harrington got hotter than the rolls, treating the Lions defense the way my family out in Oak Park, Mich., treated the fried turkey and chitterlings. At one point, he was 12 of 16 for 144 yards, two touchdowns and three of the four incompletions had been drops. The Dolphins, up 14-10, were two-minute drilling the Lions defense for a spirit-killing score right before halftime.

Harrington ended that threat with his one interception of the day. Still, the crowd that booed Harrington's every appearance on the video boards already had fallen to silent sulking. As the Dolphins took a 24-10 lead in the third quarter, Lions fans turned their fire on Lions president and CEO Matt Millen and the home team.

''That was the natural progression,'' Harrington said. "That was the progression I've seen since I've been there. I stood on the sidelines at the end of the third quarter, and I looked across and I saw people hanging their heads.

'And I saw people start walking out of the stadium. I thought to myself, `I'm happy I don't have to go through this anymore.' ''