The Harrington Family Foundation

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- As he prepares for his fourth NFL season, Lions quarterback Joey Harrington is likely to turn to a new cohort for some professional guidance.

When Detroit signed Jeff Garcia in the offseason, it gave Harrington a teammate that has seen success as a professional signal caller. So far, it appears the relationship is developing nicely.

"I look at Jeff Garcia and I see success," Harrington said after Friday's first training camp practice. "He's been where I want to be. He's been to Pro Bowls and the playoffs and that's what I want.
"Whether he's pushing me for a job or pushing me to get better, he's still pushing me to get better."

Harrington improved in almost every statistical category last season and threw more touchdowns (19) than interceptions (12) for the first time in his career, but the team still encountered offensive droughts and finished 6-10 after a 4-2 start.

In three of the team's last six games, Harrington didn't throw a touchdown pass. Thanks to the emergence of tailback Kevin Jones and a receiving corps that now features Charles Rogers, Roy Williams, Mike Williams, Marcus Pollard and Kevin Johnson, the Lions could have one of the more potent offensive units in the NFC. As it was last season, the pressure is on Harrington to get them the ball. Given that arsenal, Harrington said he's excited about the pressure to perform but added that a bit of luck wouldn't hurt.

"I've learned that a lot of times it's a matter of a team catching a few breaks," he said. "Once that happens, you begin to think you can't make a mistake and you can't lose. That rush of confidence can help a team and that's something we really could use."

Enter Garcia, who made three trips to the Pro Bowl from 2000 to 2002 while playing in Mariucci's West Coast offense at San Francisco. In 2000, his breakout season, Garcia threw for a franchise-record 4,278 yards and finished second in the NFL in touchdown passes (31). He took the 49ers to the playoffs the next two seasons. After losing records as a starter in 2003 at San Francisco and last season in Cleveland, he's coming to Detroit less as a savior than as a mentor to Harrington. Garcia said he's got no problem with that.

"I believe that my job is to push him to be better than he ever has been in the past," Garcia said. "He shouldn't feel threatened by my presence here. He should be excited about that. He should feel this is going to help push him and help motivate him."

That's exactly what head coach Steve Mariucci wants to hear.
"(Garcia) had other options besides the Detroit Lions," he said. "He chose this one for a lot of reasons understanding what the pecking order was. We've explained it to him very honestly and he gets it."