The Harrington Family Foundation

Joey Harrington, who signed as an free agent with the Falcons on April 9 as the club's backup quarterback after the trade of Matt Schaub to the Houston Texans, has taken an opportunity to get acquainted with the team and the area and is impressed by both.

"Atlanta has wonderful people and it is by far the friendliest city I have ever been to," he said about coming to the area. "People go out of their way to make you feel welcome. It seems like a great place to live year-round. It's a bigger city than I expected and there is always something to do."

Harrington got married in March and he credited his wife with helping him with the transition.

"It's been pretty smooth, helped tremendously by my wife," he said. "It's a lot easier getting settled when you have someone helping you."

The former third overall selection by Detroit out of Oregon in the 2002 NFL Draft had an easy time in the locker room.

"There are great guys in this locker room and I am happy to be a part of it," he said. "I don't hear a lot about last season, which is a good thing. I think it's a hungry locker room because you have guys who are trying to prove themselves to the new coaching staff. This staff demands a lot of the players and I think it is a very good thing."

The native of Portland, Oregon had a 25-3 mark as the starting quarterback in college for the Ducks and he is learning the Falcons' offensive system under another former Oregon QB -- Bill Musgrave, who serves as the Falcons' quarterbacks coach.

"He is phenomenal," said Harrington. "It's ironic, because we are both quarterbacks from Oregon -- we had only met each other once or twice prior -- so I didn't have a lot of personal experience with him. The last two months working with him has been tremendous."

As for Falcons Coach Bobby Petrino, Harrington said that the Birds' first-year leader is an even-handed communicator on the field.

"What I like about Coach Petrino's style is that he will talk to you man-to-man," he said. "You may have done something well or you may have just messed up, but he will talk to you just the same. He will praise you when you do well and criticize you when you do poorly and he will tell you why in both situations -- which I respect."

Someone else who Harrington has watched up close is Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson.

"Coach Jackson is fun to play for because he is just full of energy," Harrington said. "You like playing for him because you know you will get a great reaction. You can tell he loves the game of football and you want to be around guys like that. He has a lot of positive energy."

Harrington gave his take on the Falcons' offensive system which starter Michael Vick, Chris Redman and D.J. Shockley and Harrington have been working on since Petrino's hire.

"Everybody runs slants and curls, comebacks and fadeouts -- there are certain staples to every offense," he said. "This one is a little bit different because it gives the quarterback a lot more freedom to change things at the line of scrimmage to put you in a good position -- which is different than any offense I've been in before. I've never seen this much freedom over protections, routes -- based on what you see under center."

Another offseason addition to the Falcons -- WR Joe Horn -- and his attitude has also stood out to Harrington.

"Joe has been a great addition because he brings immediate credibility, veteran leadership and an incredible work ethic," he said. "You want to go into a game with three or four guys like Joe and if he can mold the young guys after him, we will be alright."

Harrington spent his first four seasons with the Lions and started 55 of 58 games he was involved in. He completed 986 of 1,802 passes for 10,242 yards and 60 touchdowns before he was traded to Miami, where he started 11 games in relief of the injured Daunte Culpepper last season. While with the Dolphins, he led them to an upset of previously undefeated Chicago and had a three-TD performance in a victory against his former team in Detroit.

When asked about what was the best thing about being a quarterback in the NFL, Harrington said the same two factors make the position the best and worst on the field.

"The best thing is the pressure and control and it is also the worst thing, because when things go well, you can stand there knowing that you were responsible for that," he said. "As the quarterback, you are the leader of the offense and a lot of the time, you are the leader of the team. When things go right, oftentimes you get too much praise -- there is a fair amount that is deserved. When things go wrong, you get the majority of the blame -- oftentimes too much blame. Both ways, it falls on your shoulders and it can be a great thing or a frustrating thing."

He has been through his share of success and frustration in his pro career, but Harrington feels that those experiences have made him stronger.

"What I have improved on in the last couple of years is enjoying the game of football," he said. "In four years, no one in the league had been through more situations than I had. And as terrible as they were to go through, I learned from them and I was able to come out with a better understanding of myself as a person and as a player. Understanding myself as a person, I was able to get back to the type of player I used to be. It gives me perspective and gives me back some motivation."

Part of that for him was the opportunity to come to Atlanta and be a part of the Falcons.

"When you love what you are doing, you enjoy showing up in the morning," he said. "I love playing football and love playing in Atlanta. In two months, it's one of the best football experiences I've had in the NFL and I hope that continues."