The Harrington Family Foundation

FOXBORO - When Joey Harrington arrived at the Miami Dolphins, he was physically fit.

Unfortunately, he was an emotional mess.

No player in the NFL the last four years had to endure the viciousness from fans that Harrington has.

He was considered the savior for a team that can’t be saved. He was the starter for the Detroit Lions - the most dysfunctional franchise in pro football, followed by clueless fans who have easily accepted a tradition of bad football.

Harrington became the whipping boy for the failures of general manager Matt Millen, who drafted him on the first round in 2002. He had no shot at success on a team void of talent, yet he was constantly verbally assaulted because of the team’s failures.

After four years of horror, he got out. He signed with Miami as a free agent, even though the team had obtained veteran Daunte Culpepper.

When Harrington arrived at the Miami camp, someone asked him if there was something technically wrong with his game that needed to be fixed now as a Dolphin.

‘‘My confidence,’’ said Harrington quickly.

Yes, he was battered - but willing. He just had to have some kind of success to get himself back on his feet, and the last month has been part of that process.

The Dolphins won four in a row before losing last week to the Jaguars. It’s helped that Harrington has been at the controls during that time because of the injury to Culpepper and, if he could have a solid outing against the Patriots this Sunday, it would be an even bigger step forward.

But Harrington admits he has had a hard time shaking his past.

‘‘I got beat up in Detroit for four years,’’ said the candid quarterback. ‘‘I got beat up from all areas. I felt like I constantly had to defend myself. When you get into that position, you start to doubt yourself.

‘‘I’m trying to still shake off things that happened in Detroit, that’s a tough process.’’

Harrington, unlike Tom Brady, was a highly touted college player. But Brady, who was a sixth-round choice, stands on top of the NFL as perhaps the best of them all. He has three Super Bowl rings to show for it.

‘‘Someone asked me today why Tom Brady has the success that he has,’’ said Harrington. ‘‘There was absolutely no doubt in my mind it’s because of confidence. He has every reason to be one of the most confident guys in the league because he’s had success. He’s done it over and over and there is no one in the league that can tell me he can’t do it.

‘‘Only the flip side of that, I was in Detroit four years and we rarely won. I was trying to defend myself (and) at the same time trying to build an organization.’’

Harrington is trying to bask in the rehabilitation of his career and not talk about his Detroit miseries. But he had to face them a few weeks ago on Thanksgiving when he led the Dolphins against Detroit in the Lions’ annual Turkey Day bash.

Miami coach Nick Saban told the game-day director in Detroit he would introduce the defensive team. He didn’t want Harrington to be introduced so he could avoid the boos.

So what happened? The classless Lions organization played the song Piano Man, because Harrington was a noted piano player, and announced he would be the starting quarterback.

The boos came flowing, but Harrington got the best of the situation. He threw three touchdown passes in the Dolphins’ 27-10 victory. It was a major triumph for Harrington, who admitted he was apprehensive about returning to his former ball park.

‘‘As much as I tried to downplay it because I didn’t want to interfere with my preparation, there were definitely emotions involved,’’ Harrington said.

‘‘So I felt pretty good to play the way I did in front of those fans in that stadium. It was really nice to have that feeling in Ford Field.’’

Harrington says football is fun again, and Saban has allowed that to happen. The quarterback goes into games against good teams with a feeling he will walk away a winner. He did that for four weeks in a row, starting with beating the Chicago Bears on the road and followed that up with wins against Kansas City, Minnesota and, of course, the Lions.

‘‘Now I have a fresh start in Miami. It’s fun again. I can cut loose. Coach Saban has been honest with me. I knew I was coming in as a backup but I would get a chance to be the starter. That’s all I wanted.’’

At the end of the interview for this story, Harrington said he wanted to ask a question.

‘‘Any Manny Ramirez news coming?’’ said Harrington, who knew the Sox signed J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo.

‘‘I am a Red Sox fan. I have family in Charlestown. I used to have a buddy that played for the Sox. I have been at Fenway quite a few times.’’

His buddy?

‘‘Kevin Millar,’’ said Harrington. ‘‘A character.’’

So where does Harrington stand when it comes to Manny? ‘‘I don’t know all the ins and outs, but it’s tough to trade a guy who can produce runs like that,’’ said Harrington.

Red Sox fans come from all walks of life.