The Harrington Family Foundation

Joey Harrington stopped. Thought for a moment.

Maintained his poise. Then fired off his answer.

"What have I learned about myself?" he asked. "I learned I can take it. I've learned I'm not gonna break. ... I've learned a lesson in self-confidence. I've learned a lesson in humility."

That's one completion after another in the self-help to-do list. And Sunday afternoon, Harrington threw one completion after another on the field. He was 22 of 32 for 231 yards and three touchdowns in a 29-21 victory over Arizona, and if we can't feel good for him now ... well, you know what? He doesn't much care.

He feels good, and that's enough.

Harrington has taken enough heat to keep all of Detroit warm for the winter. Some he deserved. Some he didn't. All of it was new, because Joey Harrington had never really failed before.

"Football-wise, no," he said. "Lots of wins in high school, and that's why I got to college. Lots of wins in college, and that's why I got here. So yeah, this has definitely been a struggle."

Struggle. Harrington probably wouldn't have admitted that a month ago. He was too busy holding up a shield. He tried to be the same guy he was at Oregon -- where he contended for the Heisman and the national title and everybody loved him -- and maybe that was the problem.

He still tried to fire up the troops, just like at Oregon. But the troops didn't want to hear it. Privately, and in their demeanor, you could hear his teammates' thoughts: Clam up and complete a few passes, pal.

He still insisted that everybody had to contribute for the team to succeed. But at Oregon, everybody did play well, so Harrington was just spreading compliments. In Detroit, it sounded like he was deflecting blame.

After a while, Harrington was no longer the optimistic young gun. He sounded defiant. Or, worse, like he was in denial. For a guy from Oregon, he was slow to acknowledge the rain.

Then, last month, he was benched, only to see Jeff Garcia get hurt again. Joey was back. And that's when he said the eight most important words of his season:

"What are they going to do? Bench me?"

It wasn't just a funny line. Sunday, Harrington played with that attitude. No fear. He had stared the devil in the face, only to realize that wasn't the devil at all -- it was just a drunk guy with face paint who likes to heckle struggling quarterbacks.

"There is, I guess, a bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders," Harrington said. "For so long I've been fighting to keep my job, and once it was taken away from me ... I've experienced just about everything."

Against Arizona, Harrington tried to make good plays again instead of avoiding bad ones. He stepped up in the pocket and fired at receivers. Yeah, it helped that Roy Williams was back, but it wasn't just Roy. It's OK, we can all say it: Joey played really well, too.

"He just looks like he is back to enjoying playing football," rookie quarterback Dan Orlovsky said. "The time off that he had, it let him step back. It's the first time he's been able to do it in his career. And it let him look at the game for what it is: it's a game."

So this is Joey Harrington now: playing with joy, laughing off boos ... and, yes, backing up Garcia.

If the Lions have a quarterback controversy, it is limited to fans and talk shows and the occasional comment from teammates like Williams, who voiced support for Harrington by saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." All of the principals (Harrington, Garcia, coach Steve Mariucci) know Garcia is the starter if he's healthy.

Harrington said he would be ready to play if Mariucci taps him "because Jeff's not ready."

Mariucci's fondness for Garcia is almost irrational, considering Garcia's skill set at age 35. Mariucci has never embraced Harrington; never altered his offense to suit him and never really publicly defended him. Maybe with a different coach, and a better organization, Harrington would have succeeded.

Obviously, everybody would have preferred that. But Harrington had succeeded before. Now he knows what happens when he doesn't.

He always said nothing would break him, but how could he know for sure?

"I knew it," he said, "but putting it to the test is something else ... and I feel good. I feel good."

This was just one win over a lousy Cardinals team. Next week's visit to Dallas will tell us a lot more about the Lions' hopes.

And yet ...

"I don't know if we want to put it behind us too quick," Harrington said. "You don't always lose from learning experiences. When you win, you learn something too. You learn something about character. You learn about putting a team away. You learn about making plays when you need to."

You learn that you're still the guy you used to be, and the crush of boos and losses and interceptions have not flattened your spirit.