At first glance, former NFL quarterback Joey Harrington’s career doesn’t bear much resemblance to Wrexham or football, a sport he stopped playing at around the age of 10.
But the third overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft insists Wells’ club’s rise parallels his own. So much so that Harrington and his family would often wake up early on Saturdays to watch Phil Parkinson’s team play live, 4,750 miles away, at home in Portland, Oregon, on the west coast.
“If you had told me 10 years ago I would have subscribed to the Vanarama National League,” he said of the match in the fifth tier of English football’s pyramid, Wrexham (Wrexham) Win in 2022-23, “I’ll laugh at you.
“But now I get up at 6.30am every Saturday morning to watch the 7am game (3pm UK time). Just a few years ago I couldn’t have imagined doing this. But as a family we are totally immersed in the club and their journey.
Harrington’s own athletic career has pedigree. His father, John, was a quarterback at the University of Oregon in the late 1960s, and his grandfather, Bernie, was a quarterback at the University of Portland about 25 years ago. ) as quarterback. Had Bernie not fought in World War II, he undoubtedly would have joined the NFL after being courted by several teams, including George Halas’ Chicago Bears.
Joey followed in his father’s footsteps and served as Oregon State’s quarterback for three years, transforming the team as they went from also-rans to the No. 2 team in the NCAA tournament. Harrington was a key figure and was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2001, and the Detroit Lions drafted him the following year. Only quarterback David Carr (Houston Texans) and future Hall of Famer Julius Peppers (Carolina Panthers) came off the board faster.
He spent four seasons in Detroit before playing with the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. It’s an impressive resume by any standards, but there’s nothing to suggest he’s retired to a small club playing an entirely different sport on the other side of the Atlantic.
The first documentary in the Welcome to Wrexham series tells the story of Hollywood celebrities Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds taking over the club and their subsequent family visit to North Wales.
“Our sons, Jack and Emmett, are old enough to start traveling internationally,” Harrington said. “Let them understand the world and what’s out there.
“We arranged the trip by purchasing Manchester City vs. Liverpool tickets through Nike (the main sponsor of the University of Oregon athletics). Both goalkeeper boys were excited because they were interested in football, even though everyone thought My kids play American football.
“The plan was to spend some time in London, visit some friends in Bristol and then drive to Manchester. My eldest son Jack then said: ‘Can we stop by Wrexham on the way? “We’ve all now seen the first season of the documentary and loved it.
Wrexham were competing with Notts County for the National League Championship at the time, but when the Harringtons arrived at the ground they were given a warm welcome, including by club secretary Geraint, Wrexham’s longest-serving club secretary. An impromptu site visit with Geraint Parry.
“The first person we met in the tunnel was (Wrexham’s then goalkeeper and former England international) Ben Foster,” Harrington recalled. “He walked right up to the boys, and I’m not exaggerating here, and started talking to them like a family, asking all kinds of questions.
Harrington and Ben Foster’s son (played by Joey Harrington)
“When he discovered their favorite position, he immediately said, ‘I’m a goalkeeper too and my name is Ben.’ When Jack realized ‘Oh my God, this is England goalkeeper Ben Foster,’ you can watch until his eyes sparkled.
“Three steps further down the tunnel, (Wrexham manager) Phil Parkinson appeared. He said ‘Hi’ to the children and then had a conversation with my wife Emily, who is still Talk about this conversation. It’s probably a conversation that he’s had a thousand times and he doesn’t even remember it, but the fact that he spent some time talking to his family and to Emily’s boys, that’s it for me. Significant.
The Haringtons’ brief stop also included a meeting with club shop staff and chief groundsman Paul Chaloner, before a visit to The Turf pub next to their Wrexham home, which was famous for the documentary famous.
“Wayne (Jones, the landlord) gets along great with the kids,” he added. “Jack was 13 and it was his first time at the bar, and he said to me, ‘Dad, can we play pool? It made them feel welcome. The table was covered with quarters that we could use. .
“My reaction was, ‘No, no, no, that’s not what happened.’ But the guy who took the money said, ‘Don’t worry, you can have my place.'” When the world began to converge on this small town in Wells, these people treated my family as if we were the first people to visit.
“I’ve seen professional sports at the highest level, including ten years in the NFL. I’ve seen what that world is like. So as a father, look at everyone – literally, from the club shop staff to the To the pub operators, to the Premiership goalkeeper who stopped Notts County’s PK (penalty kick) a few weeks later – how did it happen – to my children and family, Wrexham could lose every single game, but I will still support this club.
Otterson Stadium; Eugene, Oregon. October 12, 2024.
Actor Kaitlin Olson returns to her former college for a big college football game between the nation’s No. 3 Oregon State University and No. 2 Ohio State University. Her husband, Rob, also joined Oregon’s record number of 60,129 people. As shown by Rob McElhenney, her co-star on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and co-owner of Wrexham.
2 years ago @Wrexham_AFC Welcome to my family. On Saturday my OR and Wrexham worlds collided. ExDir @thehumphreyker Running 26.2 @WrexhamMiners. To help, I will match every $2 donated, up to $2,620. It’s a small world, kindness will be rewarded https://t.co/DyzB8WQ2JD pic.twitter.com/1tYU2SpfFx
— Joey Harrington (@joey3harrington) October 19, 2024
Also in attendance was Harrington, who returned to his beginnings as a college quarterback in the 1990s. They talked in the afternoon and later posed for photos after the game, with the three making the “O” sign that has become synonymous with Harrington’s final game at Oregon State before turning pro.
“This was the first time I met Rob and Caitlin,” he said. “They were great, no pretense at all. You would never know they were Hollywood stars. They were just part of the family and were so welcoming to me and my friends.
“We were chatting to Wrexham and I showed them pictures of Ben Foster and the kids. I wasn’t surprised by how they both behaved. That’s exactly how we were treated at Wrexham, where of towns, teams, and organizations look to their leadership as role models.
Harrington and his family have yet to travel to Wrexham for a game, although he hopes to rectify that situation next year. They did play in a pre-season friendly against Manchester United in San Diego, California last year when Paul Mullin suffered four fractured ribs and a collapsed lung, as well as when Wrexham Women faced the Portland Thorns in July this year. The match attracted 10,379 spectators – a Welsh club record.
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The latter comes shortly after Harrington was confirmed as an investor in National Women’s Soccer League club Thorns, along with two-time Olympic decathlete Ashton Eaton and Olympic heptathlon bronze medalist Boo Ryan Tyson-Eaton.
It’s quite a turn for a man who admits to losing interest in the game over the years due to what he saw as histrionics in men’s football.
“I would see these guys collapse on the pitch and be taken away on a stretcher,” said Harrington, 46, who has pledged to executive director Humphrey Ker for Wrexham The Miners Relief Organization fundraiser provided $2,622.
“Then he would go to the sideline and the magic spray would come out and he would be fine. I had no respect for that. So even though I played until fourth grade, my football experience was not a very positive one.
It wasn’t until the early 2000s that Canada’s Christine Sinclair became the sport’s all-time leading international goalscorer, scoring 190 goals in 331 games while playing for the University of Portland. Start to change your mind.
“Christine was floored,” he recalled. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh, great, here comes the drama.’ But, no, she immediately stood up and elbowed the girl on the way back. Not only did she instantly become my favorite player , and I thought, ‘I’m only going to watch women’s football’.
Harrington playing for the Miami Dolphins in 2006 (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Welcome to Wrexham helped change that stance, particularly as he began to see similarities between his career and how the Welsh club’s fortunes had turned around under Reynolds and McElhenney after.
“What really resonated was the parallels between what happened at Wrexham and my own experience with the Oregon State football program,” he said. “When I showed up in ’97, we were considered irrelevant by everyone else. We were an afterthought. So a bunch of us sat down and decided to change things. We were going to win something, especially a national championship.
“A lot of people laughed at us. But we persevered and things started to change. OK, we didn’t win the national championship our senior year, we finished second in the country. But put this program in and we’re still A place that is part of the national conversation is very special.
“Then I joined the NFL and it was a business – ‘What can you do for me? How can I get mine? ‘ stabbing you in the back to get another year (on your contract). I get that when you’re in a multi-billion dollar business.
“But my point is, I’ve experienced firsthand what happens when a group of people come together and not only do they really care about the goal (which goes from irrelevant to important) but they also care about each other. I also saw it at Wrexham to the same situation.
“It’s not just about putting your butt in the seat, it’s not just about scratching your way to the top. It’s also about how you do it, who you take and why you do it. Wrexham get it.
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(Above: The Harrington family visit the racetrack/Joy Harrington)
