Given my Midwest sensibalities, my first reaction to Joey Harrington becoming part of Fox’s new college football pregame show was, “Detroit’s not going to like this.”
Harrington’s flopped as a high first-round pick with the Lions. He’s one of the reasons why former GM Matt Millen is working with ESPN. So now Harrington’s presence on Fox will serve as another reminder of Millen’s brutal regime.
But then I remembered Harrington was a big-time quarterback at Oregon. And Fox’s primetime slate will feature Pac 12 game.
So now it all makes sense.
Fox also announced Eddie George will be the other studio analyst, joining Erin Andrews and Harrington.
Here are the details from Fox:
Heisman Trophy winner and College Football Hall of Famer Eddie George and former Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington partner with host Erin Andrews to form the FOX COLLEGE FOOTBALL studio team. Andrews and the analyst duo of George and Harrington handle all pregame, halftime and postgame studio coverage live from the FOX Network Center in Los Angeles. The network’s coverage kicks-off on Saturday, Sept. 1(7:30 PM ET) when Hawaii visits USC. The announcement was made today by Executive Producer, Co-President & COO, FOX Sports Media Group, Eric Shanks.
“We look for analysts who can break down the game while being entertaining at the same time and Eddie and Joey are the total package,” said Shanks. “Eddie is a terrific analyst using his knowledge and passion for college football to offer a unique perspective and it’s an honor to have him back in the FOX Sports family. Joey’s charisma combined with his credentials on the field as a standout quarterback at Oregon put him in position to be one of the best college football analysts in the business. The chemistry between Eddie, Joey and Erin sets this team apart. Fans are in for an entertaining and enlightening show on FOX every Saturday during the college football season.”
George, a standout running back at The Ohio State University, ranks among the top three in school history in rushing yards (3,768), rushing touchdowns (44), 100-yard games (20) and holds school records with five 200-yard outings and 12 consecutive 100-yard games. Since retiring from football, George has worked in television in a variety of roles. He served as a studio analyst during FOX’s coverage of the 2007 – 2009 BCS Championship Games alongside analysts such as Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson and Emmitt Smith.
As a senior, George set a single-season school record with 1,927 rushing yards en route to winning the 1995 Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Doak Walker Award and Jim Brown Award while leading the nation in scoring, placing fourth in all-purpose yards and fifth in rushing yards per game and yards per carry. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and has his No. 27 retired at Ohio State.
Drafted in the first round by the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, he owns virtually every franchise rushing record. He won several NFL Rookie of the Year awards in 1996 and was considered one of the NFL’s premier running backs, possessing an explosive combination of speed, power and toughness. George earned four consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl from 1998 to 2001 and led the AFC Champion Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. He finished his NFL career in 2004 as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. He is one of only 30 players in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards.
Harrington – once nicknamed “Joey Heisman” after a well-known Times Square billboard campaign – was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Oregon Ducks. During his senior year in 2001, Harrington threw for 2,414 yards and 23 touchdowns to help lead the Ducks to a Pac-10 Conference Title and a victory in the Fiesta Bowl. Harrington was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award that season. He was also named Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and first team All-American. He finished his college career with a 25-3 record.
The Detroit Lions drafted Harrington with the third overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. Harrington played for the Lions through the 2005 season before stints with the Miami Dolphins, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. After his days in the NFL, Harrington started his broadcast career FOX Sports Radio in 2009 as an NFL and college football analyst. In 2010, he joined the Oregon Sports Network as an analyst during Ducks football games.
In addition to broadcasting 13 consecutive weeks of regular-season action, including 12 prime time games and seven doubleheaders, FOX Sports boasts exclusive coverage of college football’s Pac-12 Conference Football Championship Game on Friday, Nov. 30 (8:00 PM ET) followed by the Big Ten Conference Football Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 1 (8:00 PM ET). FOX Sports wraps up its 2012-13 campaign with an exciting Big 12/SEC match-up in the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic live from Cowboys Stadium on Friday, Jan. 4 (8:00 PM ET).