Oregon Pioneers Team History

TEAM HISTORY

Well the Portland Pioneers having only been playing in the ASFL for a short time, they have quickly become one of the leagues best teams. Backed by Nike money from Phil Knight and some of some hard earned cash from his playing days in the NFL, former Oregon Ducks/Detroit Lions QB Joey Harrington bought the franchise in 2010 after retiring from the NFL in 2009, as he returned home to Portland.

TEAM OWNER

Joey Harrington was born in Portland Oregon. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in Portland, and finished his high school career with more than 4,200 yards and 50 TDs rushing and passing.

His grandfather and father played quarterback for the Universities of Portland and Oregon, respectively, and upon hearing of Joey's birth, legendary Oregon Ducks' coach Len Casanova jokingly sent his parents a letter-of-intent.

COLLEGE YEARS

Harrington is a graduate of the University of Oregon, and was a three-year starter on the Oregon Ducks football team. In his senior season at Oregon, he threw for 2,415 yards and 23 touchdowns, and he finished his college career with a 25-3 record (including bowl wins against 12th-ranked Texas and 3rd-ranked Colorado), 512 completions in 928 attempts (55.2%), 6911 passing yards, 59 touchdowns, 23 interceptions, and 210 rushing yards and 18 scores on 145 carries. A Business Administration major with a 3.23 GPA (twice earning honors with a 3.34 GPA),[2][3] Harrington's 7,121 yards of total offense rank third in University of Oregon history.

Harrington finished fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 2001, following a campaign for the award that included a billboard in Times Square promoting him as "Joey Heisman."[4] He earned numerous honors, including first-team All-American, Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, and second-team honors from The Sporting News. He was one of five finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award in 2001. EA Sports selected him for the cover of the 2003 edition of their NCAA Football video game series.

Harrington's best collegiate game was arguably the 2002 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona when he threw for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns and led the Ducks to a 38-16 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes. Harrington was named offensive player of the game.

NFL YEARS

Harrington was selected by the Detroit Lions with the third pick overall in the 2002 NFL Draft. Harrington took over for incumbent Mike McMahon late in the Lions' week 1 loss against the Miami Dolphins and became the Lions' starting quarterback shortly thereafter, finishing that year with a 50.1 completion percentage, a ratio of 12 touchdowns to 16 interceptions, and a 59.9 quarterback rating; the Lions finished the season with a 3–13 record.

Harrington's career in Detroit was largely unsuccessful. Front office mismanagement, woeful offensive line protection, lack of talent at other skill positions, and an erratic philosophical change in the team's identity to a conservative West Coast Offense (WCO) oriented attack under Head Coach Steve Mariucci may have played a factor in Harrington not realizing his potential professionally.[according to whom?] Harrington's best season as a Lion came in 2004, when he threw for 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Lions started the season with a 4–2 record, but Harrington led the team to only two more wins the rest of the season. They finished 6–10 and missed the playoffs for the fifth season in a row.

On October 23, 2005, Mariucci chose to bench Harrington in favor of Jeff Garcia for the team's game against the Cleveland Browns to try to provide a spark to the team's 2–3 start. The Lions won 13–10, and Garcia rushed for Detroit's only touchdown. After yet another dismal offensive performance, Mariucci declared that Garcia would remain the starter. That marked the first time since the 2002 season that Harrington did not appear in a Lions' game, breaking a string of 37 consecutive appearances. Harrington regained the starting role the week after Garcia threw a game-ending interception returned for a touchdown in overtime against Chicago. Harrington started again for Detroit on November 13, 2005, against the Arizona Cardinals, throwing for three touchdowns without an interception in the Lions' 29–21 win. Harrington was voted by Lions fans as their Offensive Player of the Year, according to the Lions' official website.[citation needed] Despite his difficult times in Detroit, he remained unwaveringly optimistic and was thus dubbed "Joey Blue-Skies" and "Joey Sunshine" by sarcastic Lions' fans and beat writers who grew tired of his predictable post-game commentary as the losses continued to mount.

In 2006, Joey was traded to the Miami Dolphins for a 5th/6th round draft pick.

In 2006, Harrington did not play in the Dolphins' first four games, backing up Culpepper. Culpepper injured his shoulder prior to Miami's fifth game against the New England Patriots, forcing Harrington into the starting role. Harrington lost his first three starts, before leading Miami to a 31–13 win over the previously unbeaten (7–0 at the time) Chicago Bears. Harrington followed that game with four consecutive victories. In perhaps his most memorable game professionally,[according to whom?] Harrington capped off this winning streak in front of a national television audience on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit with a 27–10 victory at Ford Field against his former team. Harrington passed for 3 touchdowns and 213 yards against Detroit, compiling a passer rating of 107.4, his highest single game rating for 2006. Harrington struggled after the Lions' game. Against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, Harrington went 5-for-17 for 20 yards, throwing two interceptions. His passer rating for the game was 0.0, the minimum possible under the complex NFL formula. Harrington was pulled midway through Miami's next game against the New York Jets, replaced in the 13–10 Christmas night loss by Cleo Lemon. Harrington did not appear in Miami's Week 17 finale against the Indianapolis Colts. Overall, Harrington played in and started eleven games, leading Miami to a 5–6 record

In 2007, Harrington signed with the Atlanta Falcons. Harrington agreed to a two-year, $6 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons to compete with D. J. Shockley and Chris Redman to back up Michael Vick.[7]

Harrington was elevated to starting QB after the suspension of Vick for the 2007 NFL season. Harrington performed well in the preseason, but after going 0-2, Atlanta signed former Jacksonville starting quarterback Byron Leftwich as a possible replacement for Harrington. During the Week 3 Atlanta home opener against division rivals the Carolina Panthers, Harrington completed 31 of 44 passes with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 110.1 passer rating in a 27–20 loss. In Week 4, Harrington improved on his numbers with a 121.7 passer rating, completing 23 of 29 passes for two touchdowns with no interceptions, leading the Falcons to their first win of the 2007 season.

On March 5, 2008, the Falcons released Harrington in a salary cap move. He was re-signed by the team seven days later[8] but was again released in August after the Falcons completed their preseason schedule

Following his release, Harrington signed with the New Orleans Saints. He was the third-string quarterback behind Drew Brees and Mark Brunell for one game against the Denver Broncos. He was released only five days later on September 24, 2008, due to increasing injuries on the Saints roster.[11] After the Saints' injury situation became more manageable, Harrington was re-signed on October 1, but was cut again on October 6.[12] He once again re-signed with the Saints on October 12, 2008, as an inactive third quarterback.[12]

On March 30, 2009, Harrington was re-signed to a one-year deal by the Saints. He was released yet again on September 5, 2009.

With his NFL career over, Joey is ready to start a new career. As the team owner of the the Portland Pioneers.

COACHING HIRE

Going into the 2014 season, Joey knew he wanted to install a high scoring offense that would lead the Pioneers to a Major Bowl. He selected former Boise State and Colorado Head Coach Dan Hawkins. Known as Coach Hawk to his friends and even to his players, Coach Hawkins was not Joey's first choice, but was the man recommended to him by his first choice. Originally Harrington had contacted another former Boise State HC Dirk Koetter.

Joey Harrington "I originally contacted Dirk, because he had ties to Oregon (was the OC in 96/97) before going to BSU and he has had a pretty successful career in the NFL as a Offensive Coordinator (07-11 with Jacksonville and 2012 with Atlanta). When he turned down the chance he said contact Hawk"

Hawkins compiled a 53-11 record well at Boise State, his 31 game winning streak against the WAC is the longest in history, when BSU went 37-3 and won 4 WAC titles.

Well at Colorado, Hawkins did not find the same success. Fired after just 49 games in which he went 16-33, Hawk went to work for ESPN, but in 2013 Hawk got the coaching itch and went to Canada. His career lasted 5 games, in which Hawk went 2-3. He was fired by Montreal Alouettes GM Jim Popp, who took over the team.

Hawk "I don't really want to talk about Canada. I don't know what Popp expected, maybe he just wanted a excuse to get back on the sidelines.  Whatever the reason, I am happy to be here in Portland.

Before the start of the 2014 season, Coach Hawkins and Team owner Joey Harrington sat down and started to compile their list of players they wanted in Pioneer Uniforms. Backed with Nike money from Phil Knight, they planned to have one of the highest payrolls in the ASFL, loading up their team with former NFL players and Boise State players who were key reasons to the Broncos success.