5
Street roots
Feb. 5, 2010
HARRINGTON, fro m page 1
radio, and I was always pretty against i t But
when I was presented with the opportunity,
I didn’t necessarily want to close a door.
There'were other things that can come from
this, and the more I thought about it, I
believed that I could offer an opinion that a
journalist couldn’t necessarily offer,, that I
could offer an insight to get people thinking
or understanding what’s actually going on,
as opposed to inciting a riot
completely jump into i t And while my NFL
career didn’t necessarily turn out as ,
storybook as my college career, I’m still able
to help certain organizations in the city and
the state, that other people may not be able
to. It’s funny to me how people respond to
professional athletes in general, but the
reality is it opens doors. Football has never
been a destination to me. Football has been
a way to open a door to something else I
wanted to do.
By using the contacts that I’ve made
through playing football, I’m able to help out
the people who have helped me get to this :
position.
J.Z.: Because you’ve taken it from both
sides.
J.H.: Exactly. I was not going to be the
person who got on the radio and ranted that
somebody needed to be fired or somebody
needed to be traded. I wasn’t going be that
person because I’ve been on the other side
of it, and I don’t think there’s any merit for
th a t I try to offer some sort of insight and
offer a perspective that a journalist wouldn’t
necessarily have — from my experience. I’ve ’
been able to come at it from a different side.
It’S been challenging, not necessarily in time
or difficulty of work, but because I’ve been
on the other side of the questions. I’ve been
there after a game saying to myself, “Why is
this guy asking me such a stupid question.”
J.Z;: You’re involved with and support
several charitable endeavors here in Portland,
including the Blanchet House, where I
understand y&u’vC-volunteered on several :
occasions. Some people write the check and
that's it. Was there an event or moment in
your life that compelled you to get involved?
i J.H.: We made a sizable contribution to
the new building project simply because the
Blanchet House has been something that’s
been dosé to my family and Emily’s family.
My grandfather was one of the miembers of
the original gfôup that started the Blanchet
House. And Emily had volunteered for years
before we mèt. She-was the one who
actually brought me down there to volunteer
for the first time, maybe five years ago.
What I really liked about the Blanchet, is
that there were no requirements. It wasn’t
like you had to. sit and listen to someone
speak first, it was simply come in and eat.
And whether you live on the streets and :
need it for every single meal, or whether
you just need it because the money runs
tight atth ee n d of-the month, it’s an open
J.Z.: So you’ve gotten a better
understanding of the media, too?
J.H.: Yes a iittle bit, but I’ve also gotten
to know the responsibility of the media.
How people rely on you for their own
opinions. Your words shape other people’s
opinions and therein lies, I think, a very big
responsibility.
P H O T O -B Y J O A N N E Z U H L
Joey Harrington outside of Blanchet House, where he and his wife volunteer and serve as
honorary chairs for its capital campaign to build a new facility..
door. You ask ed if th e r e w as a m o m e n t I
J.Z.t W/zy do you volunteer for meals?
J.H.: Why? Because I’m able to. I’m
blessed with the ability to not to have to go
to work 9 to 5 in order to support our
family That truly is a blessing. We’re
currently, honorary chairs of the Capital
Campaign for the Blanchet House. So we’re
involved on that side. My cousin sits on the
board of Blanchet It’s something that’s
close to our community.
J.Z.': As a native Portlander, leaving and
returning - how have you seen the city change
with regard to the homeless and people in
need?
J.H.: My wife and I got married in March
2007, moved to Atlanta in April. Two years
later when we came back, the number of
J.H.: I would saythat’s a long-term
dre<un,.Em ily’s a n u r s e p ra c titio n e r,
"Everybody needs a little help. Everybody needs a break.
Everybody needs somebody In their corner. Everybody needs
somebody to back them sip sometimes/'
don’t think that there was one moment, but
it’s something that my mom and dad really
emphasized when we were younger; that it
doesn’t matter if you’re a doctor, a lawyer, a
mailman, a plumber^ or someone who is out
of a job, or someone who Is doing drugs on
a street corner, everybody deserves respect.
And so, having been raised with that as a
model, it’s tough to see people turn their
back. It’s tough to see people treat others
like they’re not good enough, or their time
is too valuable for them, or that they are
somehow less. And that’s something that has
always resonated with Emily and me.
J.Z.: And I read that you’re thinking of
starting a medical clinic. Is that true?
people on freeway ramps, and the number
of people sitting outside coffee shops and
grocery stores asking for a little bit of help,
increased exponentially. In two years.
The line on Burnside, when you come
over the bridge, if you see it every single
day, you may hot notice the one person that
was added this week or the two the next
week. But when you’re gone for an extended
period of time and you come back and see .
that there are 200 more people in line, or
that the freeway exits and on-ramps and off­
ramps are now completely filled, whereas
before there might have been someone
there occasionally. It was pretty dramatic.
J.Z.: What were you thinking when you
came back? How could this happen to
Portland?
J.H.: I know how this could happen to
Portland. Times were tough — times are
tough. To be frank, the bumper stickers say
keep Portland weird for a reason. Having
seen Detroit, having seen Florida, having'
seen Atlànta and having seen New Orleans,
there’s a definite uniqueness to Portland. It
wasn’t necessarily how could this happen to
Portland, but what can we do to help.
'
When we set up my family’s foundation
back in 2003, it was and is very much a
children’s charity focus - that is our mission
statement for the health, safety, education
and welfare of the children. And that allows
us to work with a lot of childrens’ charities:
Shriners, Boys and Girls Club, Special
Olympics, a lot of great schools. But there
was no real avenue for working with the
homeless populationthrough the foundation
because of the mission. And so Emily and I
justreally have taken it outside of the
foundation as something we have chosen to
do. O
.■ ...J;
J.Z.: What did the NFL teach you about
success and failure, and how do you measure
that in your personal life today?
J.H.: I went from a 10-story billboard in
New York City to getting booed out' of my
own stadium. I went from the top of the
football world to the bottom in a Very short
amount of time. So there, were a lot of
things that those experiences taught me.
The first of which is not to let football define
who I am; I’nj a person who plays football, I
am not a football player. There’s a big
distinction.
Something else that I learned is that
everybody needs a little help. Everybody
needs a break. Everybody needs somebody
in their comer. Everybody needs somebody
to back therii up sometimes. And you can
have what seems to be everything in order,
and without a little bit of help, without
someone Opening a door, dr helping you
along, things may not work. I think I learned
a lot of life lessons. Everything I did was sd
public. Before! left Detroit, one of my
teammates went on “Sports Center” and bn
a live feed essentially blamed me for our
coach getting fired. I’ve had to deal with
everything in a very public manner, and it
taught me a lot about who truly is going to
support you and who is simply along for the
ride.
J.Z.: Are,you still hosting the radio show?
J.H.: For another two weeks, Saturdays
and Sundays from 1 to 5 on Fox Sports. It’s
funny. I never wanted to do a sports talk
done rotations at Central City Concern, and
she’s worked in rural populations where
you’re working with people who are
uninsured, people who don’t have the access
to everything that would help them. It’s still
down the road, but we are working with the
Portland-based group called Project Access
Now, which is essentially connecting the
health care providers who are willing to
volunteer and the people who need the
health care.
A lot of people ask, what can I do or is it
really going to make a difference. Even if it’s
just walking up to someone and introducing -
yourself dr offering to buy a cup of coffee.
It’s making, somebody feel human.
Everything you do has an impact on
somebody, and so to sit there and say if s r ';
just such a huge problem, what can I do —
well, do something, because it’s going t o .
have an impact on somebody else.
' That’s why I love Street Roots, because
ifs not just somebody standing there with a
sign. It’s not a prop at all. (The vendor’s)
got a job. Not everybody has every
- opportunity to go do exactly what they want
to do, but this is work, and you can respect
that. It's respectable work and people
should be rewarded for that.
J.Z.: I have.to ask, who have you got in the
Super Bowl?
J.H.: Of course I want the Saints to win.
Great people. It was by far the most
enjoyable team that I played on since I left
college. Once I left college, I never felt that
connection with a team — felt like I
belonged. I just had such a great experience,
that everything paled in comparison. Then I
got to New Orleans and it was different It
was guys who loved to play not because they
loved the check. It was coaches that were
good people, and not necessarily out tb save
their jobs. It was just a really unique
collection of people.